Chapter 6 - THE NAME ON THE FIRST SHIPMENT
Dominic's sister, Isabella Romano, arrived at the estate shortly after sunrise.
She was thirty-four, elegant, and usually impossible to rattle. That morning, however, her eyes were red, and she carried a folder against her chest as though it weighed more than paper.
Chloe waited in the library while Dominic spoke with her.
The door remained partly open.
“I signed the original supplier agreement,” Isabella said. “I thought Northstar was providing rehabilitation medication for injured workers.”
“You approved the payments,” Dominic replied.
“I approved the first two. Victor handled the renewals.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because the company was already under investigation for the dock contracts. Father was alive then. He said the clinic was legitimate and that I should stop asking questions.”
Dominic's voice sharpened. “And Margaret?”
“I met her once. She came to my office with a list of shipments. I told her I would look into it.”
“Did you?”
Isabella lowered her head. “I gave the list to Victor.”
Chloe stood in the doorway.
“Why?”
Isabella looked at her, stricken. “He told me the records were incomplete. He said your mother was trying to blackmail the company.”
“My mother never asked for money.”
“I know that now.”
“No,” Chloe said. “You know it because she died and someone finally found her notes.”
Isabella began to cry, but Chloe felt no satisfaction.
Dominic closed the folder.
“Did you know she was given the compound?”
“No. I swear I didn't.”
“Did you know it was used on me?”
Isabella shook her head. “Victor told me you were having a medical episode. He said the doctors were handling it.”
Dominic turned away.
For a long moment, nobody spoke.
Then Isabella placed a small envelope on the desk.
“Margaret gave this to me before she left the company. She said I should keep it somewhere safe until I understood what it meant.”
Chloe opened it.
Inside was a photograph of her mother standing outside the Romano Logistics building. Beside her was a younger Dominic, perhaps twenty-five, holding a paper cup of coffee. He was smiling.
On the back, Margaret had written:
He was kind to the night staff. I hope he stays that way.
Chloe looked at Dominic.
He stared at the photograph as if it had opened a door to a room he had forgotten existed.
“I remember her,” he said quietly. “She brought coffee to the night shift when the heating broke. I told her she shouldn't have to do that.”
“She told me about you,” Chloe replied. “She said the boss's son was the only one who thanked the cleaners.”
Dominic's face tightened.
“I should have protected her.”
“You didn't know.”
“I was responsible for the company.”
“Then be responsible now.”
He looked at her.
She continued, “Don't make this about guilt. Make it about the people who are still alive.”
That afternoon, Dominic announced that Romano Logistics would suspend all contracts with Northstar and submit its records to an independent investigation. He also ordered the company to contact every patient whose medical files might have been altered.
Isabella agreed to cooperate.
But the first report from the auditors revealed something worse: payments had continued after Margaret's death, and several patients had been transferred to a private facility outside the state.
One of the patient names was still active.
A woman named Grace Miller.
The report listed her as missing.
May you like
Chloe recognized the address beside the name.
It was the same clinic where her mother had spent her final weeks.
