Chapter 6 - The Confession in the Safehouse
Ten minutes felt like ten hours.
Renley huddled behind a stack of wooden pallets, her teeth chattering from the bitter cold and terror. Every time a car drove past the alley entrance, her heart slammed against her ribs.
Finally, three massive black luxury sedans screeched to a halt at the mouth of the alley.
Doors flew open. Six armed men in dark suits swarmed the alleyway, securing both exits. In the center walked Dominic Vance, wearing his long black coat, a silver-handled cane in his hand, his eyes blazing with absolute fury.
“Renley!” Dominic called out.
Renley scrambled out from behind the pallets, tears freezing on her cheeks. “Mr. Vance!”
Dominic dropped to one knee, ignoring the cold slush on the ground, and wrapped his arms around her small shoulders, pulling her into his coat. “You’re safe, child. You’re safe.”
He stood up, looking at his head of security—a stern woman named Captain Hayes. “Where is Silas?”
“My team intercepted his vehicle two blocks away, sir,” Captain Hayes reported crisply. “We have Silas and his men disarmed and secured in the basement at the riverfront property.”
“Good,” Dominic said coldly. “Take us to the safehouse.”
Twenty minutes later, Renley sat wrapped in a warm wool blanket inside a hidden apartment located above an old clock repair shop in the historic district. The room was warm, filled with the soothing tick-tock of dozens of mechanical clocks hanging on the walls.
A nurse provided by Dominic examined Renley’s hands for frostbite, handed her a cup of hot chocolate, and stepped outside.
Dominic sat across from her, his cane resting between his knees.
“I owe you an apology, Renley,” Dominic said, his head bowed. “I promised you protection, and my own men attacked you. Victor has crossed a line that cannot be uncrossed.”
Renley took a sip of the warm cocoa, her hands still trembling slightly. “Mr. Vance... Silas said Victor was looking for land deeds. For the riverfront docks.”
Dominic nodded grimly. “Those docks are worth fifty million dollars. But more importantly, whoever controls those deeds controls the entire shipping traffic into the city. Walter held the original titles in his personal name. When he walked away twenty years ago, he hid them.”
Renley looked down at her lap. She remembered what her grandmother had told her last night.
“My grandmother told me about Walter,” Renley whispered softly.
Dominic raised an eyebrow. “Your grandmother?”
“Evelyn Hart,” Renley revealed, looking Dominic in the eye. “Twenty years ago, my father worked at the docks. His name was Thomas Hart. He saw Victor execute a man. He said Walter saved his life.”
Dominic went completely still. His breath hitched in his throat.
“Thomas Hart...” Dominic whispered, memories flooding back into his eyes. “The young mechanic. Good God... Walter didn’t just save Thomas. Walter hid Thomas’s entire family from my father’s hitmen.”
“Mr. Pike saved my family,” Renley said, tears welling in her eyes. “And I know where the notebook is.”
Dominic leaned forward, his hands gripping his cane tight. “What notebook?”
“The day Mr. Pike died,” Renley explained, “I saw the landlord clear out his closet. He found a small black leather book tucked inside an old pair of boots. He thought it was garbage and threw it into a cardboard box in the basement storage room.”
Dominic stood up slowly, a powerful, deadly smile touching his lips for the first time.
“The black notebook,” Dominic breathed. “Walter kept every document, every title, and every record in a black leather ledger. He always carried it in his boot.”
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He turned to Captain Hayes, who stood by the door.
“Hayes,” Dominic ordered, his voice echoing over the ticking clocks. “Gather every man we have left who is loyal to my brother’s memory. We are going to East Ridge to get that ledger. And then we are going to tear Victor’s empire to the ground.”
