Chapter 3 - The Ghost in the Security Logs
While Dominic slept fitfully under the influence of heavy medication, I used the quiet hours of dawn to investigate the digital tablet he kept locked under his pillow. Using a backdoor override code I had quietly pried from him earlier under the guise of monitoring his vitals, I accessed the Lake Forest estate’s master security logs for the night of the shooting. What I found made my blood run cold. The security cameras covering the western wing—the exact corridor leading to Dominic’s private study—had been manually disabled at 11:42 p.m. for precisely seven minutes. The access code used to override the system belonged to Leo Romano, the immaculate, silver-tempered household manager who had handed me my instructions at the portico. Leo, who had served the Rossi family for twenty years, was the architect of the ambush. When Dominic woke up hours later, drenched in sweat but with his mind finally clear, I didn't mince words. I spun the tablet around and laid the digital evidence across his chest. Dominic stared at the screen, his face draining of what little color remained, transforming into a mask of pure, lethal fury. The man who had terrorized Chicago's underworld for a decade had been sold out by his most trusted adviser, and the only person standing beside him was a broke ER nurse with a split seam on her sneakers.
