Chapter 10 - The Passenger Who Died
“The hospital said Rafael was dead.”
Vincent replayed the crash footage.
“They identified the body.”
Dominic stared at the screen.
“Whose body?”
Nobody knew.
The video showed Lydia driving.
Dominic in the rear.
Rafael in the passenger seat.
Seconds before impact, Rafael jumped.
The SUV struck a concrete divider.
Lydia’s airbag exploded.
Then the footage ended.
Dominic rubbed his forehead.
His memories came in fragments.
Rain.
Blood.
A woman screaming.
Then waking in the hospital.
“You were drugged,” Vincent said. “Memory gaps make sense.”
Dominic looked at the timestamp.
“Rafael escaped before the crash.”
“Looks like it.”
“And Lydia?”
“She survived.”
“Then who was declared dead?”
Vincent checked archived reports.
The body attributed to Rafael had been burned beyond recognition.
Identification had relied on dental records.
Dominic stared at him.
“Same as Margaret Rowan.”
Vincent nodded.
False death by dental identification.
Twice.
A signature method.
“Who signed Rafael’s identification?”
Vincent searched.
Then his face tightened.
“Mercer.”
Dominic didn’t speak.
The room turned cold.
Mercer had lied.
Again.
They returned to the estate before dawn.
Mercer was waiting.
Dominic walked directly toward him.
“You identified Rafael’s body.”
Mercer went pale.
“Dominic—”
Vincent punched him.
Mercer hit the wall.
Clare screamed from the doorway.
Dominic didn’t stop Vincent this time.
“You signed a false report.”
Mercer wiped blood from his mouth.
“I was forced.”
“By who?”
“Rafael.”
“That makes no sense.”
“He had my son.”
Dominic froze.
Mercer’s voice broke.
“My son has a gambling problem. He owed money. Rafael’s people took him.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you would’ve fixed it with violence.”
Vincent laughed bitterly.
“And how’s your strategy working?”
Mercer looked ashamed.
“I identified the body as Rafael. I helped Lydia disappear from the hospital record.”
“Did you switch my medication?”
“No.”
“Sabotage the brace?”
“No.”
“Sabotage the SUV?”
“No.”
“Then what exactly did you do besides lie to me every day?”
Mercer looked at Dominic.
“I kept you alive after the crash.”
The words stopped him.
Mercer continued.
“You had internal bleeding the first hospital missed.”
Dominic remembered the emergency transfer.
Mercer had insisted.
“You would’ve died by morning.”
“Why save me if Rafael wanted me dead?”
Mercer shook his head.
“He didn’t.”
Dominic stared.
“The crash was supposed to cripple you.”
Clare covered her mouth.
“Not kill you,” Mercer said.
“They wanted the council to remove you.”
Vincent looked furious.
“Why?”
“So Arthur would take control.”
Dominic looked toward the empty conference room.
Arthur.
The coerced replacement.
“And then?”
Mercer’s eyes lowered.
“Arthur was supposed to sign the Halsted property back to a Rowan trust.”
Dominic frowned.
“Halsted?”
“The land where Michael’s body was buried.”
It suddenly made sense.
Not money.
Not empire.
The land.
Rafael wanted the site.
Why?
Evidence.
If Michael Rowan’s remains were still beneath that property, a public redevelopment could destroy them forever.
Dominic’s father had buried a man beneath a foundation.
Then Dominic’s company had demolished the warehouse.
Tomorrow’s groundbreaking would drive new pilings into the ground.
Whatever remained could be lost.
Dominic looked at Mercer.
“Why didn’t Rafael simply tell me?”
“Would you have believed him?”
Dominic said nothing.
Mercer nodded.
“That’s why.”
Clare stepped forward.
“So my brother drugged Dominic, staged a crash, blackmailed Arthur, kidnapped Angela, terrified my daughter and threatened to kill people because he wanted a body recovered?”
Mercer looked at her sadly.
“It stopped being only about Michael a long time ago.”
Clare wiped her eyes.
“What does that mean?”
“Rafael wants Leonard Vale’s entire legacy destroyed.”
Dominic’s phone rang.
Arthur.
He answered.
“Where are you?”
Arthur’s voice sounded wrong.
“Dominic.”
“What happened?”
“I found Lydia.”
Dominic straightened.
“Where?”
“My house.”
“Do not go inside.”
Too late.
Arthur whispered, “She’s here with me.”
A second voice entered the call.
Lydia.
“Good morning, Dominic.”
Vincent motioned for a trace.
Lydia continued.
“Bring Clare.”
Clare froze.
Dominic’s voice hardened.
“No.”
“Then Arthur dies.”
In the background, Arthur grunted.
Clare grabbed Dominic’s arm.
“Don’t.”
Lydia laughed softly.
“You still think Clare is innocent?”
Dominic looked at her.
Lydia continued.
“Ask her why she applied to your house.”
Clare’s face changed.
Dominic saw it.
May you like
And suddenly he knew.
There was something Clare had never told him.
