Chapter 6 - The Unseen Witness
Clara stood barefoot in the foyer, wearing a simple silk nightgown, her long dark hair falling loosely over her shoulders. She didn't have her white cane. Instead, her hand trailed lightly along the wall, guiding her footsteps with an eerie, effortless precision that made Emma’s breath catch.
"Clara? What are you doing out of bed?" Emma lowered the gun slightly, though her finger remained tense on the trigger. "You shouldn't be wandering around in the dark."
Clara stopped a few feet away, turning her unseeing eyes directly toward where Emma was standing, as if she could read the exact contour of Emma's face through the gloom.
"I couldn't sleep," Clara said, her voice soft and disturbingly calm. "The house is too quiet, Emma. When Luca was here, his presence filled every room. Now... it's like the walls are echoing with ghosts."
Emma swallowed hard, sliding the Beretta behind her back. "You scared me. I thought... I thought someone had broken in."
"No one needs to break in," Clara replied softly, taking another step forward. "The doors were never truly locked against what's coming."
Emma’s blood ran cold. She stepped closer to Clara, studying the blind woman’s face in the moonlight. "What do you mean by that, Clara? Did you hear something?"
Clara reached out, her fingertips gently brushing against Emma’s forearm. The moment their skin touched, Clara flinched slightly, her breath hitching.
"You found the ledger," Clara whispered, a sad, knowing smile touching her lips. "You read what Luca wrote."
Emma didn't deny it. "Why didn't you ever tell me, Clara? Why let Luca carry that entire burden alone? Why let him sacrifice his life to protect you from a world that would have exploited you?"
Clara lowered her head, her fingers tightening around the fabric of her nightgown. "Because a gift like mine isn't a blessing, Emma. It's a curse. Every time I touched someone in pain, I felt their dying breath. Every time I walked down a crowded street, I heard the malicious thoughts of men plotting murder. Luca was the only person who could silence the noise."
Clara lifted her chin, her blind eyes piercing straight through Emma.
"He didn't just protect me from the syndicate, Emma. He protected the syndicate from what I could do if I ever lost control."
Emma felt a chill run down her spine. "What... what do you mean?"
Before Clara could answer, the sharp ring of a mobile phone shattered the silence of the foyer.
Emma jumped, pulling her phone from her pocket. The screen flashed with an unknown, encrypted number. She looked at Clara, who gave a slow, solemn nod.
Emma swiped to answer and pressed the phone to her ear.
"Speak," Emma said, forcing as much of Luca’s iron authority into her voice as she could muster.
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"Miss Voss," a smooth, distorted voice hissed through the speaker. "Condolences on your brother’s passing. But business waits for no one. Tell the blind girl to pack her bags and meet us at the old railyard by midnight. Or the rest of your family will join Luca in the ground."
The line went dead.
