Chapter 12 - The Woman in Room 314
The photograph showed Elena sitting beside a window.
Her hair was shorter.
Her face was thinner.
A hospital bracelet circled her wrist.
Behind her was a white wall marked with the number 314.
Dominic stared at the photograph until Clara worried he might tear it.
"Where?"
Mateo shook his head.
"No identifying logo."
"Find it."
"We're already running image comparisons."
Dominic turned to Mrs. Hargrove.
For the first time, the house manager looked tired.
Not defeated.
Tired.
"She survived."
Mrs. Hargrove said nothing.
Dominic placed the photograph in front of her.
"My wife survived."
"Yes."
Clara felt the room change.
Dominic's eyes filled with something worse than rage.
Two years of grief had just become two years of theft.
"Where is she?"
Mrs. Hargrove looked at him.
"If I tell you, you'll kill the wrong person."
"I haven't killed anyone."
"Not yet."
"Where is Elena?"
Mrs. Hargrove leaned back.
"You still think I controlled this."
"You drugged my son."
"I kept him quiet."
"You tortured him."
Her face tightened.
"I kept him alive."
Dominic lunged forward.
Mateo stopped him.
Mrs. Hargrove did not move.
"The night of the ambush, Elena was not supposed to survive."
"Who ordered it?"
"You know the name."
"No."
"You simply refuse to say it."
Dominic stared at her.
Mrs. Hargrove whispered, "Victor Raines."
The name landed heavily.
Victor Raines had been Dominic's father's business partner thirty years earlier.
Later, he became Dominic's largest competitor.
He had money.
Judges.
Politicians.
Men willing to disappear.
Dominic's voice hardened.
"Why did you help him?"
"I didn't."
Clara frowned.
"Then why hide Elena?"
Mrs. Hargrove looked directly at her.
"Because Victor believed she was dead."
Dominic shook his head.
"You expect me to believe you saved her?"
"I pulled her from the wreck."
"And then imprisoned her."
"I moved her."
"For two years."
"Because the moment Dominic learned she was alive, Victor would know too."
Dominic laughed bitterly.
"So you destroyed my child to protect him?"
Mrs. Hargrove looked toward the door.
"Noah saw my face that night."
Her voice became quiet.
"He saw me pull his mother from the car."
"He thought you hurt her."
"I needed him to keep believing that."
Clara felt sick.
Mrs. Hargrove's eyes glistened.
"Fear kept him silent."
Dominic whispered, "You sacrificed my son's mind."
Mrs. Hargrove met his eyes.
"To keep your wife breathing."
Then Mateo's phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
And looked at Dominic.
May you like
"We found Room 314."
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