Chapter 7: What Renn Was Willing to Do
The nanny's name was Sofia.
She was twenty-three years old and had been with the girls since they were four months old.
Lily called her Fee.
Grace and Emma simply followed wherever Lily led, which meant Sofia had become, in the wordless logic of toddlers, someone essential.
Dominic made three calls in the car on the way back.
His voice stayed flat and controlled throughout all three, but Hannah watched his hand on the steering wheel and saw what his voice didn't show.
When they got back to the townhouse, two of his men were waiting in the front hall.
A third was upstairs with the girls.
"When?" Dominic asked.
"Forty minutes ago.
She went out to get something from the pharmacy two blocks over.
She didn't come back.
Her phone went to a number we traced to a burner registered to a shell company out of Delaware." The man paused.
"Renn's structure."
"Has he made contact?"
"Not yet."
Dominic looked at Hannah.
"He's not going to hurt her," he said.
"She's leverage, not a target.
He wants the drive."
"How does he know about the drive?"
"He doesn't.
Not specifically.
He knows Cara left something.
He's been looking for it since she d*ed." His voice was controlled.
"He took Sofia to get me to the table.
He'll call within the hour."
The call came in forty-five minutes.
Dominic put it on speaker.
Hannah stood across the room, close enough to hear.
The voice was older than she expected.
Measured.
The voice of a man who had spent decades being the calmest person in every room.
"Dominic.
I hope the day has been productive."
"What do you want, Victor."
"I want a conversation.
A real one.
You've been avoiding those for some time."
"You took my employee."
"I borrowed her.
She's perfectly comfortable.
She'll stay that way as long as we can resolve a small matter quickly." A pause.
"I understand you've found someone.
A young woman.
I'd like to meet her."
Dominic looked at Hannah.
She shook her head slightly.
"That's not going to happen," Dominic said.
"I think it will.
Because the alternative involves Sofia becoming significantly less comfortable, and then involves your daughters losing someone they're rather attached to." The voice stayed pleasant.
"I don't want to do that, Dominic.
I'm not a cruel man."
"You're exactly that."
A small pause.
"I want the drive.
I know Cara made one.
I know you've found it.
Give it to me and Sofia goes home tonight.
Keep it, and this becomes a longer conversation than either of us wants."
"I'll need time."
"You have until tomorrow morning.
I'll send an address." The line went quiet for a moment.
"And Dominic — don't involve anyone outside this.
Not your federal friend.
Not anyone.
I have eyes in places you'd find surprising."
The call ended.
The room was silent.
Then Hannah said, "He doesn't know what's on it."
"No."
"If he did, he wouldn't negotiate.
He'd just move."
Dominic looked at her.
"He thinks it's financial records that implicate him.
He doesn't know about the audio.
He doesn't know about the video." She paused.
"Which means he thinks he can contain it if he gets the drive."
"That's right."
"So we give him the drive."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"We give him a drive," Hannah continued.
"We copy everything tonight.
We send the originals to Adrienne Cole tonight.
And tomorrow morning, we hand Renn a drive that has nothing on it he can use."
"He'll know."
"Eventually.
But by then, Cole will already have the files." She met his eyes.
"You said she's been waiting for the primary transaction record.
How fast can she move once she has it?"
"If the audio is as clean as Cara described—" He stopped.
"Fast."
"Then we move tonight."
Dominic studied her for a moment.
"You sound like her," he said.
Hannah didn't answer that.
"Can you reach Cole securely?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Then do it now.
All of it.
The transfer record, the audio, the video." She paused.
"Especially the video."
He looked at her.
"Cara's testimony on record," Hannah said.
"Her own voice.
Dated a week before she d*ed." Her jaw was set.
"Let him try to walk away from that."
Dominic picked up his phone.
While he made the call, Hannah went upstairs.
The girls were in the playroom at the end of the hall.
Emma was stacking blocks with focused intensity.
Grace was turning the pages of a board book she clearly had memorized.
Lily was sitting by the door, as if she had been waiting.
When Hannah appeared, Lily stood up and walked to her and pressed her face against Hannah's leg.
Hannah put her hand on the child's head.
"It's okay," she said quietly.
"I'm not going anywhere."
May you like
She meant it as comfort.
By the time she said it, she realized she also meant it as a fact.
