Chapter 5 — The Friend Who Pulled the Trigger
Chapter 5 — The Friend Who Pulled the Trigger
The first thing Dom did after the gunshot was lock every door in the house.
The second was order Vincent to find Tommy.
The third was tell me to stay upstairs.
I did none of those things.
I followed him.
“Where are you going?”
Dom stopped halfway down the staircase.
“You heard me.”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you following me?”
“Because every time you tell me to stay somewhere, someone gets closer to killing us.”
Vincent glanced at Dom.
Dom looked at me.
“You're becoming difficult.”
“I've always been difficult.”
“That wasn't a complaint.”
I stared at him.
For a second, neither of us spoke.
Then Vincent's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“Found him.”
Dom turned.
“Where?”
“St. Matthew's warehouse.”
Dom's jaw tightened.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
“No.”
Vincent paused.
“There are three other men.”
Dom reached for his coat.
“Let's go.”
I stepped forward.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“Dom.”
“You're staying here.”
“I know Tommy.”
“You saw Tommy for five minutes.”
“Five minutes was enough for him to try to kill you.”
Dom stared at me.
Then sighed.
“Fine.”
He looked at Vincent.
“Keep her behind us.”
Vincent nodded.
I grabbed my coat.
As we walked toward the elevator, Dom said quietly:
“If anything happens, you run.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere away from me.”
I looked at him.
“That's not very reassuring.”
“It isn't supposed to be.”
The warehouse sat near the river.
Old brick.
Broken windows.
Rusting loading doors.
No lights.
The kind of place people used when they didn't want to be found.
We stopped two blocks away.
Vincent checked his weapon.
Dom looked at me.
“Stay in the vehicle.”
“No.”
“Nema.”
“I said no.”
He stared at me for several seconds.
Then he leaned closer.
“If I tell you to run, you run.”
I nodded.
“Good.”
We entered through the side door.
The smell hit me first.
Oil.
Dust.
Metal.
Then voices.
A man was shouting.
“You think Dom is going to save you?”
Tommy.
I froze.
Dom raised one hand.
Everyone stopped.
We moved toward the sound.
Three men stood around a chair.
Tommy was tied to it.
His face was bruised.
His shirt was stained with blood.
One of the men held a gun against his head.
Dom stepped into the light.
“Let him go.”
The men turned.
The one holding the gun laughed.
“Vasquez.”
Dom's expression remained calm.
“Who sent you?”
“Doesn't matter.”
“It matters to me.”
The man laughed.
“You're not in a position to negotiate.”
Dom glanced at Tommy.
“You're right.”
Tommy looked at him.
“Dom.”
“Quiet.”
“Listen to me.”
“I said quiet.”
The gunman pressed the weapon against Tommy's temple.
“He betrayed you.”
Dom nodded.
“I know.”
Tommy looked shocked.
“You know?”
Dom stepped forward.
“I know everything.”
The gunman smiled.
“Then you know what he did.”
Dom's eyes narrowed.
“Tell me.”
The man looked at Tommy.
“Your friend sold you.”
Tommy closed his eyes.
The words hung in the air.
I looked at Dom.
He didn't react.
“Sold me to whom?”
“Rafael.”
Silence.
Tommy's face changed.
“Don't.”
Dom looked at him.
“Is it true?”
Tommy didn't answer.
“Tommy.”
Still nothing.
Dom's voice became colder.
“Look at me.”
Tommy raised his eyes.
“Yes.”
Dom went completely still.
“You sold me.”
Tommy swallowed.
“I didn't have a choice.”
Dom laughed once.
It wasn't amusement.
It was disbelief.
“Everyone has a choice.”
“They had my daughter.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“What?”
Tommy looked at me.
“My daughter.”
Dom stared.
“Rafael has your daughter?”
Tommy nodded.
“He took her six months ago.”
“And you didn't tell me.”
“I couldn't.”
“You could have.”
“He threatened to kill her.”
Dom's jaw tightened.
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“You've been working for him for six months and you don't know where your daughter is?”
“They move her.”
Dom stepped closer.
“Then how did you know she was alive?”
Tommy's voice broke.
“They send me photographs.”
I looked at him.
“Why didn't you tell Dom?”
Tommy laughed bitterly.
“Because Rafael told me if I did, she'd die.”
Dom stood silent.
Then:
“What did you do for him?”
Tommy lowered his head.
“Everything.”
“What does everything mean?”
Tommy looked at me.
“I watched you.”
My blood went cold.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before the diner.”
“How long?”
“Three months.”
Dom turned toward him.
“Why?”
Tommy hesitated.
“Because Rafael wanted to know whether you were connected to the Reyes ledger.”
I stared.
“I don't even know what that is.”
“I know.”
Tommy looked at me.
“That was the problem.”
“What problem?”
“Rafael couldn't understand why your mother had hidden everything from you.”
Dom's eyes hardened.
“What did he know about Nema's mother?”
Tommy shook his head.
“Not enough.”
“Then what?”
“He knew she was alive.”
My heart stopped.
“My mother?”
“No.”
Tommy looked at me.
“Your aunt.”
Elena.
The woman who had appeared on Dom's security screen.
The woman who had warned me to run.
“She is alive?”
Tommy nodded.
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Who does?”
Tommy looked toward the door.
“Rafael.”
A gunshot exploded.
The man standing beside Tommy fell.
Everyone scattered.
Dom grabbed me and pulled me behind a steel column.
Vincent fired back.
Bullets struck the walls.
Tommy shouted.
“GET DOWN!”
More shots.
Then silence.
Dust filled the air.
I could hear my heartbeat.
Dom was beside me.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He checked my face anyway.
Then looked toward Tommy.
“Stay here.”
He moved forward.
I grabbed his sleeve.
“Dom.”
He looked at me.
“Don't trust Tommy.”
His expression hardened.
“I don't.”
Tommy shouted from the other side.
“Dom!”
Dom turned.
“It's a trap!”
Another gunshot.
This time the bullet struck the floor inches from Dom's foot.
Vincent fired toward the upper windows.
A shadow disappeared.
“Sniper!” he shouted.
Dom pulled me down.
“Move!”
We ran.
We escaped through the loading bay.
The warehouse was suddenly filled with sirens.
Police.
Fire trucks.
Someone had called them.
Too quickly.
Dom noticed too.
“Someone tipped them off.”
Vincent looked at him.
“From inside?”
“Probably.”
Tommy was still alive.
But the other two men were dead.
Police surrounded the building.
Detective Bell arrived.
He looked at Dom.
Then Tommy.
Then me.
“This keeps getting more complicated.”
“You have no idea,” Dom said.
Bell looked at Tommy.
“He's coming with us.”
Tommy laughed.
“You think I'll make it to the station?”
Bell frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Tommy looked at Dom.
“Ask him.”
Dom stared at him.
Tommy continued:
“Rafael owns people in the police department.”
Bell's expression changed.
“That's a serious accusation.”
“Then check your captain's bank accounts.”
The detective went silent.
Tommy smiled bitterly.
“You'll find the answer.”
At the station, Bell put Tommy in an interrogation room.
Dom and I waited outside.
Twenty minutes passed.
Then thirty.
Nothing.
Finally, Bell emerged.
“He wants to speak with you.”
Dom looked at me.
“Stay here.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Nema.”
“If he knows something about my mother, I want to hear it.”
Dom sighed.
“Fine.”
We entered.
Tommy sat with his hands cuffed to the table.
He looked exhausted.
He looked older.
The dangerous man from the diner seemed gone.
He looked like a father who had run out of options.
Dom sat across from him.
“What did you do with the ledger?”
Tommy shook his head.
“I never had it.”
“Who does?”
“Rafael.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“You've worked for him for six months.”
“Yes.”
“You've followed Nema for three months.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the Reyes family.”
“Yes.”
“You tried to poison me.”
Tommy's eyes filled with shame.
“I did.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
He looked at me.
“Because Rafael told me if I didn't, my daughter would die.”
Dom's voice was cold.
“You could have warned me.”
“I was afraid.”
“You were my brother.”
“I know.”
“You should have come to me.”
Tommy looked down.
“I thought I could handle it.”
“And?”
“I couldn't.”
Silence.
Then Tommy looked at me.
“I'm sorry.”
I didn't answer.
He continued.
“Your mother knew what Rafael wanted.”
“What did she know?”
“That he wasn't after Dom's company.”
I frowned.
“Then what?”
Tommy looked at Dom.
“He wants the Reyes inheritance.”
My heart stopped.
“What inheritance?”
Tommy shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Dom leaned forward.
“Then why does Rafael believe you know?”
“Because your father told him.”
Dom froze.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“What did my father tell him?”
Tommy swallowed.
“That the Reyes family didn't lose its fortune.”
I stared.
“What?”
Tommy looked at me.
“Your family gave it away.”
“To whom?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Dom's face became unreadable.
Tommy continued:
“But there's one thing Rafael is terrified of.”
“What?”
“The truth coming out.”
I leaned forward.
“What truth?”
Tommy looked directly at me.
“Your grandfather didn't trust your mother.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Because she wasn't the one he chose to inherit everything.”
“Then who?”
Tommy's eyes moved to Dom.
“Nema.”
I couldn't breathe.
“What?”
Tommy nodded.
“Your grandfather left everything to you.”
Silence.
Dom looked at me.
I couldn't speak.
My entire life had been built around believing I was ordinary.
Poor.
Forgotten.
Unimportant.
And now everyone was telling me I had inherited something powerful enough to make men kill.
Tommy's voice broke the silence.
“That's why Rafael wants you.”
“Why?”
“Because you're the key.”
“To what?”
Tommy looked toward the observation window.
Then whispered:
“The account your grandfather created.”
Dom's eyes narrowed.
“What account?”
Tommy shook his head.
“I never saw it.”
“Who did?”
Tommy hesitated.
“Your mother.”
I stared.
“My mother is dead.”
“No.”
Tommy's voice was barely audible.
“She disappeared.”
Dom looked at me.
I felt the room spin.
“You're saying my mother might still be alive?”
Tommy didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at Dom.
“Ask your father.”
Dom went completely still.
“My father is dead.”
Tommy smiled sadly.
“Then ask the man who killed him.”
Silence.
Nobody moved.
Bell entered the room.
“Dom.”
Dom stood.
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
Bell held up his phone.
“Rafael just sent a message.”
Dom took it.
Read it.
His face changed.
I looked at him.
“What does it say?”
He handed me the phone.
One sentence.
You can keep Tommy. I already have what I came for.
Below it was a photograph.
My apartment.
Taken from across the street.
And beneath the photograph:
NEMA'S MOTHER WASN'T THE ONLY REYES WOMAN WHO SURVIVED.
I stared.
Then another message appeared.
THE NEXT ONE WON'T.
My blood went cold.
Dom immediately grabbed his weapon.
“Vincent.”
Vincent stepped forward.
“Sir?”
“Find Nema's aunt.”
“Already searching.”
Dom looked at me.
“Stay with Bell.”
“No.”
“Nema—”
“I've had enough of being moved from one safe place to another.”
He stared at me.
“I want answers.”
“I know.”
“I want to know who my mother was.”
“I know.”
“I want to know why everyone thinks I'm some kind of key.”
Dom stepped closer.
“You may not like the answers.”
“I don't care.”
He looked into my eyes.
Then nodded.
“Neither do I anymore.”
He turned toward the door.
Tommy suddenly spoke.
“Dom.”
Dom stopped.
Tommy looked at him.
“I'm sorry.”
Dom didn't turn around.
“Be sorry after you tell me where Rafael is.”
Tommy swallowed.
“I don't know where he is.”
Dom finally looked back.
“Then find out.”
Tommy lowered his head.
“I will.”
We walked out.
But as the door closed behind us, I heard Tommy say something.
Something so quiet that Bell almost missed it.
I didn't.
He whispered:
“Rafael isn't the one who wants her dead.”
I stopped.
Dom stopped too.
We turned.
Tommy looked at us through the glass.
His face was pale.
“Then who?” I asked.
Tommy's lips trembled.
“The person who ordered the hit on Dom.”
Dom's eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
Tommy looked directly at me.
“Your aunt.”
My heart stopped.
Elena.
The woman who had warned me.
The woman who had supposedly spent twenty years hiding.
The woman whose bracelet had appeared at the diner.
The woman who knew about the ledger.
I shook my head.
“No.”
Tommy nodded.
“Yes.”
“But she warned me.”
“I know.”
“Then why would she want me dead?”
Tommy looked toward Dom.
“Because she isn't protecting you.”
His voice dropped.
“She's protecting herself.”
The lights in the station flickered.
And somewhere outside, a car engine started.
Dom grabbed my arm.
“Move.”
We ran toward the exit.
Because for the first time, the enemy wasn't someone hiding in the shadows.
The enemy was someone who knew my family.
Someone who knew my mother.
Someone who knew exactly where the ledger was.
And someone who had been waiting twenty years for me to come looking for it.
May you like
The friend who pulled the trigger had finally told us the truth.
But the truth had made everything worse.
