Chapter 4 - DOMINIC’S SISTER
Victoria Vale lived twelve miles away in a mansion almost as large as Dominic’s.
She arrived forty minutes after his call.
She came alone.
No guards.
No lawyer.
No fear.
That frightened Clara.
Victoria was forty, elegant, blonde, and dressed in a cream suit that looked untouched by ordinary life. She entered Dominic’s study as though she owned part of it.
“Where is Noah?”
Dominic stood behind his desk.
“Why?”
Victoria blinked.
“Because your message said this concerned him.”
“You haven’t visited him in four months.”
“Every visit ends with him screaming.”
Dominic stared at her.
Victoria’s expression shifted.
“What happened?”
“Noah spoke.”
For the first time, she lost control.
Only for a second.
Her face tightened.
Then she smiled.
“That’s wonderful.”
“What did he say?”
Victoria hesitated.
“How would I know?”
“He said ‘bad lady.’”
Clara stood near the window, trying to disappear.
Elias remained beside the door.
Victoria’s eyes moved toward Clara.
“And who is this?”
“Clara Reed.”
“Should I recognize that name?”
“No.”
“What is she doing here?”
“Helping my son.”
Victoria laughed once.
“A maid?”
Clara looked down.
Dominic did not.
“She has done more in three hours than seventeen specialists accomplished in two years.”
Victoria’s smile vanished.
Dominic placed the family photograph on the desk.
Noah’s fingerprint remained faintly visible on the glass.
“He pointed at you.”
Victoria’s eyes dropped.
Silence.
Then she laughed again.
This time too quickly.
“He was two years old when Elena died.”
“He remembers you.”
“Children confuse faces.”
“He didn’t confuse Hargrove.”
Victoria’s gaze sharpened.
“Hargrove? What has Margaret done?”
“We found Elena’s recordings.”
Everything stopped.
Victoria said nothing.
Dominic watched her.
Clara could hear the grandfather clock behind her.
One tick.
Two.
Three.
Victoria finally whispered, “What recordings?”
That was the wrong question.
Clara knew it.
Elias knew it.
Dominic absolutely knew it.
He leaned forward.
“I never said what was on them.”
Victoria recovered.
“You said Elena recorded something. Naturally I assumed—”
“No.”
Dominic stepped around the desk.
“You assumed Hargrove because you already knew.”
Victoria shook her head.
“You are grieving all over again. Think.”
“I am.”
“Then think harder.”
Dominic stopped three feet from her.
“You were there the night Elena died.”
Victoria’s face went still.
“So were thirty other people at the foundation dinner.”
“You left twenty-eight minutes before her.”
“I was sick.”
“You told police you left after she did.”
Victoria stared at him.
Clara felt goosebumps rise along her arms.
Dominic continued.
“You told me you watched Elena leave.”
“That was years ago.”
“You lied.”
“I was confused.”
“You don’t get confused.”
Victoria’s mouth tightened.
“Neither do you. Yet apparently you let a cleaning girl convince you your sister murdered your wife.”
Clara flinched.
Dominic’s voice dropped.
“Clara has accused you of nothing.”
Victoria looked toward her.
Something cold moved behind her eyes.
“Then she should go.”
“No.”
“Dominic.”
“She stays.”
“Why?”
“Because Noah wants her here.”
Victoria’s attention shifted toward the doorway.
Noah stood there.
Clara had not heard him approach.
Mrs. Hargrove was nowhere near him.
A young guard stood several feet behind.
Noah looked at Victoria.
His face changed.
He stepped backward.
Victoria smiled.
“Sweetheart.”
Noah grabbed the doorframe.
“No.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
Victoria stopped.
“Noah, Aunt Victoria brought you gifts last month.”
“No.”
“Sweetheart—”
“No!”
Clara moved quickly.
She lowered herself between Noah and the room.
“You don’t have to come in.”
Noah grabbed her hand.
Victoria stared at the connection between them.
Something ugly crossed her face.
Gone almost instantly.
Clara saw it anyway.
Then Noah whispered something.
Clara leaned down.
“What?”
“Red room.”
Dominic heard.
“What red room?”
Noah pointed toward Victoria.
“Red room.”
Victoria went pale.
Dominic turned.
“What is he talking about?”
“I don’t know.”
Noah’s grip hurt Clara’s hand.
“Red room. Mommy. Cry.”
Dominic took a step toward his sister.
Victoria rose.
“This is absurd.”
Elias blocked the doorway.
She looked at him.
“You work for my brother.”
“Yes.”
“Then move.”
“No.”
Her face sharpened.
Dominic said, “Where is the red room?”
Victoria grabbed her purse.
“I’m leaving.”
“No, you aren’t.”
“You cannot imprison me because a traumatized child says two words.”
Dominic looked toward Elias.
“Take her phone.”
Victoria stepped backward.
“You’ve lost your mind.”
“Phone.”
Elias approached.
Victoria pulled it from her purse herself and slapped it onto the desk.
“Fine.”
Another object fell with it.
A key.
Small.
Brass.
Clara looked at it.
So did Noah.
He screamed.
Victoria snatched for the key.
Elias caught her wrist.
Dominic picked it up.
Noah hid behind Clara.
“No!”
Dominic held the key up.
“What does this open?”
Victoria said nothing.
Clara saw an engraving.
R17.
Elias noticed.
“Room seventeen?”
Dominic looked toward him.
“There are no numbered rooms here.”
“Not here,” Victoria said.
Too late.
Dominic turned.
“Where?”
Victoria shut her mouth.
Elias pulled out his phone.
He began searching internal property records.
Dominic’s family owned dozens of buildings.
Warehouses.
Restaurants.
Offices.
Then Elias stopped.
“Rosemont property.”
Dominic waited.
“Old Vale Foundation rehabilitation center. Closed three years ago.”
Victoria looked away.
Elias continued.
“Rooms numbered one through twenty-four.”
Dominic looked at the key.
“Room seventeen.”
Clara’s pulse quickened.
The old rehabilitation facility sat near O’Hare, twenty-five miles away.
Dominic ordered vehicles immediately.
“Noah stays.”
The child understood.
He shook his head violently.
“No.”
Clara crouched.
“You want to come?”
Noah nodded.
Dominic said, “Absolutely not.”
Noah pointed at the key.
“Mommy.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Clara said quietly, “Maybe he knows what’s there.”
“He is four.”
“He also just showed us a hidden safe.”
“That doesn’t mean I drive him toward whatever terrified him.”
“He doesn’t have to go inside.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Why are you arguing with me about my child?”
“Because nobody else does.”
Silence.
Elias suddenly became interested in his phone again.
Dominic stared at Clara.
She expected him to fire her.
Instead he said, “He rides with us.”
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“This maid has been here one afternoon and suddenly she runs your house.”
Dominic looked toward Noah.
“No.”
His eyes moved to Clara.
“She listens to it.”
They left Victoria under guard.
The convoy crossed Chicago beneath a darkening sky.
Noah sat beside Clara in the back seat of Dominic’s armored SUV.
Dominic sat opposite them.
Noah held Clara’s index finger the entire way.
When they reached the abandoned rehabilitation center, the building looked dead.
Boards covered half the windows.
The foundation’s name had been removed years ago, leaving pale letters against brick.
Elias forced the front door.
Dust covered the lobby.
Dominic carried the brass key.
They found Room 17 at the end of a lower corridor.
The door was painted red.
Noah saw it from twenty feet away.
He stopped breathing.
Clara crouched.
“You can stay here.”
Noah shook his head.
“Mommy.”
Dominic unlocked the door.
Inside sat an old hospital bed.
A chair.
A broken lamp.
And hundreds of children’s drawings taped across one wall.
Dominic entered slowly.
Clara followed.
Each drawing showed the same thing.
A black house.
A woman.
A little boy.
And circles.
White circles everywhere.
Pearls.
Noah whispered, “Mommy cry.”
Then Elias noticed the dark rectangle mounted high in the corner.
“A camera.”
Dominic turned.
The camera was old but connected to a small recording unit inside a cabinet.
Elias removed the drive.
“There may still be footage.”
They loaded the newest surviving file.
The date appeared.
Three nights before Elena’s death.
The screen showed the red room.
Empty at first.
Then the door opened.
Mrs. Hargrove entered.
Behind her came Victoria.
And between them—
Elena Vale.
Alive.
Barefoot.
Disoriented.
Fighting weakly as they dragged her into the room.
Dominic made a sound Clara would never forget.
On the video, Elena looked directly toward the hidden camera.
And mouthed two words.
Not help me.
Not Dominic.
May you like
She mouthed:
Save Noah.
