Chapter 11 - The Bag Opens
Everything happened faster than Dominic expected.
Valeria followed Margaret into the lounge.
Lucian waited ten seconds before following.
Dominic remained near the doorway.
He wanted to hear what they said when they believed he could not.
Valeria's voice came first.
"Give it to me."
Margaret answered, "No."
"You don't know what you're carrying."
"I know exactly what I'm carrying."
Lucian entered.
"Margaret, don't make this worse."
"Worse for whom?"
Dominic moved closer.
Margaret continued.
"Angelo knew."
Lucian's voice changed.
"What did he tell you?"
"Enough."
"What did Peter tell you?"
Silence.
Dominic's heart pounded.
Lucian knew Peter was alive.
Margaret asked, "How do you know Peter called me?"
Lucian realized another mistake.
Valeria moved.
Dominic heard Margaret cry out.
He entered the lounge.
His mother was falling.
Valeria held the handbag.
Emma ran toward him.
"Dad! She wanted to destroy her bag!"
Then Lucian took the bag.
He mocked Margaret.
He insulted her.
He swung at Dominic.
And within seconds the wine display collapsed beneath him.
Valeria lunged for the fallen bag.
Dominic reached it first.
She grabbed him.
He struck her once.
She crashed against the champagne trolley.
Then Dominic opened the handbag.
The blue ledger.
The brass key.
His father's handwriting.
Lucian's terror.
All of it converged.
"You shoved my mother because she brought me this?"
Lucian struggled to stand.
"You have no idea what you're looking at."
Dominic lifted the ledger.
"I know your name is in it."
Valeria pressed a hand to her cheek.
"Dominic, listen to him."
"Be quiet."
Margaret moved beside her son.
"There is something else."
Dominic looked at her.
She pointed toward the bottom of the handbag.
"I found another compartment yesterday."
Lucian's face changed.
Margaret saw it.
"So you knew."
Lucian whispered, "Don't open that."
Dominic stared at him.
Then slowly turned the bag over.
Margaret showed him the small cut near the base.
Dominic tore the weakened seam.
Inside was a thin metal case.
No larger than a phone.
Lucian stepped forward.
Security guards entered immediately.
"Don't," Dominic said.
Lucian stopped.
Dominic opened the case.
Inside was a memory card.
And a folded sheet of paper.
He unfolded it.
A handwritten list of names.
Lucian Hale.
Valeria Hale.
Peter Voss.
Samuel Keene.
And several others.
At the bottom:
Gabriel Romano.
Dominic's hand stopped.
Romano.
He looked at Margaret.
"Who is Gabriel?"
Margaret stared at the name.
"I don't know."
Lucian laughed.
It was not amusement.
It was desperation.
"Ask your mother again."
Margaret turned toward him.
"I don't know anyone named Gabriel."
Lucian looked directly at Dominic.
"Then your father lied to both of you."
Dominic took one step toward him.
"Explain."
Lucian shook his head.
"No."
"You were willing to attack my mother for this bag."
"I was trying to stop her from destroying your family."
Dominic almost hit him again.
Margaret touched his arm.
"Don't."
Lucian wiped blood from his lip.
"You think Angelo was the hero?"
Dominic's voice was low.
"Careful."
"You think I built Meridian?"
"Didn't you?"
Lucian looked at the memory card.
"Play it."
Valeria shouted, "Lucian."
"Shut up."
She stared at him.
He laughed again.
"She still thinks we can get out of this."
Dominic inserted the card into a secure laptop.
One video file appeared.
Date: fourteen months earlier.
The night before Angelo died.
Dominic pressed play.
Angelo Romano appeared on screen.
He sat in his study.
Alive.
Tired.
Afraid.
"If Dominic is watching this, then I ran out of time."
Margaret covered her mouth.
Dominic could barely breathe.
Angelo looked directly into the camera.
"Lucian Hale has stolen from us."
Lucian closed his eyes.
"But Lucian did not begin this."
Dominic stared at the screen.
Angelo continued.
"The person who began it has my blood."
Margaret whispered, "No."
Angelo's voice became quieter.
"I made a mistake thirty-eight years ago. I thought burying the truth would protect my wife and son."
Dominic looked toward Margaret.
She was crying now.
"I was wrong."
The recording distorted.
Angelo leaned closer.
"Dominic, if Gabriel comes back, do not let him near Emma."
The video ended.
No explanation.
No identity.
No location.
Only the name.
Gabriel Romano.
Dominic looked at Lucian.
"Who is he?"
May you like
Lucian smiled through his bloodied lip.
"The reason your father was afraid."
