Chapter 9 - The Husband Who Knew Too Much
Dominic awoke in intensive care at 8:42 that morning.
Vivienne stood at the foot of his bed.
Machines monitored his heart. A bandage covered his upper chest. His left arm rested in a sling.
He opened his eyes slowly.
For a moment, he looked confused.
Then he saw her expression.
“What happened?”
“Senator Reed was shot at Hartwood House.”
Dominic’s eyes sharpened.
“Is he alive?”
“For now.”
“Your grandmother?”
“Safe.”
“Julian?”
“Safe.”
He exhaled.
Vivienne moved closer.
“Reed said you were the only person who knew where he was going.”
Dominic stared at the ceiling.
“I knew he might go there.”
“That isn’t what he said.”
“I never contacted a shooter.”
“Who knew about the archive?”
Dominic’s silence was answer enough.
Vivienne’s chest tightened.
“You knew my father was investigating the Circle.”
“Not at first.”
“How long?”
“Three years.”
“Three years?”
“I found references to Richard Hart in Circle correspondence.”
“And you never told me.”
“I didn’t know what was true.”
“You knew enough to use it.”
He looked at her.
“I was trying to get out.”
“You keep saying that as though escape makes you innocent.”
“I never claimed innocence.”
“Then stop speaking like a victim.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
He looked exhausted, pale, and diminished.
Vivienne reminded herself that weakness did not equal honesty.
“Who shot Reed?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Who else knew about the archive?”
“A Circle officer known as the Treasurer.”
“Name.”
“I never met him under his real identity.”
“You met him?”
“Twice.”
“Where?”
“Private residences. Phones were prohibited.”
“What did he look like?”
“Late fifties or early sixties. Tall. Gray hair. Scar on his right hand.”
Vivienne thought of the gala guests.
Hundreds of men had worn tuxedos. Many had gray hair.
“Was he at the gala?”
“I think so.”
“Who?”
Dominic hesitated.
“Gordon Pike.”
Vivienne stared at him.
“The board member who led the vote to suspend you?”
“That may have been part of the plan.”
“Or you’re accusing the man who removed you.”
“Check his right hand.”
Vivienne left the room and found Agent Sloan near the nurses’ station.
Within minutes, federal officers began searching for Gordon.
He was not at his home.
His phone had been turned off shortly after the gala.
Airport cameras showed him entering a private terminal at 3:10 a.m., but no flight plan had been filed under his name.
Sloan returned to Dominic’s room.
“Why didn’t you identify Pike sooner?”
“I didn’t know for certain.”
“You allowed him to remain inside a ballroom filled with evidence.”
“I was being investigated for bigamy, fraud, and theft. I wasn’t certain anyone would believe me.”
Vivienne crossed her arms.
“Did Gordon know Chloe?”
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“Better than I realized.”
Dominic explained that Chloe had been assigned to him five years earlier after Gordon recommended her. She had managed Dominic’s communications with Circle intermediaries while pretending the messages were ordinary company business.
“At first, she didn’t know what they were,” he said. “Eventually, Gordon recruited her.”
“And she recruited herself into your bed?” Celeste asked from the doorway.
Dominic looked away.
Celeste entered.
Noah and Sophie were eating breakfast under Julian’s supervision in a private family room.
“Chloe wants to speak with us,” Celeste said.
“Why us?” Vivienne asked.
“She says she’ll talk only if both wives are present.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Don’t trust her.”
Celeste laughed.
“Thank you. Your judgment of trustworthy women has been very helpful.”
Chloe occupied a guarded room two floors below.
Her wrist was in a cast. A cut above her eyebrow had been closed with stitches. Without her carefully arranged hair and makeup, she looked younger and more frightened.
She stared when Vivienne and Celeste entered.
“I’m sorry about the children.”
Celeste closed the door.
“You helped men take them.”
“I didn’t know Gordon planned that.”
“You started the hotel fire.”
“I was told to destroy the server.”
“There were six hundred people inside.”
“The alarm system was supposed to evacuate everyone before the fire spread.”
Vivienne stepped closer.
“You humiliated Sophie in the lobby.”
Chloe’s eyes filled with shame.
“I was angry.”
“At a seven-year-old?”
“At Dominic.”
“Then why hurt her?”
“Because he loved her.”
The answer silenced the room.
Chloe wiped her cheek.
“He never loved me the way he loved his children. He promised we would leave together. Then I found plane tickets for one passenger.”
“Lisbon,” Vivienne said.
Chloe nodded.
“I realized he planned to abandon all of us.”
Celeste sat down.
“When did Gordon contact you?”
“Two years ago. He said Dominic was stealing from the Circle and that I could protect the company.”
“So you became Gordon’s spy.”
“I thought I could control what information I gave him.”
Vivienne recognized the phrase.
Everyone involved believed they could control the Circle.
“Who shot Reed?” she asked.
Chloe looked toward the guard outside.
“Gordon.”
“Were you there?”
“No, but he called me afterward. He said Marcus had become weak.”
“Where is Gordon now?”
“I don’t know.”
Celeste leaned over the bed.
“You asked for us. Why?”
Chloe’s gaze moved between the two women.
“Because Dominic hid one more family.”
Vivienne went still.
“What?”
“Not a wife. A child.”
Dominic had a daughter.
Her name was Emily Pike.
She was twenty-four years old.
Gordon Pike’s wife had died shortly after giving birth. Gordon had raised Emily as his own daughter, but Dominic was her biological father.
Celeste’s voice shook.
“How old was Dominic?”
“Twenty-two.”
“That was before he married me.”
Chloe nodded.
“Gordon covered it up because Dominic had begun working for him. He used the secret to control him.”
Vivienne understood the missing piece.
Gordon had not merely recruited Dominic.
He had owned him for more than two decades.
“Where is Emily?” Vivienne asked.
“She works for the Hart Foundation.”
The room seemed to contract.
“What does she do?”
“She manages digital archives.”
Vivienne thought of the hidden room beneath Hartwood House.
The shooter had known the location because Emily had found it.
“Gordon didn’t need Dominic to tell him,” Vivienne said.
Chloe nodded.
“Emily has been searching Hart records for years.”
“Does she know Dominic is her father?”
“Yes.”
“Does she work for the Circle?”
May you like
Chloe looked frightened.
“Emily is the Circle now.”
