Chapter 10 - CLARE’S REASON
Clare did not deny it.
That surprised Dominic.
He brought her into the library while Vincent stayed with Ellie outside.
The ledger sat between them.
“Why are you here?” Dominic asked.
Clare looked at the old leather book.
“To work.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Her eyes lifted.
For months, Dominic had known Clare Rowan as quiet, efficient, and almost invisible.
Now she looked different.
Not deceptive.
Tired.
“My husband worked for one of your family’s shipping companies.”
Dominic waited.
“Which one?”
“Vale Harbor Logistics.”
“When?”
“Thirteen years ago.”
Dominic remembered the company.
He had sold it after his father died.
“What did Thomas do?”
“Maintenance supervisor.”
“Did you know he was receiving money from Lakefront Meridian?”
“No.”
Clare’s voice cracked.
“I didn’t know any of this.”
Dominic watched her.
“Then why apply here?”
She hesitated.
“Because after Thomas died, I found a business card.”
“What business card?”
“Arthur Voss.”
Dominic went still.
Clare continued.
“It was inside a box of Thomas’s personal papers.”
“You never told me.”
“I didn’t know what it meant.”
“So you took a job in my house?”
“I needed work.”
Dominic said nothing.
Clare looked toward the door where Ellie waited.
“And yes, when I saw the opening here, I wondered if I might eventually learn why my husband had been meeting with someone connected to this family.”
“Did Thomas die in an accident?”
Clare swallowed.
“That’s what the police said.”
“What happened?”
“A loading platform collapsed.”
Dominic looked toward the ledger again.
A cold familiarity passed through him.
Another structural failure.
His own injury had begun when a warehouse railing collapsed.
Coincidence?
Maybe.
But Dominic had stopped believing in convenient coincidences.
“Did Thomas ever tell you he was afraid?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The month before he died.”
“Of whom?”
“He never said.”
Clare looked at the ledger.
“He kept saying he had found numbers that didn’t belong.”
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
“What numbers?”
“Payments. Invoices. Repairs that never happened.”
Arthur.
The thought arrived instantly.
Dominic pushed it away.
Evidence first.
“What was he going to do?”
“He told me he was meeting someone who could fix it.”
“Arthur?”
“I don’t know.”
Dominic closed the ledger.
“Why stay after finding the note?”
“Because I have a daughter and bills.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Clare’s eyes filled with anger.
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“I wanted to know why my husband died.”
The words hit harder than Dominic expected.
She stood.
“But I did not bring Ellie into this intentionally. I never imagined she would see anything. I never imagined your brace. I never imagined someone would try to take her.”
Dominic believed her.
Not because of instinct.
Because fear like hers was difficult to manufacture for hours at a time.
He opened the door.
Vincent entered.
“Find every record connected to Thomas Rowan.”
Vincent nodded.
Clare looked at Dominic.
“If Arthur was involved—”
“We find proof.”
“And then?”
Dominic’s expression became cold.
Clare saw the old reputation in his face.
“No.”
Dominic looked at her.
“No what?”
“No disappearing people.”
Vincent glanced away.
Clare stepped closer.
“If Arthur hurt my husband, I want the truth. I want police. I want a courtroom.”
Dominic almost laughed at the idea that a housekeeper was telling him how to handle betrayal inside his own organization.
But she did not look afraid now.
She looked like a widow who had waited twelve years.
Dominic understood waiting.
“Fine.”
Clare blinked.
“Fine?”
“If there is evidence, you get your courtroom.”
Vincent looked mildly surprised.
Dominic ignored him.
Two hours later, Vincent returned with archived employment files.
Thomas Rowan had discovered nearly $3.8 million in false maintenance invoices.
The money had been routed through Lakefront Meridian.
He reported the discrepancy.
The report disappeared.
Three weeks later, Thomas died in the loading platform collapse.
Dominic stared at the timeline.
“Who supervised Harbor Logistics?”
Vincent did not answer.
He did not need to.
Arthur Voss.
Dominic walked to the room where Arthur was being held.
He placed Thomas’s file on the table.
Arthur looked at the name.
Something flickered across his face.
Recognition.
Dominic sat.
“You knew him.”
Arthur remained silent.
Dominic opened the file.
“Thomas Rowan.”
Arthur looked away.
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
Clare stood behind the glass wall watching.
Arthur saw her.
His shoulders dropped.
Dominic’s voice became quieter.
“What happened twelve years ago?”
Arthur looked suddenly much older than sixty.
“You’re digging into things your father buried for a reason.”
“My father is dead.”
“Yes.”
May you like
Arthur looked directly at Dominic.
“And some of the men he was afraid of are not.”
