The sound of Dominic Vale’s cane striking the marble floor carried through the great room like a gunshot.
One hard tap.
Then silence.
Six men waiting behind the glass doors of the conference room turned at once.
Vincent Hale, Dominic’s head of security, reacted faster than anyone.
“Hey. Don’t touch him.”
Clare Rowan spun around from the linen cart, and the color drained from her face.
“Ellie!”
But her four-year-old daughter didn’t seem to understand why every adult in the room had suddenly stopped breathing.
Ellie remained on her knees beside Dominic Vale’s injured left leg, one tiny hand resting against the lowest black strap of the orthopedic brace partly hidden beneath his trousers.
Rain whispered against the tall windows overlooking Lake Michigan.
Clare had been folding towels for the upstairs guest rooms. Ellie was supposed to remain beside the cart with the little wooden latch toy she carried everywhere.
But Ellie loved mechanisms.
Buckles.
Hooks.
Buttons.
Anything that clicked.
And Dominic Vale’s brace had several of them.
Clare hurried across the room.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Vale. I’m so sorry.”
She reached for Ellie.
Dominic lifted one hand.
Clare froze.
At forty-three, Dominic had mastered the art of making people obey without raising his voice. He had built legitimate construction companies, restaurants, shipping interests, and real estate holdings across Chicago, but there were older stories attached to the Vale name—stories respectable businessmen preferred not to discuss.
Dominic rarely threatened anyone.
He rarely needed to.
That made Clare even more frightened.
Dominic looked at the little girl.
Ellie had moved halfway behind her mother’s skirt, but she was still staring at his brace.
Not at Vincent.
Not at the security guard near the conference room.
Not at Dominic’s face.
At the brace.
Dominic shifted his leg.
Pain immediately shot from beneath his knee down the outside of his calf.
Eleven weeks earlier, a crash on Lower Wacker Drive had fractured his knee, damaged ligaments, and irritated nerves surrounding the injury. Surgery had gone well.
At least, that was what everyone kept telling him.
But something had changed.
Three weeks earlier, Dominic had been walking fifty feet during rehabilitation.
Now he could barely cross the great room without his cane.
His doctors called it a setback.
Arthur Voss called it something else.
Proof.
Proof that Dominic was physically incapable of continuing to control the Vale organization.
Behind the glass doors, six senior members of the organization waited around a walnut conference table. Documents had already been prepared.
Temporary authority.
That was the polite phrase.
Dominic knew better.
Once he signed those papers, Arthur Voss would have everything he had wanted for fifteen years.
Dominic looked down at Ellie.
“What is wrong?”
Clare shook her head immediately.
“Nothing. She’s tired.”
“I asked her.”
Clare closed her mouth.
Vincent stepped forward.
“Boss, the council is waiting.”
“They can wait.”
Vincent’s expression changed.
Dominic never delayed council meetings.
Ellie squeezed the hem of her mother’s uniform.
Dominic softened his voice.
“What’s wrong with it?”
Ellie pointed.
“The shiny part.”
Dominic followed her finger.
A small silver tab was visible beneath the lowest strap.
“What about it?”
Ellie hesitated.
“It was outside.”
Nobody spoke.
Dominic glanced at Clare.
“What does she mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Ellie looked at her mother.
Then back at Dominic.
“My toy has one.”
She lifted the wooden latch board.
One of the little mechanisms had a metal clasp.
Ellie touched it.
“This goes outside.”
Then she pointed at Dominic’s brace.
“That one is inside.”
Dominic stared at the brace.
Dr. Samuel Mercer, who had been standing near the rehabilitation doorway, finally approached.
“Let me see.”
Vincent immediately moved between him and Dominic.
“Slowly.”
Mercer frowned.
“I’m his physician.”
“And I’m his security.”
Dominic waved Vincent aside.
Mercer crouched.
He touched the lower strap.
His fingers stopped.
Something changed in his face.
It was subtle.
But Dominic saw it.
“What?”
Mercer didn’t answer.
“Samuel.”
The doctor carefully loosened the strap.
Dominic felt immediate pressure release from his calf.
He inhaled sharply.
Mercer stared at the mechanism.
“That’s strange.”
Comments (0)