Chapter 3 - The Man With the RavenVincent Moretti sounded offended.
That was expected.
“Someone contaminated Ethan’s birthday cake and you call me like I’m a suspect?”
Maya had placed the call from Dominic’s study.
Dominic stood near the window.
Frank remained by the door.
Sophia and Lily had been moved upstairs with Ethan.
Maya answered calmly.
“I’m calling everyone connected to access.”
“I’m his great-uncle.”
“Then you should want to help.”
“I do.”
“Did you authorize a contractor yesterday?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“For what?”
“Fire-control inspection.”
“Name?”
Another pause.
“Arthur Bell.”
Frank’s eyes snapped toward Maya.
Maya wrote it down.
“Company?”
“Bell Safety Systems.”
“Phone number?”
“I’ll have my office send it.”
“Why schedule him during a child’s birthday party?”
Vincent exhaled impatiently.
“Because Dominic’s mansion runs like a federal bunker and it was the only access window his staff offered.”
Frank looked stunned.
He had offered no such window.
Maya continued.
“Did you provide Mr. Bell with an access credential?”
“No.”
“Did your office?”
“I assume security handled it.”
Frank shook his head.
Dominic watched.
Vincent asked, “Is Ethan all right?”
“He’s unharmed.”
“Thank God.”
The emotion sounded genuine.
That made everything worse.
After the call ended, Frank said, “There is no Bell Safety Systems on our approved contractor list.”
Maya searched public records.
A company existed.
Created three months earlier.
Mailing address: a rented office in Queens.
No employees listed.
Arthur Bell’s photograph was not publicly available.
But a phone number connected to the company had been used to call Vincent Moretti’s administrative assistant four times during the previous month.
“Could Vincent be getting played?” Maya asked.
Dominic looked at her.
“Everyone can be played.”
“Even you?”
“Especially people who believe they can’t.”
Frank stared at the silver raven.
“I want to resign.”
Dominic looked at him.
“No.”
Frank seemed surprised.
“You failed.”
“I know.”
“You don’t get to leave before I know whether you failed because you were careless or because someone bought you.”
Frank’s face hardened.
“No one bought me.”
“Then prove it.”
Maya sighed.
“You realize that sounded threatening.”
“It was employment feedback.”
Despite herself, she almost smiled.
Upstairs, Sophia had different problems.
Lily refused food.
“I don’t want white stuff.”
Sophia’s heart broke.
“It’s just yogurt.”
“No.”
“Okay.”
She moved the bowl away.
Ethan sat across from them.
He had insisted on staying near Lily.
“I can eat it first,” he said.
Sophia looked at him.
“You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
He took a spoonful.
Lily watched carefully.
Ethan exaggerated chewing.
“See?”
Lily still shook her head.
Then Ethan pushed the yogurt aside.
“We can both not eat it.”
Lily considered this.
“Crackers?”
“Crackers.”
Sophia found a sealed package.
Watching them, she felt anger rise.
Not only at whoever entered the corridor.
At Dominic.
At the entire world around him.
She had known the Morettis for six years.
Her late husband, Marcus, had worked construction management on one of Dominic’s legitimate properties before dying from an aneurysm when Lily was an infant.
Afterward, Elena Moretti—Dominic’s wife—had helped Sophia financially without making her feel like charity.
Elena died of leukemia eighteen months later.
Sophia and Dominic were not friends exactly.
Their children had become connected through grief before either adult understood it.
Ethan remembered Elena.
Lily never remembered Marcus.
Perhaps that was why Ethan treated Lily like a younger sister.
Sophia heard footsteps.
Dominic entered.
Ethan immediately asked, “Did you find him?”
“No.”
“Are you going to?”
“Yes.”
Sophia looked at him.
“Can we talk?”
They stepped into the hallway.
“I’m taking Lily home.”
“No.”
Her eyes hardened.
“You do not decide that.”
Dominic corrected himself.
“You shouldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because someone knows she saw him.”
“She’s three.”
“Exactly.”
Sophia’s stomach tightened.
“You think someone might come after her?”
“I don’t know.”
“That means yes.”
Dominic hated the fear in her face.
“You can stay in the guest wing tonight.”
“I don’t want your armed men outside my daughter’s door.”
“They’re there to protect her.”
“Your armed men were protecting the corridor.”
That hit.
Dominic looked away.
Sophia softened only slightly.
“This is your world.”
“My son is eight.”
“I know.”
“You think he chose this?”
“No.”
“Neither did I.”
Sophia stared.
Dominic almost regretted the words.
She said quietly, “You chose pieces of it every day.”
He had no answer.
A knock sounded downstairs.
Maya called them.
A lab technician had completed an initial screen.
The material in the frosting was not sugar.
It was not part of the cake recipe.
And while full identification would take additional testing, the preliminary result showed enough concern that the evidence was being treated as intentional contamination.
Sophia held Lily tighter.
Dominic’s face emptied.
“Could it have hurt Ethan?”
The technician chose words carefully.
“It could have caused a serious medical emergency.”
Dominic looked toward his son.
Maya stepped closer.
“Remember what we said.”
Dominic said nothing.
His phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
He opened it.
A photograph appeared.
Lily.
Taken that morning outside Sophia’s apartment building.
Underneath it:
THE LITTLE GIRL SHOULD HAVE KEPT WALKING.
Dominic’s expression changed.
Sophia saw it.
“What?”
He locked the screen.
“Nothing.”
“Dominic.”
“It’s handled.”
She reached for the phone.
He moved it away.
Her face went cold.
“Do not lie to me about my child.”
He stopped.
Then handed her the phone.
Sophia read the message.
Her knees weakened.
Dominic caught her elbow.
She pulled away.
“Don’t.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?”
Her voice shook.
“Somebody photographed my daughter before she ever saw that man.”
Maya read the message.
Her expression sharpened.
“That matters.”
Dominic understood why.
The threat photograph had been taken before the party.
Before Lily knocked away Ethan’s plate.
Before anyone knew she would become a witness.
Sophia whispered, “Why would they photograph her before she saw anything?”
Nobody answered.
Then Lily appeared at the top of the stairs.
She had heard her mother’s voice.
“Mommy?”
Sophia forced herself to smile.
“I’m here.”
Lily held the stuffed rabbit.
Behind her, Ethan stood protectively.
Dominic looked from the photograph on the phone to the real child above him.
The question changed.
Perhaps Lily had not accidentally wandered into the service corridor.
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Perhaps someone had already been watching her.
And if that was true, the birthday attack had begun long before Ethan lifted his fork.
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