Chapter 4 - THE SCARS THAT WERE YEARS OLDDr. Elias Mercer arrived at 2:10 in the morning.
Seventy-one.
Gray hair.
Old medical bag despite modern equipment available.
He walked into private restaurant through back entrance and saw Dominic.
“You look terrible.”
Dominic:
“Good to see you too.”
Elias noticed Riley.
His humor disappeared.
“That her?”
Dominic nodded.
Riley looked between them.
“You know the number too?”
Elias smiled gently.
“Apparently we’re an exclusive club.”
She did not smile.
Elias kept distance.
“Riley, I’m a physician.”
“I’m not touching you unless you say okay.”
“You can tell me no at any point.”
She studied him.
“Dominic called you?”
“Yes.”
“Do you work for him?”
“No.”
Elias looked at Dominic.
“I tolerate him.”
Dominic muttered something.
Riley almost smiled.
That helped.
Elias examined fresh injuries first.
Scratches.
Bruises.
A strained shoulder.
Nothing life-threatening.
Then he saw old scars.
One near cheek.
Another along neck.
Several across forearms.
His face changed.
“How old are these?”
Riley shrugged.
“Different.”
“This one?”
“Three years maybe.”
“And this?”
“Five.”
Dominic sat very still.
Elias asked:
“How?”
Riley looked at him.
“Which time?”
Dominic’s hands curled under table.
Elias did not react visibly.
“Whatever you’re comfortable telling me.”
Riley stared at floor.
“When I was twelve, one of Marissa’s boyfriends grabbed me when I tried to leave.”
“When I was fourteen, men came looking for my dad’s stuff.”
“One pushed me through a glass cabinet.”
“When I was sixteen, Marissa owed money.”
“She let people stay.”
Dominic's face darkened.
Riley noticed.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Do that.”
“Do what?”
“Look like you’re going to kill someone.”
The room became silent.
Dominic said slowly:
“I’m listening.”
“I don't need revenge.”
“What do you need?”
“I need them to stop finding me.”
That answer mattered.
Dominic nodded.
“Then that’s what we do.”
Elias finished.
He recommended hospital imaging for shoulder, hydration, rest, counseling.
Riley refused hospital at first.
Dominic did not order.
He said:
“Grant can take you anywhere you choose.”
Riley eventually agreed to private clinic.
Before she left, Elias pulled Dominic aside.
“She has chronic stress markers.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that child has lived in fear long enough for her body to expect danger even when nothing is happening.”
Dominic looked through glass door.
Riley was watching exits.
Elias continued:
“Don’t smother her.”
“She has survived by controlling distance.”
“Give her choices.”
Dominic nodded.
Elias studied him.
“You know who her father is.”
“Yes.”
Elias's expression changed.
“Nathan?”
Dominic nodded.
Elias sat down slowly.
“Oh God.”
“You knew him?”
“Once.”
“Only through you.”
Then Elias asked:
“Is that why she had number?”
“Yes.”
“He gave it to her.”
Elias looked toward Riley.
“What happened to him?”
“Murdered, I think.”
“By whom?”
Dominic's eyes hardened.
“I’m finding out.”
Elias gripped his arm.
“Dominic.”
“Don’t.”
“I know that look.”
“What look?”
“The one you had after Samuel.”
Dominic pulled away.
“This girl asked for protection, not war.”
Dominic stared.
Elias continued:
“Remember difference.”
Nathan would have said same thing.
That irritated Dominic because it was true.
At clinic, Riley slept for first time in nearly two days.
Grant sat outside room.
Dominic remained across hall.
At dawn, Grant approached.
“Vincent checked in.”
“What did he say?”
“He heard you locked down restaurant.”
“Asked why.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Private matter.”
“Reaction?”
“Normal.”
Dominic looked out window.
“Normal means nothing.”
Grant nodded.
Then:
“I pulled Nathan’s records.”
“His death file is too clean.”
Dominic looked.
“How?”
“Vehicle fire severe enough identification relied on dental.”
“Funeral arranged within forty-eight hours.”
“Guardian paperwork for Riley completed unusually fast.”
“Through whose attorney?”
Grant paused.
“Firm Vincent used at time.”
Dominic felt cold.
“Coincidence?”
“Maybe.”
Neither believed.
Riley woke around eight.
Dominic entered only after nurse asked permission.
She was sitting up.
“Where’s my phone?”
“Charging.”
“Give it.”
He did.
Thirty-two missed calls.
Unknown.
Riley stared.
Then one message appeared while they watched.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LET YOUR FATHER’S SECRETS DIE WITH HIM.
Dominic read.
Riley's face lost color.
“They know.”
Dominic:
“Know what?”
“That I ran.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“They know I’m still alive.”
Dominic took one breath.
Then remembered Elias.
Protection, not war.
He asked:
“Do you want to stay somewhere secure?”
Riley's laugh was hollow.
“Is anywhere secure?”
Dominic thought of Nathan.
Of five-person number.
Of ten years of failure.
Then:
“With me?”
“I'll make it as close as I can.”
Riley looked at scars on her arms.
“How many people have to die for that?”
Dominic's eyes met hers.
“None.”
May you like
He meant it.
And for a man like Dominic Vance, that promise might be harder to keep than any threat.
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