Chapter 2 - THE WOLF RING
The man’s name was Mason Reed.
Forty-one.
Former military.
Private security.
Head of protection for Sofia Moretti, Dominic’s older sister.
He wore black gloves during estate work.
Except one was missing.
His right hand was bare.
On his index finger was a heavy silver ring shaped like a wolf’s head.
Lily pointed.
“Dog.”
Grace followed her finger.
Mason looked down at his hand.
Then calmly put it behind his back.
Dominic saw.
“So?”
Mason’s voice was controlled.
“She’s two.”
Grace held Lily tighter.
“She saw someone at the kitchen door.”
Mason’s expression did not change.
“Then she saw half the staff.”
That was true.
The ballroom had eighty guests and more than thirty workers.
A toddler pointing at jewelry was not proof.
Dominic ordered everyone separated.
No threats.
No guns drawn.
No dramatic revenge.
Not yet.
He called Dr. Aaron Weiss, the family physician.
Then police.
That surprised Grace.
Dominic’s world had always been built around solving problems internally.
But this was Ethan.
Dominic wanted a record no one could later rewrite.
The cake fragments were collected.
One untouched upper section still sat crushed against the baseboard.
Dr. Weiss warned everyone not to touch it.
By midnight, preliminary hospital screening showed a foreign pharmaceutical compound in the frosting.
Not a kitchen contaminant.
Not shellfish.
Not spoiled food.
Something that did not belong there.
The concentration was high enough to cause a serious medical emergency in a child.
Maybe worse depending on dose.
Ethan had eaten none.
May you like
Lily had stopped him in time.
Mason Reed disappeared before police finished taking names.
