Chapter 10 - Richard Came Back for the BoyDominic moved Grace, Noah, and Eli out of the mansion within thirty minutes.
Conspiracy.
Kidnapping.
Attempted murder.
Financial fraud.
Obstruction.
Investigators reopened both Elena’s fatal crash and the plane crash that had killed Dominic’s parents.
But Richard denied murdering Elena.
He claimed Noah’s memories were unreliable.
His defense team began preparing the obvious argument.
A traumatized four-year-old had been influenced by adults.
Dominic hated it.
Grace hated it more.
“He’s using Noah’s age against him,” Grace said.
Federal prosecutor Amelia Grant nodded.
“That’s what defense attorneys do.”
“So we let Noah testify?”
“No.”
Dominic answered before Amelia could.
“He’s not going into a courtroom.”
Amelia agreed.
“I don’t want him there either. Fortunately, we may not need him.”
The second memory card from Elena’s floor contained vehicle data.
Audio.
Location records.
A partially corrupted dashboard recording.
Marcus spent days helping forensic specialists recover it.
Meanwhile, Noah continued therapy.
His speech returned slowly.
Not normally.
Not all at once.
Some days he spoke full sentences.
Other days he said nothing.
Grace learned not to measure progress in words.
Sometimes progress was Noah allowing a door to close.
Sometimes it was sleeping without lights on.
Sometimes it was hearing a smoke alarm during a safety exercise without hiding beneath furniture.
Dominic changed too.
He moved meetings home.
Stopped checking Noah’s location every ten minutes.
Removed nearly every interior camera from the family areas.
He started eating breakfast with his son.
Badly.
“You burned toast,” Grace told him one morning.
Dominic stared at the black rectangle.
“I run a multinational company.”
“Congratulations.”
“I’ve negotiated contracts with three governments.”
“None of those governments asked you to operate a toaster?”
Noah giggled.
Dominic looked at him.
The laugh stopped him cold.
Noah laughed again.
Dominic sat down.
Grace pretended not to notice his eyes filling.
Life inside the mansion became less like a fortress.
Then the recovered dashboard footage arrived.
Amelia came personally.
“You need to prepare yourselves.”
Dominic sat beside Grace.
Noah was not present.
The screen showed Elena’s rental SUV parked along a mountain road.
Noah’s child voice could be heard in the back.
Then a door opened.
Richard climbed into the passenger seat.
Dominic’s hands clenched.
Elena sounded furious.
“Get out.”
“We need to talk.”
“There is nothing left to discuss.”
“You took documents that belong to me.”
“They belong to Dominic.”
“Same difference.”
“No.”
The car started moving.
Richard told her to take a service road.
Elena refused.
Then came an impact.
A struggle.
Noah screaming.
Richard shouted, “Drive!”
The footage blurred.
Ryan Keller’s voice came through Elena’s phone speaker.
Another vehicle followed them.
The SUV stopped near the cliff.
Richard said:
“Give me the files.”
Elena answered:
“They’re already somewhere you’ll never find.”
Richard cursed.
A gun clicked.
Dominic stood.
Grace grabbed his hand.
On the video, Elena whispered:
“Noah, close your eyes.”
Grace began crying.
The dashboard recording showed Richard striking Elena.
Then forcing her outside.
The image could not see beyond the hood.
But audio captured everything.
Elena begging Richard to leave Noah.
Richard demanding the evidence.
A gunshot into the air.
Then Elena screamed.
Metal scraped.
The vehicle rolled.
The camera spun.
Noah cried.
The recording ended.
Dominic walked out of the room.
Grace followed him to the garden.
He stopped beside a stone wall.
For a moment, she thought he would break something.
Instead he sank onto a bench.
“I heard her die.”
Grace sat beside him.
“I shouldn’t have watched.”
“You needed the truth.”
“I left her alone.”
“No.”
“If I had gone on the trip—”
“Dominic.”
She turned toward him.
“Richard killed Elena. Not your schedule. Not your company. Not you.”
His jaw trembled.
“I spent fourteen months thinking Noah’s silence was something I had failed to fix.”
“You kept trying to help him.”
“I didn’t listen.”
“You didn’t understand.”
“That doesn’t make it better.”
“No. But you understand now.”
He looked at her.
Grace continued.
“And you believe him now.”
Noah appeared at the garden door.
“Daddy?”
Dominic wiped his face.
“Hey, buddy.”
Noah walked over.
He looked at his father.
Then Grace.
“Mommy sad?”
Dominic froze.
Grace let him answer.
“Yes.”
“Mommy scared.”
“Yes.”
“Uncle Richard hurt Mommy.”
Dominic swallowed.
“Yes.”
Noah’s lip trembled.
“I bite lady.”
Dominic looked confused.
Grace understood.
“You bit the nannies.”
Noah nodded.
“They open door.”
“What door?” Dominic asked.
Noah pointed toward the east wing.
“Uncle say anybody find Mommy things... bad.”
Grace’s heart broke.
Richard had frightened him into believing anyone entering Elena’s rooms would be harmed.
The nannies had tried to manage him.
Move his toys.
Open closets.
Redirect him.
Every new adult represented danger.
Noah had been protecting them.
Driving them away.
Dominic pulled his son into his arms.
“You were trying to keep them safe?”
Noah cried.
“Sorry.”
“No.”
Dominic held him tighter.
“Noah, listen to me.”
The boy looked up.
“You never have to say sorry for being scared.”
Noah buried his face against Dominic.
Grace looked away.
That evening, Dominic found her on the rear terrace.
“Thank you.”
“You’ve said that.”
“Not enough.”
Grace smiled.
“You pay me.”
“This stopped being about your salary a long time ago.”
Their eyes met.
There had been moments between them for weeks.
Small ones.
A hand lingering.
Coffee left outside her door.
Dominic sitting beside her at Eli’s hospital.
Grace falling asleep against his shoulder during a three-hour therapy appointment.
Neither had named it.
Dominic stepped closer.
“Grace.”
The terrace door opened.
“Grace!”
Eli, now recovering at the mansion temporarily, waved a deck of cards.
“Noah says you cheat at Go Fish.”
Grace sighed.
Dominic laughed.
“Saved by a thirteen-year-old.”
“You’re assuming I needed saving.”
She walked inside.
Dominic watched her go.
For the first time since Elena’s death, his smile remained after she disappeared.
But the peace lasted less than twenty-four hours.
The next morning, Amelia called.
Richard Vale had been transported from federal detention for a medical evaluation.
His convoy was struck by a stolen truck.
May you like
Two officers were injured.
And Richard escaped.
