Chapter 9 - Two Sisters
They traced Evelyn’s call.
Not the pier.
Not Connecticut.
A motel near White Plains.
Dominic wanted to split the team.
Hannah refused.
“You go after the girls.”
“I’m not leaving Evelyn.”
“Your daughters need you.”
“So does my wife.”
Hannah looked at him.
“I’ll get her.”
Dominic stared as if she had suggested walking into a fire.
“No.”
“She called me.”
“No.”
“She looks exactly like me.”
“That is exactly why Julian may want you.”
“Dominic.”
He stepped closer.
“If something happens to you—”
“What?”
His jaw tightened.
Hannah waited.
Dominic finally said, “My daughters just found you.”
The words landed harder than she expected.
She softened.
“Then make sure they keep me.”
He hated it.
But there was no time.
Luca went with Hannah.
Dominic headed toward the pier.
The motel room was unlocked.
Hannah pushed open the door.
A lamp burned beside the bed.
A woman sat on the floor.
Thin.
Barefoot.
Hospital bracelet still around her wrist.
Hannah stopped breathing.
The woman looked up.
It was like looking into a broken mirror.
Same face.
Different life.
Evelyn began crying.
“Hannah?”
Hannah fell to her knees.
Neither woman knew what to say.
Twenty-six years of missing history stood between them.
So Hannah did the only thing that felt right.
She hugged her.
Evelyn clung to her.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop.”
“I knew.”
“We’ll fight later.”
A laugh escaped through Evelyn’s tears.
“You sound like Dad.”
Hannah pulled back.
“He was my dad.”
“Our uncle.”
Hannah froze.
“What?”
Evelyn wiped her eyes.
“Daniel wasn’t our biological father.”
Hannah’s world tilted again.
“He raised you. Aunt Theresa raised me.”
“Why did nobody tell us?”
“Because adults make decisions children spend their lives paying for.”
Hannah almost laughed.
“That might be the truest thing I’ve heard all week.”
Luca checked the windows.
“We need to move.”
Evelyn grabbed Hannah.
“The girls?”
“Dominic is going to them.”
Fear exploded across Evelyn’s face.
“No.”
“He knows it’s a trap.”
“You don’t understand.”
Evelyn struggled to stand.
Hannah helped her.
“Tell me.”
“Julian doesn’t want the companies anymore.”
“What does he want?”
“Dominic dead.”
Luca turned.
Evelyn continued.
“He moved money through Dominic’s accounts for years. If Dominic dies tonight, everything points to him. Julian walks away clean.”
Hannah’s phone rang.
Dominic.
She answered immediately.
“We found the girls.”
Relief nearly dropped her.
“Are they okay?”
A pause.
“Hannah…”
Her stomach tightened.
“What?”
“The building’s wired.”
Luca swore.
Dominic spoke quickly.
“Julian locked them inside the old elevator cage. Bomb team says we have twelve minutes.”
Hannah looked at Evelyn.
Her sister went white.
“Dominic,” Evelyn whispered.
He heard her.
Silence.
“Evelyn?”
She covered her mouth.
Dominic’s breathing changed.
“Ev?”
“I’m here.”
His voice broke.
For one second, the mafia boss disappeared.
Only a husband remained.
“I’m coming home,” Evelyn said.
Dominic looked at his trapped daughters through whatever nightmare surrounded him.
May you like
“So are they.”
Then the line went dead.
