Chapter 4 - THE SECRET BELOW THE WATERLINE
The boat was discovered before dawn, abandoned beneath a railway bridge.
Its cabin had been stripped.
The engine was still warm.
Dominic wanted to inspect it personally, but federal investigators were already on their way.
Clara insisted on accompanying him as far as the marina office.
“You're recovering from a gunshot wound,” Dominic said.
“And Leo is missing.”
“That doesn't make you invincible.”
“I never claimed it did.”
He looked at her for a moment.
Then arranged an accessible vehicle.
At the marina, Clara noticed a photograph of the boat hanging on the office wall.
The red hull had a white stripe near the stern.
But in the picture, something looked unusual.
A second seam ran beneath the passenger cabin.
She pointed.
“What's that?”
The mechanic explained that Sofia had ordered a hidden storage compartment installed beneath the floor.
Dominic stared.
He had never known.
Investigators located the compartment.
Inside they found waterproof bags, shipping manifests, a damaged recorder, and photographs of shipping containers.
Some photographs showed children.
Others showed adults being moved between trucks under armed supervision.
Clara felt sick.
Sofia had not merely suspected trafficking.
She had documented it.
One photograph showed a man in profile beside a loading dock.
Silver watch.
Orange strap.
Thomas Bell.
Alive.
Dominic stared at the image until Matteo gently took it from him.
The recorder contained a final message from Sofia.
“Dom, if you find this, please listen before you do anything.”
Her voice shook.
“Thomas is alive. He has been working through the old routes. Someone inside our family helped him disappear.”
A long pause followed.
“If anything happens to me, find Leo first.”
Dominic bowed his head.
May you like
Then Sofia said the words that would haunt him.
“Don't avenge me before you save my son.”
