Chapter 8 - IF ONE OF US MAKES IT HOMEBefore Dominic could investigate Riley’s memory, he needed to understand Nathan’s last years.
Grant worked through legal investigators and old records.
By morning they had timeline.
Nathan left Ardent Strategic eleven years earlier.
He withdrew Riley from school for two months.
Moved twice.
Opened safe-deposit box in Albany.
Closed it three weeks later.
Visited Dominic.
Then died.
Riley was placed with Marissa Cole.
Dominic asked:
“Who was Marissa?”
Riley sat at kitchen table drinking coffee she wasn’t supposed to like.
“My mom’s friend.”
“Your mother?”
“Died when I was four.”
Dominic paused.
“I’m sorry.”
Riley shrugged.
She did that whenever pain was old.
“Marissa helped Dad after.”
“Was she good to you?”
“At first.”
“What changed?”
“Money.”
She explained.
Nathan left monthly support through trust.
At first Marissa worked, kept apartment clean, took Riley to school.
Then she started dating a man named Dean.
He drank.
Gambled.
Asked questions about Nathan.
When Riley was eleven, Dean searched her room.
“What was he looking for?”
“He said Dad had ‘insurance.’”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“What happened?”
“I told him I didn’t know.”
“He hit me.”
Dominic looked away.
Riley added:
“Marissa made him leave eventually.”
“Eventually?”
“After he broke my arm.”
Dominic's face hardened.
Riley caught.
“No revenge.”
“I remember.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
She continued.
Different men came over years later.
Some claimed to be creditors.
Some friends of Nathan.
All asked similar:
Did your father leave a notebook? A key? A drive?
Riley never knew.
“Why stay with Marissa?”
“I was a kid.”
Then:
“And when I got older, I was afraid leaving made them follow me somewhere worse.”
Dominic understood survival logic.
Grant entered.
“Found red tower.”
Riley looked.
“Where?”
“Old water tower near Saint Gabriel Cemetery outside Albany.”
“Rail line behind.”
“Stone angel at cemetery entrance.”
Riley stood.
“That’s it.”
Dominic:
“Locker?”
“Old station nearby.”
Grant nodded.
“Closed twelve years.”
“Storage section still exists under historical society.”
Dominic looked at Riley.
“You don’t go.”
Her eyes flashed.
“It’s my father.”
“It may be dangerous.”
“I called you for protection, not imprisonment.”
Dominic immediately knew wrong line.
“Fine.”
Grant looked at him like he'd lost mind.
Dominic continued:
“We go together.”
“No entourage.”
“Enough security.”
Riley nodded.
Before leaving, Dominic received call.
Vincent Kade.
He answered.
“Dominic.”
“Vincent.”
“I hear Nathan Dawson’s daughter surfaced.”
Dominic's expression did not change.
Riley was across room.
Grant watched.
Dominic said:
“Where did you hear that?”
Pause.
“People talk.”
“Not about Nathan.”
Vincent laughed.
“You’re paranoid.”
“I survived because of it.”
“Is she with you?”
Dominic:
“Why do you care?”
“Because Nathan was trouble.”
Dominic became still.
“How?”
Vincent hesitated.
“He poked around things he shouldn’t.”
“What things?”
“Old history.”
Dominic said:
“I never told you Nathan came to see me before he disappeared.”
Silence.
A fraction.
Enough.
Vincent replied:
“You probably did.”
“No.”
Dominic ended call.
Grant:
“That was bad.”
“Yes.”
Riley:
“He knows.”
“Yes.”
“Is he one coming after me?”
“Maybe.”
She stared.
“You trust him?”
“I did.”
“That must hurt.”
Dominic smiled without humor.
“It’s becoming crowded year for that.”
They drove north.
Riley sat in back with Grant.
Dominic in second vehicle.
At cemetery, stone angel stood exactly as Riley remembered.
She got out.
Wind lifted dark hair.
For a moment she looked seven instead of seventeen.
“My dad used to stand there.”
Dominic followed gaze.
“Why?”
“He’d say hello to someone.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
They searched old station records.
Historical society volunteer found storage lockers preserved from closure.
Locker 214.
Riley stopped.
“That number.”
“You remember?”
“My birthday.”
February 14.
Grant examined.
Old combination lock removed years ago but locker sealed under archival chain.
With permission and legal oversight through attorney, it was opened.
Inside:
Nothing.
Dust.
Riley stared.
“No.”
Dominic checked interior.
Empty.
Then Riley noticed back panel scratched.
Nathan had taught her as child:
People look at what’s obvious. Look at what doesn’t belong.
One screw was newer.
Grant removed panel carefully.
Behind it was small sealed metal case.
Riley's breath stopped.
Dominic did not touch.
“This belongs to you.”
She opened.
Inside was brass military coin.
A small key.
And an envelope.
On front:
RILEY — WHEN YOU’RE OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW WHY I RAN.
Her hands began shaking.
Dominic whispered:
“Nathan.”
Riley looked at him.
For first time, both understood.
Nathan had not died accidentally.
May you like
He had known he might not survive.
And he had left his daughter the truth.
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