Chapter 6: What Thomas Wanted
Dominic called at noon.
Not through a guard.
Not through a staff relay.
His name appeared on my screen directly, and for a moment I just stared at it, because I hadn't given him my number and wasn't sure how he had it.
I answered.
"Are you safe?" he said.
"Someone sent me two messages last night and this morning.
An unknown number."
A pause.
"Read them to me."
I did.
Another pause, longer this time.
"I'm sending two people to your building.
They'll stay outside.
You won't see them unless you need them."
"Mr.
Cray—"
"Dominic."
I stopped.
"My name is Dominic," he said.
"You've been in my home for eight months.
You can use it."
"Dominic." It felt strange in my mouth.
"A federal agent came to see me this morning.
Calloway.
She said they've been watching your household for fourteen months."
"I know.
She called me an hour ago." His voice was even.
"They want to coordinate."
"She told me Thomas has been running parts of your business without your knowledge."
"He has.
I spent the morning going through financials with my legal team.
It's worse than I thought." A pause.
"He moved money through three shell companies I didn't know existed.
Signed contracts using a power of attorney document that Victor notarized.
A document I never signed."
"He forged your signature."
"Victor did.
On Thomas's instruction."
I sat down on the edge of the sofa.
"How much?"
"Enough that it will take months to untangle." His voice didn't waver, but there was something underneath it — the sound of a man absorbing damage and refusing to show how deep it went.
"The business can survive it.
That's not what concerns me."
"Then what does?"
"Thomas knows I can hear again.
He knows the device is gone.
He knows Victor is in custody." A beat.
"And he knows a woman named Elena Mercer and her three-year-old son were in the conservatory when it happened."
My hand tightened on the phone.
"Why would he care about us?"
"Because you're the only civilian witnesses.
Victor will lawyer up and say nothing for as long as he can.
But you heard Victor's confession directly.
You saw the phone.
You saw the message thread." Dominic's voice was careful, precise.
"In a courtroom, you're more valuable than any document we have."
"I'm a waitress," I said.
"I serve champagne at parties."
"You're a witness." A pause.
"And Thomas is not a careful man when he's frightened."
Marcus appeared in the doorway of his room, holding his stuffed dog by one ear.
"Mommy, can I have a snack?"
"One minute, baby."
Dominic heard him.
"Is he all right?"
"He's fine.
He wants crackers." My voice came out steadier than I felt.
"What do you need from me?"
"Nothing right now.
Stay home.
Don't respond to the messages.
Let Calloway's team work." A pause.
"And Elena — I'm sorry.
You came to work last night to keep your job and your apartment.
You didn't ask for any of this."
"No," I said.
"But Marcus got the bug.
So here we are."
A silence.
Then, quietly: "Here we are."
He ended the call.
I got Marcus his crackers.
Sat beside him on the floor while he ate them and drove his toy truck through the cereal box kingdom that was still standing from the day before.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number again.
This time, no words.
Just a photograph.
Our building.
Taken from across the street.
May you like
Timestamp: forty minutes ago.
While Agent Calloway had been sitting at my kitchen table, someone had been standing outside taking pictures of where we lived.
