Chapter 4 - The Trap at the Clinic
The dialysis clinic looked ordinary.
That frightened Avery more than anything.
Patients entered.
Nurses changed shifts.
Cars moved through the parking lot.
Dominic’s men stayed out of sight.
Linda squeezed Avery’s hand.
“You're shaking.”
“I’m not.”
“You've been a terrible liar since kindergarten.”
Avery smiled weakly.
“Go inside.”
Linda looked at Dominic.
“Bring my daughter home.”
Dominic answered without hesitation.
“I will.”
Avery waited until Linda disappeared inside.
“Don’t promise things you can’t control.”
Dominic looked at her.
“I control more than you think.”
“That sentence is exactly why people are afraid of you.”
A black SUV entered the parking lot.
Dominic’s expression changed.
“Stay behind me.”
Avery almost laughed.
“You saw what happened to Vanessa.”
“This isn't a ballroom.”
The SUV stopped.
Two men exited.
No visible weapons.
One walked toward the clinic.
Avery stepped into his path.
“Can I help you?”
“Move.”
“No.”
He reached for her.
Bad decision.
Avery caught his wrist, turned beneath his arm, and sent him hard against the hood.
The second man rushed forward.
Dominic intercepted him.
Within seconds, Moretti security surrounded the vehicle.
Marco opened the rear door.
Empty.
“Where’s Salvatore?” Dominic demanded.
The first man laughed.
“You think this is the trap?”
Avery froze.
Dominic grabbed his collar.
“What did you say?”
The man smiled.
“The old woman was never the target.”
Dominic’s phone rang.
Security alarm.
Moretti estate.
Dominic went still.
“The drive,” Avery whispered.
They had left the original locked in Dominic’s private safe.
Dominic looked at her.
“Vanessa.”
Avery understood.
Finding Vanessa had been deliberate.
Salvatore knew Dominic would bring her home.
Vanessa had never changed sides.
She had gone back inside to open the house.
They raced toward Lake Forest.
When Dominic’s convoy reached the mansion, the front doors stood open.
Vanessa waited inside.
Her champagne dress from the night before was gone.
She wore black trousers and a dark coat.
A bruise colored her shoulder where Avery had kicked her.
Avery stepped forward.
Vanessa smiled.
“There she is.”
Dominic’s voice was ice.
“Where is my uncle?”
“Gone.”
“With the drive?”
Vanessa held up the black device.
“This?”
Dominic stopped.
Vanessa laughed.
“You were always too trusting.”
“Apparently.”
Her eyes moved toward Avery.
“And you were always too stubborn.”
Avery stared at her.
“You picked me because of my father.”
Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
“You finally figured it out.”
“You knew who I was before the first delivery.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor Carter hid the original records before he died. Salvatore believed Linda might have them.”
“So you kept bringing me here.”
“We searched your car. Your apartment building. Your delivery bags.”
Avery understood.
“You gave me the Bellini’s box.”
“I needed evidence moved out of the estate without Dominic’s security tracing me.”
“And then?”
“I planned to retrieve it.”
“But my mother kept the box.”
Vanessa’s jaw tightened.
Avery smiled.
“For recycling.”
Dominic almost laughed.
Vanessa backed toward the door.
“You think this ends happily?”
“No,” Avery said. “I think it ends truthfully.”
Vanessa looked confused.
Dominic held up his phone.
The entire conversation had been recorded.
Vanessa’s face drained.
Then headlights flooded the windows.
Police vehicles entered the driveway.
Vanessa stared at Dominic.
“You called them?”
“No.”
Avery raised her phone.
May you like
“I did.”
For the first time in seven weeks, Vanessa Whitmore had nothing to say.
