Dominic's POV
Aria collapses in my arms and I catch her. She's shaking so hard I think she might break apart.
"We'll find her," I say again. "Aria, I promise—"
"Don't make promises you can't keep!" She pushes me away. "You don't even know your own daughter! You didn't know she existed until two hours ago! How are you going to find her?"
She's right. But I can't admit that. Not now.
"I have resources. Private investigators. Security teams. I can track Celeste—"
"She's been planning this for six months!" Aria's voice is getting higher. Desperate. "She's smarter than you think! She's always been smarter than everyone thinks!"
The police officer steps forward. "Mrs. Kane, I need you to give me every detail about your sister. Phone numbers. Email addresses. Known associates. Anything that could help us locate her."
Aria rattles off information through her tears. I pull out my phone and start making calls.
First, Marcus. "I need you to freeze all of Celeste's accounts. Credit cards. Bank accounts. Everything."
"On what grounds?" Marcus asks.
"Kidnapping. Attempted murder. Take your pick. Just do it."
Next, I call my head of security. "I need surveillance footage from the hospital. Every exit. Every camera. Find out what car Celeste left in and track it."
Then I call my pilot. "If anyone requests access to my plane, deny it. I don't care who asks. No one uses that plane without my direct approval."
Aria is watching me make these calls. Her face is pale but there's something new in her eyes. Not forgiveness. Not trust. But maybe... hope?
"The airports are on alert," the police officer says. "We've sent her photo to every gate agent. If she tries to board a flight with your daughter, we'll stop her."
"What if she doesn't go to the airport?" Aria asks. "What if she drives? What if she—"
Her phone rings. Unknown number again.
We both freeze.
Aria answers and puts it on speaker. "Hello?"
"Hello, Aria." It's not Celeste this time. It's a man's voice. Calm. Professional. "My name is Detective James Walsh. I've been investigating your sister for the past three months."
"Investigating her for what?" I demand.
"And you are?"
"Dominic Kane. Lily's father."
"Ah. Mr. Kane. Good. I need to speak with both of you. But not over the phone. Can you meet me at the hospital's security office? Third floor, east wing. Come alone. Don't bring the police."
The officer starts to protest but Detective Walsh continues: "I know you're with NYPD officers right now. Tell them to back off. What I have to share is above their clearance level. This is a federal case."
Federal? My stomach drops.
"We'll be right there," Aria says and hangs up.
The police officer frowns. "I don't like this. You shouldn't go anywhere alone right now—"
"We don't have a choice," I say. "If he knows something about where Celeste took Lily, we need to hear it."
Aria's already walking. I follow her down the hallway to the east wing. The security office is small and cramped. A man in a dark suit is waiting inside. He's maybe forty, with sharp eyes and a badge clipped to his belt.
"Mr. and Mrs. Kane. Please, sit." He gestures to two chairs.
"We don't have time to sit," Aria snaps. "Where's my daughter?"
"I'm getting to that. But first, I need you to understand what you're dealing with." Detective Walsh pulls out a folder. "Your sister, Celeste Castellano, has been under investigation by the FBI for international fraud and identity theft. She's part of a sophisticated criminal network that targets wealthy men, gains their trust, and then systematically drains their accounts."
I stare at him. "Celeste is a con artist?"
"One of the best. She's been running this operation for eight years. Ever since she left for 'Paris.'" He makes air quotes. "There was no music career. No orchestra. That was all a cover."
Aria's mouth falls open. "But... but she sent photos. Letters. She talked about her concerts..."
"All fabricated. She was actually moving between different cities, targeting different men, stealing millions." Detective Walsh slides a photo across the desk. It's Celeste, but she looks different. Darker hair. Different clothes. "She has at least six different identities that we know of."
"Why come back to New York then?" I ask. "Why risk getting caught?"
"Because she ran out of money. Her last con went bad and she needed a quick score. That's when she remembered you, Mr. Kane. The rich ex-boyfriend who never got over her." Detective Walsh looks at me. "She's been monitoring your life for years. She knew about your marriage. Your wealth. She knew exactly how to manipulate you."
I feel sick.
"The plan was simple," Walsh continues. "Come back. Seduce you. Get you to divorce your wife. Marry you. Then take everything and disappear. But then she found out about Lily."
"How?" Aria demands. "I kept Lily hidden for four years. How did Celeste find out?"
Walsh pulls out another photo. This one shows Celeste talking to someone in a parking lot. I lean closer and my blood runs cold.
It's Rosa. Our housekeeper.
"Your employee has been feeding information to your sister for the past six months," Walsh says. "Every detail about your lives. Your schedules. Your arguments. Everything."
"Rosa?" I can't believe it. "But she's worked for us for three years—"
"And she's Celeste's cousin. Real name Rosa Castellano. They've been working together this whole time."
Aria makes a choking sound. "All those times I went to Brooklyn to see Lily... Rosa knew. She told Celeste. That's how—" She stops. Looks at me. "That's how Celeste knew exactly when to poison Lily. Rosa told her when I'd be away. When you'd be at work. When no one would notice."
The pieces are falling into place. The drugging five years ago. The money transfer. The perfectly timed kidnapping. All of it planned. All of it calculated.
"Where is she taking Lily?" I ask Walsh. "You said you've been investigating her. You must have some idea."
Walsh hesitates. "That's the complicated part. Celeste doesn't work alone. She has a partner. Someone high up. Someone with connections to make people disappear."
"Who?" Aria leans forward. "Who's her partner?"
"We don't know. That's why I need your help." Walsh pulls out a laptop. "Celeste made one mistake. She got cocky. She's been texting her partner from her phone. We've been monitoring it. Most of the messages are encrypted, but we caught something twenty minutes ago."
He turns the laptop so we can see. A text conversation:
Celeste: Got the package. Meeting you at the usual spot.
Unknown: Good. The client is ready. They're paying extra for the rush job.
Celeste: How much?
Unknown: 2 million. Wire transfer as soon as you arrive.
My blood turns to ice. "Client? What client? What rush job?"
Walsh's face is grim. "Mr. Kane, your sister-in-law isn't just running a con. She's running an adoption ring. She steals children from complicated family situations and sells them to wealthy couples who can't adopt legally."
"No." Aria stands up so fast her chair falls over. "No, no, no. She's selling Lily? She's selling my baby?"
"We believe so. The 'usual spot' mentioned in that text is likely a meeting location. If we can figure out where that is before the transaction happens—"
"Then what?" I'm on my feet too. "You arrest her? What happens to Lily?"
"We get your daughter back safely. But I need you to think. Does Celeste have any special locations? Any place she's mentioned? Any property she might own under a different name?"
Aria and I look at each other. We're both thinking the same thing.
"The cabin," Aria whispers. "She used to talk about a cabin upstate. Said it belonged to our grandmother. But Grandma died ten years ago and no one knows what happened to that property."
Walsh is already typing. "Address?"
"I don't know the exact address. But it's near Lake Placid. On the north shore."
"That's a big area—"
"Wait." I grab Aria's hand. "The letters. Remember? The ones I kept in my desk drawer. Celeste mentioned that cabin in one of them. She said she went there to 'think about us.'"
Walsh snaps his fingers. "Get me those letters. Now."
"They're at the penthouse. Twenty minutes away."
"We don't have twenty minutes!" Aria's crying again. "What if the buyer is already there? What if they take her before we—"
My phone buzzes. A text from an unknown number. But this time, it's not the mystery messenger.
It's a photo of Lily. She's in a car. Still crying. Still scared.
But there's something in the background. Through the car window.
A sign.
I zoom in, my hands shaking.
"Lake Placid. 15 miles," I read aloud.
Walsh grabs his radio. "All units, suspect is heading north on Route 73 toward Lake Placid. Possible destination is a property on the north shore. I need road blocks set up immediately."
"We're going too," I say.
"Mr. Kane, this is a police operation—"
"That's my daughter!" My voice echoes off the walls. "I just found out she exists. I'm not losing her before I even get to know her. We're going."
Walsh looks at Aria. She nods. "He's right. We're both going."
Walsh sighs. "Fine. But you stay in the car. No heroics. Understood?"
We don't answer. We're already running for the exit.
As we reach Walsh's car, my phone buzzes one more time. The mystery messenger:
"Good luck, Dominic. You're going to need it. Because Celeste's partner? The person helping her sell your daughter? You know them. You trust them. And they're watching you right now."
I spin around, searching the parking lot. But there are dozens of people. Any of them could be the partner.
Any of them could be the person trying to destroy my family.
And we're about to drive into a trap with no idea who we can trust.