Chapter 6 - The House on Lake Shore Drive
Norah was moved to Dominic's estate.
She hated it.
The mansion was beautiful in the way museums were beautiful—expensive, silent, and completely unfamiliar.
“You can leave whenever you want,” Dominic told her.
“You know that's not true.”
“I'll never physically stop you.”
“But?”
“But I'll probably follow.”
Norah almost smiled.
“You're impossible.”
“So I've been told.”
That evening, Norah discovered a locked room.
She wasn't looking for it.
She was looking for the kitchen.
She opened the wrong door.
Inside were dozens of boxes.
Newspapers.
Photographs.
Police reports.
Her mother's name appeared everywhere.
Norah froze.
Dominic appeared behind her.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“You shouldn't have hidden this.”
“I didn't hide it.”
“You locked it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because some things are dangerous.”
Norah picked up a photograph.
Her mother stood beside Dominic's uncle.
But there was someone else in the background.
A teenage boy.
Dominic.
Norah looked at him.
“You knew my mother.”
Dominic nodded.
“I met her twice.”
“What did she tell you?”
“That your father wasn't dead.”
Norah dropped the photograph.
“My father died when I was five.”
“That's what you were told.”
“Who told you?”
“Your mother.”
Norah's voice broke.
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“You know everything.”
“I wish I did.”
She turned away.
Dominic watched her.
Then he said:
“Your father was a federal informant.”
Norah slowly turned.
“What?”
“He infiltrated my family's organization.”
“Why?”
“To expose it.”
“Then why did my mother protect him?”
“Because she loved him.”
Norah stared.
For twenty-three years, she had believed her father died in a car accident.
Now everything was collapsing.
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“To keep you alive.”
Norah wiped her tears.
“She should have trusted me.”
Dominic's voice softened.
“She trusted you enough to lie.”
Norah looked at him.
“That's not trust.”
“No.”
He paused.
“Sometimes it's love.”
A silence settled between them.
Then the lights went out.
Dominic immediately reached for his weapon.
Norah whispered:
“What happened?”
“Stay behind me.”
A gunshot echoed downstairs.
Then another.
Dominic moved.
Norah followed.
“Stay here!”
“No.”
“Norah!”
She ignored him.
They reached the staircase.
A figure in black stood at the front door.
Dominic raised his weapon.
The stranger didn't shoot.
Instead, he threw something onto the floor.
A small envelope.
Then he disappeared into the night.
Dominic picked it up.
Inside was one photograph.
Norah's father.
Alive.
Standing beside a federal agent.
May you like
And on the back:
HE'S BEEN WATCHING YOU FOR TWENTY YEARS.
