Chapter 5 - THE SECOND TRAITORBy sunrise, Dominic Vale trusted exactly three people.
Again.
She was starting to hate chairs.
The room smelled like gasoline, seawater, and rust. No windows. One bulb overhead.
Victor Sloane sat across from her.
At sixty-two, Sloane had silver hair, calm eyes, and the polite manner of a wealthy grandfather.
That politeness had fooled people for decades.
Anna had never been fooled.
“Dominic knows,” Sloane said.
Anna looked at him.
“About Sophie?”
“Yes.”
She closed her eyes.
A complicated wave of relief and grief hit her.
She had spent five years imagining that moment.
Dominic discovering the truth.
Sometimes she pictured rage.
Sometimes tears.
Sometimes rejection.
Never like this.
Never while she was tied to a chair.
“Is she safe?”
Sloane smiled.
“You're not really in a position to ask questions.”
“Then stop talking.”
His smile faded.
“You always were difficult.”
“You always were boring.”
He laughed softly.
“That explains why Dominic loved you.”
Anna looked away.
Sloane leaned closer.
“The ledger.”
“I don't have it.”
“You know where it is.”
“No.”
“Anna.”
She met his eyes.
“If I knew, you would've gotten it out of me already.”
Sloane studied her.
“You assume torture is my only option.”
“No. I assume you're arrogant enough to think conversation will make me betray everyone I love.”
“Everyone?”
His gaze sharpened.
“Interesting word.”
Anna said nothing.
Sloane stood.
“You disappeared because you thought distance would protect Sophie.”
“It worked for five years.”
“No. I allowed it to work.”
Anna laughed.
“That bothers you, doesn't it?”
“What?”
“That Dominic built a stronger empire while you were obsessed with destroying him.”
Sloane's smile vanished.
“You misunderstand our history.”
“I understand it perfectly.”
“Do you?”
He walked toward the door.
“Dominic's father killed my brother.”
“Your brother tried to kill Dominic's mother.”
“A family disagreement.”
“That's a generous description.”
Sloane opened the door.
Then stopped.
“Do you know what I admire about Dominic?”
Anna didn't answer.
“He understands loyalty.”
Sloane looked back.
“Which is why discovering who betrayed him will hurt more than losing you.”
The door closed.
Anna stared after him.
That was the real danger.
Not the ledger.
Not Sophie.
The traitor.
Someone inside Dominic's inner circle had been working with Sloane for years.
Anna had spent six years trying to identify them.
And three months earlier, she finally had.
But proof was another matter.
She needed evidence.
The ledger contained it.
The real ledger.
Not the financial book everyone assumed they were hunting.
A digital archive.
Names.
Payments.
Photographs.
Recorded calls.
Enough evidence to bring down judges, detectives, corporate executives, and two federal prosecutors.
Enough to destroy Victor Sloane.
And the person closest to Dominic who had been feeding him information.
Anna lowered her head.
Sophie knew where it was.
Not consciously.
Anna would never burden her child with that.
But Sophie had helped hide it during a game.
A memory card sealed inside a plastic charm.
A small silver star attached to Sophie's favorite stuffed rabbit.
Dominic had the child.
That meant Dominic had the ledger.
If he knew where to look.
Anna prayed he didn't.
Not yet.
Because the moment Sloane realized Dominic possessed it, he would stop negotiating.
He would start killing.
Across Manhattan, Dominic stood in his penthouse living room while Sophie slept on the sofa.
She refused to sleep alone.
He didn't blame her.
Gabriel had doubled security.
Julian sat at the kitchen island with an ice pack against his ribs.
Dominic held Anna's photograph.
Pregnant.
Smiling slightly.
He couldn't stop staring.
“She looks terrified,” he said.
Julian looked over.
“She was.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Losing you.”
Dominic laughed bitterly.
“She chose that.”
“She chose Sophie.”
“She could've told me.”
“Sloane had people watching you.”
“I could've protected them.”
Julian leaned forward.
“You almost got Sophie killed twice tonight.”
Dominic turned.
Julian raised a hand.
“I'm not blaming you. I'm explaining Anna's fear.”
Dominic looked toward his sleeping daughter.
Sophie had curled around a worn stuffed rabbit Gabriel retrieved from Anna's apartment.
One ear was ripped.
The rabbit wore a small silver star charm.
Dominic had noticed Sophie touching it repeatedly.
“Where did she live?”
“Queens for a while. New Jersey. Boston. Back to New York eighteen months ago.”
“She came back here?”
Julian nodded.
“Why?”
“To finish this.”
“Finish what?”
“The investigation.”
Dominic walked to the window.
“Anna disappeared from me so Sophie would be safe, then brought her back into the same city as Sloane.”
“She thought she had enough evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
Julian looked at him.
“The person inside your organization.”
Dominic turned slowly.
“You know who?”
“No.”
“You're lying.”
“I know what Anna suspected.”
“Who?”
Julian hesitated.
Dominic's patience disappeared.
“Who?”
“Gabriel.”
Silence.
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“You're accusing Gabriel?”
“I said Anna suspected him.”
“Gabriel has been beside me since I was nineteen.”
“I know.”
“He carried my mother out of our house when she collapsed.”
“I know.”
“He saved my life twice.”
“I know.”
“Then choose another name.”
“That isn't how evidence works.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“What evidence?”
“Access patterns. Every time information leaked, Gabriel was among the people who knew.”
“So were you.”
“Yes.”
Dominic stared.
“So was Anna.”
“Yes.”
“Interesting.”
Julian understood the accusation.
“You think I'm the leak.”
“I think you've been dead for seven years and conveniently survived in Sloane's world.”
Julian stood.
“I was undercover.”
“For who?”
“For this family.”
“You expect gratitude?”
“No.”
“Good.”
A voice interrupted.
“Stop fighting.”
Sophie stood near the couch, holding her rabbit.
Dominic immediately softened.
“Sorry.”
“You're loud.”
Julian smiled.
“Your dad has always been loud.”
Dominic glared.
Sophie looked at Julian.
“Are you my uncle?”
Julian's face changed.
“Yes.”
“Mom said I had an uncle.”
“She did?”
“She said he made terrible jokes.”
Julian laughed.
“That sounds like me.”
Sophie climbed onto a chair.
“Are you dead?”
Julian blinked.
Dominic almost smiled.
“Apparently,” Julian said, “your mother told you quite a lot.”
“She said Uncle Julian had to pretend to be dead.”
Dominic looked sharply at Sophie.
“When did she tell you that?”
“Last week.”
Julian frowned.
“Why?”
Sophie shrugged.
“She said if bad things happened, I had to remember three people.”
Dominic crouched.
“What three?”
“You.”
She pointed at Dominic.
“Uncle Julian.”
Then she looked around.
“And Mr. Gabe.”
Gabriel entered at that exact moment.
Everyone fell silent.
He noticed.
“What?”
Sophie smiled.
“Mom said I could trust you.”
Gabriel stopped.
Dominic watched his face carefully.
Gabriel looked genuinely startled.
“She did?”
Sophie nodded.
“She said you're grumpy but good.”
Julian coughed.
“Accurate.”
Gabriel ignored him.
Dominic's suspicion shifted.
If Anna suspected Gabriel, why teach Sophie to trust him?
Unless Anna had changed her mind.
Or wanted someone to believe she had.
Sophie placed the rabbit on the table.
Dominic noticed the silver star again.
“What's his name?”
“Captain Bunny.”
“Captain?”
“He protects secrets.”
Julian's expression sharpened.
“What secrets?”
Sophie hugged the rabbit.
“Secret secrets.”
Dominic smiled gently.
“Your mom gave him to you?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“On my birthday.”
Julian stared at the silver charm.
Dominic noticed.
“What?”
Julian stood.
“Anna used silver star pendants as dead drops.”
Gabriel frowned.
“For what?”
“Micro-storage.”
Dominic carefully picked up the charm.
Sophie immediately protested.
“Don't break it!”
“I won't.”
He examined it.
A tiny seam ran along the edge.
Dominic twisted it.
The star opened.
Inside was a microSD card.
Everyone froze.
Julian whispered, “There it is.”
Dominic looked toward his daughter.
Sophie hugged Captain Bunny.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“No.”
He closed his hand around the card.
“You did exactly what your mom needed you to do.”
They inserted the card into an isolated laptop.
Encrypted files appeared.
Thousands.
Gabriel looked over Dominic's shoulder.
“Password.”
Sophie spoke from behind them.
“Try pancakes.”
Three grown men turned.
“What?”
“Mom uses pancakes for everything.”
Julian typed PANCAKES.
Access denied.
Sophie frowned.
“Maybe Captain Pancakes.”
Denied.
“Blueberry pancakes?”
Denied.
Dominic stared at the login screen.
Then remembered something.
Anna's favorite diner.
Sunday mornings.
She always ordered pancakes with—
“Lemon.”
Julian typed LEMONPANCAKES.
Access granted.
Folders appeared.
Payments.
Photographs.
Government officials.
Companies.
Police.
Sloane.
Then one folder labeled:
THE MOLE.
Dominic clicked.
Password required.
Gabriel leaned closer.
Dominic noticed Julian staring at him.
Everyone suddenly understood.
Whatever was inside could destroy one of them.
Dominic typed ANNA.
Denied.
SOPHIE.
Denied.
JULIAN.
Denied.
GABRIEL.
Denied.
Dominic thought.
Then typed his own name.
DOMINIC.
Access granted.
The folder opened.
One photograph filled the screen.
Dominic stared.
Julian's mouth fell open.
Gabriel whispered, “No.”
Because the person standing beside Victor Sloane in the photograph wasn't Gabriel.
It wasn't Julian.
It was Dominic's godfather.
Michael Rourke.
The man currently controlling Dominic's entire security network from the Halcyon Crown.
Then Gabriel's phone rang.
He answered.
His face drained.
“What?”
Dominic stood.
Gabriel lowered the phone.
“Michael just disappeared.”
“Where?”
“We don't know.”
Dominic looked at the photograph again.
Then another file automatically opened.
A video.
Anna appeared on screen.
The date was three days earlier.
She looked exhausted.
“Dominic, if you're watching this, then something happened to me.”
He couldn't move.
Anna continued.
“Michael Rourke has been working with Victor Sloane for at least twelve years.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Michael had been his father's closest friend.
His mentor.
The man who taught Dominic to drive.
Shoot.
Fight.
Negotiate.
Trust no one.
Anna's voice continued.
“But Michael isn't the only traitor.”
Dominic opened his eyes.
“There is someone else.”
Julian looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel looked at Dominic.
Anna's recording continued.
“And this person is closer to you than Michael ever was.”
The video suddenly corrupted.
Static filled the screen.
Then it stopped.
Dominic stared at the frozen image.
Someone else.
May you like
A second traitor.
And they had only twenty-three hours before Dominic was expected to trade the ledger for Anna.
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