Chapter 9 - THE MAN WHO FOUND ETHAN
Ethan was alive.
Nothing else mattered for the first five minutes.
Victor abandoned every question.
Every suspicion.
Every plan.
He drove to Dominic Russo’s house himself.
Lily sat beside him.
She kept one hand pressed against the pendant at her throat and the other curled tightly around the edge of her seat.
When they arrived, ambulances filled the street.
Dominic’s wife, Maria, had already been transported.
Ethan remained inside because Dr. Mercer had personally arrived to examine him before moving him again.
Victor entered the house at a run.
He found his son in the guest bedroom.
Ethan was awake.
Confused.
Tired.
But alive.
Victor crossed the room and stopped beside the crib.
For a moment he was afraid to touch him.
Then Ethan saw him.
“Da.”
The tiny word destroyed what remained of Victor’s control.
He lifted his son carefully.
Ethan’s cast rested against Victor’s chest.
Victor closed his eyes.
Lily turned away.
She had never seen Victor cry.
She suspected very few people had.
He did not sob.
No sound escaped him.
But tears moved down his face while he held Ethan against his shoulder.
“Dad’s here.”
Victor whispered.
“I’m here.”
Lily wiped her own eyes.
Then Ethan saw her.
His small hand reached toward her.
“Li.”
Lily covered her mouth.
Victor looked at her.
Something passed between them.
No suspicion.
No power.
Only shared relief.
Lily stepped closer.
Ethan touched her cheek.
Then tucked his face against Victor again.
Dr. Mercer gave them two minutes.
Then reality returned.
“He was sedated.”
The doctor said.
Victor’s expression hardened.
“With what?”
“Same drug as before.”
“How much?”
“Small dose.”
“Enough to keep him sleepy.”
“No respiratory danger.”
Victor kissed Ethan’s hair.
“Take him to the secure clinic.”
Dr. Mercer nodded.
“This time I choose every nurse myself.”
Victor looked at Gabriel.
“And nobody knows the location except those in this room.”
Gabriel nodded.
Lily noticed Adrian standing at the doorway.
Victor did not include him in the circle of trust.
Adrian noticed too.
He said nothing.
After Ethan was moved, Victor walked into Dominic’s study.
The message remained on the wall.
ONE TRAITOR DOWN.
TWO TO GO.
The letters had been written in black paint.
Gabriel examined the room.
“No forced entry.”
“Dominic’s wife probably let them in.”
“Or Dominic did.”
Victor replied.
Lily looked around.
Family photographs covered a shelf.
Dominic and Maria at their wedding.
Their three children.
Dominic holding Ethan at his baptism.
Lily felt sick.
“What happened to Maria?”
“Concussion.”
Gabriel said.
“Someone struck her from behind.”
“Will she recover?”
“Yes.”
Victor stared at Dominic’s desk.
“Where is he?”
“No vehicle was taken.”
“No phone activity.”
“No credit cards.”
Adrian entered.
“He ran.”
Victor looked at him.
“Or someone took him.”
“Why leave Ethan here?”
Lily asked.
Adrian looked toward the message.
“To make us believe Dominic was involved.”
Victor crossed his arms.
“He had access.”
“So did hundreds of people.”
Gabriel replied.
Victor looked sharply at him.
Gabriel held his gaze.
For the first time, tension between them was visible.
Lily noticed something under the desk.
A torn photograph.
She crouched.
Victor frowned.
“What?”
Lily picked it up.
Half the image was missing.
The remaining half showed Dominic standing beside Thomas Bennett.
Lily’s father.
Her throat tightened.
“Victor.”
He took the photograph.
On the back, Thomas had written a date.
Three weeks before his death.
Beneath it were four words.
D.R. KNOWS THE SECOND LOCATION.
Victor looked at Lily.
“The recording was true.”
Lily nodded.
“Dominic knew.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“If Raymond took Dominic, that’s why.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“He wants the second copy.”
Gabriel checked the desk drawers.
Locked.
Victor forced one open.
Inside were old financial files.
No ledger.
No hard drive.
Then Lily saw a tiny brown notebook.
She opened it.
Most pages contained appointments.
Names.
Numbers.
One page had been ripped out.
The page beneath carried pressure marks.
Victor handed her a pencil.
Lily shaded the paper carefully.
Indented words appeared.
ST. MICHAEL’S.
BENEATH HER NAME.
E.B.
Victor stared.
“E.B.”
“Elena Blackwood?”
Lily suggested.
Adrian shook his head.
“Or Ethan Blackwood.”
Gabriel looked up.
“St. Michael’s cemetery.”
Victor’s face changed.
Elena was buried there.
So was his father.
His mother.
And Adrian’s empty grave.
“Beneath her name.”
Lily whispered.
“Elena’s grave.”
Victor looked toward Adrian.
“You said Thomas hid the second copy somewhere no Blackwood would willingly look.”
Adrian understood.
“A grave.”
Victor’s stomach tightened.
“Whose?”
Lily’s eyes moved toward him.
“Your wife’s.”
They left for St. Michael’s before dawn.
Victor hated himself for going.
The idea of opening Elena’s grave felt like betrayal.
But if Thomas had hidden evidence there before Elena died, perhaps it was not inside the grave itself.
The cemetery caretaker met them.
Victor asked for records.
They discovered something strange.
Three months before Elena’s death, Thomas Bennett had purchased a small memorial niche directly beneath the Blackwood family crypt.
The niche bore Elena’s maiden surname.
MORETTI.
Victor stared at it.
Elena had never known.
At least, he thought she had not.
The caretaker unlocked the niche.
Inside sat a sealed metal container.
Victor removed it.
Lily’s pulse quickened.
The container held an external hard drive.
A stack of photographs.
And a second digital recorder.
Victor pressed play.
Dominic’s voice filled the crypt.
“If anyone hears this, I have failed.”
Victor stared.
The recording had been made eight years earlier.
Dominic sounded younger.
“Thomas was killed tonight.”
Lily stopped breathing.
“I was supposed to meet him at nine.”
“He never arrived.”
“I found his car before the police did.”
“There was no accident.”
Lily’s eyes filled.
“His brakes were cut.”
She closed them.
Victor looked at her.
Dominic continued.
“Thomas called me thirty minutes before he died.”
“He said he had discovered Raymond’s inside man.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“Thomas gave me a name.”
The recording crackled.
Everyone leaned closer.
Then a gunshot-like burst of static swallowed the next word.
Lily’s eyes snapped open.
“No.”
The recording continued.
“I don’t know if I can trust Salvatore.”
“I don’t know if I can trust Victor.”
“But I know I cannot trust—”
More static.
The name vanished again.
Adrian swore.
Victor looked at the device.
“Can we recover the missing audio?”
Gabriel nodded.
“Maybe.”
Dominic continued.
“There’s another problem.”
“Adrian Blackwood is alive.”
Victor glanced at his brother.
Dominic’s voice continued.
“Thomas knew.”
“He believed Adrian could be turned.”
“I think Thomas was wrong.”
Adrian looked down.
Then Dominic said something none of them expected.
“Serena Montigue is pregnant.”
Silence.
Victor’s face changed.
The recording was eight years old.
Serena would have been twenty-four.
Victor had never known she had a child.
Dominic continued.
“The father is Raymond Hale.”
Lily covered her mouth.
Adrian whispered.
“Oh, God.”
Victor stared at him.
“What?”
Adrian’s face had gone pale.
“Raymond has a son.”
Victor’s expression hardened.
“So?”
Adrian looked at him.
“If that son is legally recognized as Raymond’s biological heir, he becomes another Blackwood descendant.”
Victor understood.
“The trust.”
Adrian nodded.
“He wouldn’t need Ethan dead if his own son could inherit.”
“Then why target Ethan?”
“Because there can only be one controlling beneficiary.”
Lily stared.
“Where is Serena’s child?”
No one answered.
Victor thought back through every detail of Serena’s life.
She had told him she had never been pregnant.
She had told him she wanted children someday.
She had told him Ethan could finally have the mother he deserved.
His stomach turned.
Gabriel’s phone rang.
He answered.
Then looked at Victor.
“Maria Russo is awake.”
Victor immediately took the phone.
“Maria.”
Her voice was weak.
“Victor?”
“Who attacked you?”
She began crying.
“I didn’t see.”
“Where is Dominic?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maria.”
Victor softened his voice.
“Who brought Ethan to your house?”
Silence.
Then Maria whispered.
“A boy.”
Victor frowned.
“What boy?”
“He wasn’t a boy anymore.”
“But that’s how I remember him.”
“Who?”
Maria started crying harder.
“He said Dominic would understand.”
Victor’s grip tightened.
“Maria, give me a name.”
She whispered it.
“Nicholas.”
Adrian staggered backward.
Victor looked at him.
“Who is Nicholas?”
Adrian’s face had turned gray.
He stared at the old recorder.
Then at Victor.
“Nicholas Montigue.”
“Serena’s younger brother?”
Victor asked.
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
“Serena doesn’t have a younger brother.”
He swallowed.
“Nicholas is her son.”
Lily felt cold.
Victor stared.
“How do you know?”
May you like
Adrian’s answer changed everything.
“Because I helped Raymond hide him.”
