Chapter 6 - BREAKFAST WITH A GHOST
Dominic made the decision in three seconds.
“No more hiding.”
Natalie stared at him. “That fast?”
“They know I’m here. The advantage now is making them guess what I know.”
He handed her the blue box.
“Give this to Luca. He puts it somewhere Brooke and Adrian can’t reach.”
“What about the flash drive?”
Dominic slipped it into the inner pocket of his coat.
“I’ll keep the thing they’ll be most desperate to find.”
Twenty minutes later, Brooke walked into the breakfast room and stopped so abruptly the coffee in her cup splashed over the rim.
Dominic sat at the head of the table in a charcoal sweater, dry now, reading the newspaper as if he had been home all week.
Natalie sat to his right.
Noah ate pancakes.
Emma poured coffee.
Nobody spoke.
Brooke blinked once.
Then twice.
“Dominic.”
He looked up.
“Morning.”
She recovered fast.
Her smile arrived like a curtain dropping over a messy stage.
“Oh my God. Why didn’t you tell me?”
She crossed the room and kissed his cheek.
Dominic let her.
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“You did.”
“I can see that.”
She sat beside him. “What happened to London?”
“Finished early.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Brooke glanced at Natalie.
Natalie cut Noah’s pancake into smaller pieces with steady hands.
“Did you sleep well?” Brooke asked her.
“Like a widow being threatened before dawn.”
Emma nearly dropped the coffee pot.
Brooke’s eyes flashed.
Dominic slowly folded his newspaper.
“Threatened?”
Natalie looked straight at Brooke.
“She wanted me to sign papers.”
Brooke gave a confused laugh. “I asked you to review routine estate documents.”
“At five in the morning?” Dominic asked.
Brooke turned to him. “The wedding has created a thousand details. I was trying to help.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“I need help.”
Dominic reached for his coffee.
“I want every document related to my mother’s trust brought to the library at eleven.”
Brooke’s smile thinned.
“Why?”
“Because I’m getting married Saturday.”
“That’s exactly why I was organizing things.”
“And I appreciate it.”
He looked at Emma.
“Have Grant Vale join us.”
Brooke’s fingers tightened around her cup.
“Grant is busy.”
“Then he can be busy here.”
The breakfast room door opened.
Adrian entered, shaking rain from an umbrella.
He smiled when he saw Dominic.
“There he is.”
Dominic stood.
The two men embraced.
Anyone watching would have seen old friends.
Emma saw Dominic’s eyes remain open over Adrian’s shoulder.
“Thought you were in Boston,” Dominic said.
“I was.”
“Fast drive.”
“Empty roads.”
Adrian took a seat.
Brooke did not look at him.
That was the first thing Dominic noticed.
The second was a smear of dark mud on Adrian’s left cuff.
The same dark soil found only near the eastern garden wall.
Maybe he had been at the cottage.
Maybe he had changed cars.
Maybe everyone in the room was lying.
Noah looked at Adrian.
His fork stopped halfway to his mouth.
“Mom,” he whispered.
Natalie leaned toward him. “What?”
Noah stared at Adrian’s wrist.
A silver watch showed beneath his sleeve.
Noah’s face drained of color.
“That’s him.”
The table went silent.
Adrian looked at the boy. “That’s who?”
Noah pointed.
“The man who was in Grandma’s cottage last night.”
Brooke’s cup hit the saucer.
Adrian did not move.
Dominic turned toward him.
“Interesting,” he said quietly. “You told me you were in Boston.”
Adrian smiled.
“I was.”
Noah shook his head hard.
“No. I saw your watch.”
Adrian’s smile disappeared.
And under the table, Brooke’s phone lit up with a new message.
Dominic saw the sender before she covered it.
DAD.
The preview read:
GET OUT. HE FOUND THE BOX.
—
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