Chapter 3 - THE ENEMY UNDER HIS ROOF Angela Pierce entered Dominic’s study shortly after midnight wrapped in a gray blanket.
Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
Dominic expected fear.
What he didn’t expect was the first name she whispered.
“Peter Sloan.”
For twelve years, Peter had controlled Dominic’s household.
Keys.
Schedules.
Security access.
Staff rotations.
Every private entrance.
Every vulnerability.
Dominic stared at Angela.
“Start at the beginning.”
Three weeks earlier, Peter had approached her after rehabilitation.
He asked whether a poorly adjusted brace could slow Dominic’s recovery.
Angela assumed the question was innocent.
She explained that excessive pressure could cause swelling, pain, and nerve irritation.
Then Peter offered her fifty thousand dollars.
She refused.
Peter threatened her brother.
Angela stayed silent.
And the sabotage began.
Small adjustments.
Tiny changes.
Nothing dramatic enough to trigger immediate suspicion.
Just enough pain.
Just enough weakness.
Just enough failure.
Dominic remembered Ellie repeating those words.
Just enough.
Arthur had never needed Dominic dead after the crash.
He merely needed Dominic incapable of standing before the council.
But Angela’s next confession changed everything.
Arthur had personally reversed the retaining plate.
Dominic became perfectly still.
Vincent asked the question.
“Where is Peter?”
A security officer checked.
Then checked again.
Peter Sloan was gone.
He had used an emergency override twenty minutes earlier.
Dominic looked toward the ceiling.
“Clare and Ellie.”
Vincent grabbed his radio.
Before anyone answered, the fire alarm screamed.
Smoke poured from the service corridor.
Dominic ran.
His damaged leg nearly buckled.
He kept moving.
Upstairs, the guest room was empty.
Then Clare screamed from near the service elevator.
“He took her!”
Dominic’s blood went cold.
“Who?”
“Peter!”
Clare grabbed Dominic’s sleeve.
“He said there was a fire. Then he grabbed Ellie.”
Dominic looked toward Vincent.
“Basement.”
They descended through smoke.
Every stair sent pain through Dominic’s knee.
He didn’t stop.
Then—
Click.
Click.
Click.
Dominic froze.
Ellie’s wooden toy.
The sound came from a storage room.
Vincent opened it.
Ellie sat alone inside.
Crying.
But alive.
Dominic crouched in front of her.
“Where’s Peter?”
She pointed toward the service exit.
Peter escaped into the rain.
But he dropped his phone.
Vincent recovered it.
Most messages were deleted.
One remained.
It came from Arthur.
GET THE CHILD OUT BEFORE SHE TALKS AGAIN.
Dominic walked into the room where Arthur was being guarded.
He placed the phone on the table.
Arthur stared at the message.
Dominic’s voice was terrifyingly calm.
“You ordered a four-year-old kidnapped.”
Arthur shook his head.
“I told Peter to move her.”
“Without her mother.”
“This got out of control.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“No.”
His eyes hardened.
“It finally became clear.”
Arthur laughed bitterly.
“You still think this is about the brace?”
Dominic stopped.
Arthur leaned back.
“Ask yourself something, Dominic.”
“What?”
“Why were you driving through Lower Wacker eleven weeks ago?”
Dominic stared at him.
Arthur smiled.
“The crash wasn’t an accident.”
Silence.
Dominic felt the room tilt beneath him.
“The brace,” Arthur whispered, “was insurance.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Insurance against what?”
Arthur looked directly into his eyes.
“You surviving the first attempt.”
Dominic’s injured leg suddenly seemed insignificant.
Somebody had tried to kill him.
Then somebody had sabotaged his recovery.
But Arthur’s final words were worse.
“You should ask who changed your route that night.”
Dominic already knew.
Only three people had known.
Peter.
Vincent.
May you like
And Dominic’s younger brother.
Julian Vale.
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