Chapter 4: The Signature That Could Destroy Me
I stared at the photograph on my phone until the letters blurred.
The document carried my signature, my company seal, and the date of a meeting I barely remembered. Across the top, in bold black letters, were the words Special Security Authorization.
Below them was a paragraph authorizing an operation against an unnamed individual suspected of stealing company assets.
At the bottom, beneath my signature, someone had typed three words.
*Termination authorized immediately.*
"That's not real," I said.
Elena stood beside the kitchen island, gripping its edge.
"Dominic, what does it say?""
I showed her the screen.
She read the document once. Then again.
Her face grew paler with every line.
"Who was the target?"" she whispered.
"I don't know.""
"You signed an order authorizing someone's death, and you don't know?""
"I've signed thousands of security authorizations. Most were prepared by Vincent. Some were for people who threatened my business.
Others were for people who stole from me."" I looked up.
"But I never authorized the murder of my wife.""
A heavy thud sounded from the basement door.
Nora buried her face against Grace's stomach.
I crouched beside my youngest daughter.
"Sweetheart, listen to me. Did Mommy ever tell you that Daddy wanted someone hurt?""
Nora shook her head.
"Did you see Daddy sign anything?""
She hesitated.
Then she whispered, "You were sleeping.""
I frowned.
"What?""
"That night. Mommy was crying in the office. Vincent had papers. You were sleeping on the couch.""
My mouth went dry.
I remembered that night.
I'd returned from a business dinner with a splitting headache. Vincent had brought documents to the study and said a few urgent matters needed my signature. I remembered drinking water, rubbing my eyes, and signing several pages while barely looking at them.
I'd trusted him to handle the details.
"Did you see what was on the papers?"" I asked.
Nora nodded.
"Mommy took one away.""
"What happened then?""
"She said, 'Dominic would never do this if he knew.''"
Elena covered her mouth.
Grace pulled Nora into her arms.
I rose slowly, a terrible realization forming in my mind. If Vincent had placed fraudulent documents in front of me, he could have manufactured the evidence to make me appear responsible for a crime.
But why?
What did he gain by making me believe I had ordered someone's death?
My phone rang.
The screen displayed an unknown number.
I answered without speaking.
"Dominic," a man's voice said, "you need to get your children out of that house.""
"Who is this?""
"Raymond. The guard who was with Vincent.""
I glanced toward the hallway.
"Where are you?""
"Outside the estate. Listen carefully. Vincent has locked down the property. He's using the backup security network, and he's got men coming through the east entrance.""
"Why are you helping me?""
A pause followed.
"Because I saw what he did to Isabelle.""
My chest tightened.
"You were there when she was killed?""
"I saw the car. I saw the shooter. But the man the police arrested wasn't the one who pulled the trigger.""
"Who was?""
"I never saw his face clearly. But I saw the silver ring.""
I looked at Elena.
She had heard him.
"Get to the front gate," I ordered.
"I'll meet you there.""
"You can't leave through the front gate.""
"Why not?""
"Because Vincent has been waiting for you to try.""
The call ended.
I immediately dialed the estate's emergency security line. A computerized voice informed me that access had been restricted by the chief security administrator.
Vincent had control of the house.
Every camera. Every lock. Every alarm.
I had built a fortress to protect my family, and the man I trusted most had turned it into a cage.
"There's another way out," Grace said.
She moved toward the pantry and pushed aside a narrow shelf. Behind it was a small service door leading to the old laundry corridor.
"Isabelle showed me this passage when I started working here," she explained.
"It connects to the gardener's cottage.""
"Why would my wife show you a secret exit?""
Grace looked at Elena.
"Because she knew this day might come.""
Before I could question her further, Olivia approached me.
She held something tightly in her fist.
"Mommy gave me this," she whispered.
She opened her hand.
A small brass key lay in her palm.
"She said if the bad man came back, I should give it to Daddy.""
I took it carefully.
A tiny number had been engraved into the metal.
*B-17.*
Elena gasped.
"Where did she get that?""
"Mommy put it inside my teddy bear," Olivia answered.
"Before she died.""
I looked toward the stairs.
"What does B-17 open?""
Elena's eyes filled with dread.
"The archive room beneath the house.""
I remembered the room. It had once been used to store old company records before I moved everything to Manhattan.
I'd ordered it sealed after Isabelle's death.
No one had been supposed to enter it since.
Then my phone vibrated again.
A message from Vincent appeared.
You have ten minutes to bring me the key, Dominic.
Another message followed.
If you don't, your daughters will learn what happened to their mother the hard way.
I slipped the key into my pocket.
Grace gathered the girls and led them toward the hidden passage.
Elena followed, but before I could step through the doorway, a voice came from the hallway behind us.
"Mr. Romano?""
One of the security guards stood in the red emergency light.
He held a pistol pointed at my chest.
"I'm sorry, sir," he said.
"Mr. Hale wants the key.""
I slowly raised my hands.
Then I heard three small voices behind me.
Olivia, Sophie, and Nora were singing their mother's lullaby again.
The guard glanced toward them.
That fraction of a second was all I needed.
I struck his wrist, drove him against the wall, and seized the weapon as it fell. He groaned and slid to the floor.
I didn't shoot him.
I stepped over his legs and followed my family into the passage.
As the hidden door closed behind us, the guard shouted something into his radio.
A moment later, Vincent's voice echoed through the house speakers.
"Dominic, you've just made the worst mistake of your life.""
I kept moving.
May you like
Because for the first time in fourteen months, my daughters were speaking.
And I wasn't going to let anyone silence them again.
