Chapter 9 - CECILIA'S OFFER
We reached the mansion twenty-five minutes later.
Cecilia was gone.
So was her car.
The girls were safe.
That was the only thing that mattered immediately.
Grace ran to them.
Olivia wrapped both arms around her.
I checked every room.
Cecilia had taken nothing obvious except the flash drive.
Anthony stood in the foyer staring at the empty space where her coat had been.
“She left me.”
I looked at him.
“She left before today.”
He understood.
The woman he had married might never have existed.
At 9:16 that morning, his phone rang.
Cecilia.
He answered on speaker.
“Where are you?”
Her laugh was soft.
“Now you care?”
“Cecilia.”
“I need to speak with Dominic.”
I took the phone.
“Talk.”
“You sound angry.”
“You entered my house and stole something belonging to Isabelle.”
“She stole from me first.”
“What?”
“My future.”
I looked at Anthony.
His eyes closed.
Cecilia continued.
“Do you know what it’s like marrying into the Romano family?”
“Yes.”
“Everybody thinks you won something.”
“You didn’t?”
“I married a man who spent his entire life standing behind his older brother.”
Anthony’s jaw tightened.
I said nothing.
She continued.
“Your father treated Anthony like a spare.”
“You treated him like an employee.”
“And Isabelle treated me like somebody she had to tolerate.”
“That’s your justification?”
“I don’t need one.”
“What’s on the drive?”
“Insurance.”
“Against whom?”
“Victor.”
That surprised me.
“You’re working with him.”
“I was.”
“Was?”
“He lied to me.”
“Imagine my shock.”
Her voice sharpened.
“You think this is funny?”
“No.”
“You should be grateful.”
“For what?”
“I can give you everything.”
“Then do it.”
“I want something first.”
“Money?”
“No.”
“What?”
“A new identity.”
Anthony stared at the phone.
Cecilia continued.
“Enough money to disappear.”
“And immunity from anything connected to the foundation.”
“You stole from children’s charities.”
“Victor stole.”
“You helped.”
Silence.
I knew I was right.
“How much did you take?”
“I moved what he told me to move.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“Dominic, listen to me.”
“No.”
“My wife died after discovering your scheme.”
“I did not cause what happened to Isabelle.”
“Then tell me who did.”
A long pause.
“Victor knows.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“Where are you?”
“Not stupid.”
“You want protection.”
“Yes.”
“Then give me something.”
She hesitated.
Finally she said, “The missing thirty-seven seconds weren’t deleted.”
Everyone in the room looked at me.
“Where are they?”
“On Isabelle’s drive.”
“The one you stole?”
“Yes.”
“Send them.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Encryption.”
“Password?”
“Only Isabelle knew it.”
“Then the drive is useless.”
“No.”
Cecilia lowered her voice.
“Because your daughter knows the password.”
I looked at Olivia.
She stared back at me.
“Which daughter?”
“The oldest.”
“How would you know that?”
“Because Isabelle told Olivia to remember four words.”
Olivia’s expression changed.
I saw it.
She remembered.
Cecilia heard the silence.
“She knows.”
“What are the words?”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t need you.”
The call ended.
I looked at Olivia.
She walked toward Isabelle’s photograph.
Then touched the frame.
“Mommy said it was our song.”
“What song?”
“You Are My Sunshine.”
My throat tightened.
“The password is lyrics?”
She shook her head.
“Four words.”
Then she whispered them.
“Sunshine comes after rain.”
Grace typed them into a secure laptop.
The flash drive was gone.
But Carlo had copied part of its file signature from the camera system when Cecilia accessed it.
Enough to locate a hidden backup server.
Isabelle had been careful.
Very careful.
Grace entered the words.
A folder opened.
VIDEO.
FINANCIAL.
LETTERS.
FINAL.
My hand hovered over the trackpad.
I clicked VIDEO.
The missing thirty-seven seconds appeared.
The preschool parking lot filled the screen.
Isabelle argued with Cecilia.
Anthony stood across the lot.
Then Victor approached.
He spoke to Isabelle.
She stepped away.
Victor grabbed her wrist.
She pulled free.
Nothing graphic.
Nothing dramatic.
But clearly hostile.
Then another man entered the frame.
He moved between them.
Carlo leaned toward the screen.
“No.”
I recognized him too.
David Bennett.
Grace’s older brother.
Grace staggered backward.
“My brother?”
Victor pointed toward Isabelle.
David shook his head.
Then the video ended.
Grace stared at the frozen frame.
“My brother died three years ago.”
I looked at her.
“How?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“He supposedly took his own life.”
The room went silent.
Then a new file automatically opened.
Isabelle appeared.
She looked directly into the camera.
“If Grace is seeing this, she needs to know something.”
Grace covered her mouth.
“David did not betray her.”
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“He tried to help me.”
“And Victor found out.”
