Chapter 8 - The Sister Who Knew Too Much
Maria turned.
Isabel stood inside the hidden passage.
Her hair was disheveled.
One sleeve was torn.
A bruise darkened her cheek.
But she was alive.
Maria ran to her.
They collided halfway across the cellar.
“You’re okay.”
“I’m sorry.”
Maria pulled back.
“Where is Daniel?”
Isabel began crying.
“They took him.”
“Who?”
“Carlo.”
“You were holding a gun on him.”
“It wasn’t loaded.”
Maria stared.
“Why did you text me not to trust you?”
Isabel looked toward Sofia.
“Because they made me make a call three months ago.”
“What call?”
Isabel covered her face.
“I told them where you worked.”
Maria stepped back.
“What?”
“I didn’t know who they were.”
“Who did you tell?”
“A man came to the restaurant.”
Isabel worked at a small bakery.
“He said Diego owed money before he died. He said they only wanted to confirm you were employed.”
“And you told him?”
“I was scared.”
Maria’s face hardened.
“You knew Diego?”
“No. Not like this.”
“You knew enough to hide it from me.”
“I thought it was finished.”
“Nothing is finished.”
Sofia began crying from the raised voices.
Maria immediately stopped.
She crouched.
“Baby, come here.”
Sofia ran into her arms.
Maria kissed her hair.
When she stood again, her anger had become colder.
“Tell me everything.”
Isabel nodded.
“The man came back last month. He asked whether Sofia still had the rabbit Diego gave her.”
Maria froze.
“The rabbit.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it disappeared after the funeral. I thought there was nothing to tell.”
Antonio stepped closer.
“What did it look like?”
Isabel described it.
White fur.
Blue ribbon.
One missing eye.
Antonio looked at Maria.
“Diego used to carry the ledger copies inside stuffed toys when he moved them.”
Maria closed her eyes.
“Where did the rabbit go?”
Isabel whispered, “Mom took it.”
Maria opened her eyes.
“Our mother?”
“She said Sofia was too young to keep something from Diego’s last week. She put it in storage.”
Maria’s heartbeat accelerated.
“Where?”
“Family storage locker in the Bronx.”
Antonio looked at Vincent’s men.
“If the drive we found is a backup, the original evidence may still be in that rabbit.”
Maria grabbed her coat.
“I’m going.”
“No,” Isabel said.
“You lost the right to tell me no.”
“I know.”
Maria immediately regretted it.
Isabel looked down.
Sofia tugged Maria’s hand.
“Aunt Izzy sad.”
Maria exhaled.
She pulled Isabel into a hug.
“I’m angry.”
“I know.”
“I love you.”
“I know.”
“Never hide anything from me again.”
“I won’t.”
Antonio glanced toward the security monitor.
“The courtyard.”
Maria turned.
Vincent still faced Carlo.
The six traitorous guards were on their knees now.
Vincent’s men stood behind them.
Carlo looked oddly calm.
Then Vincent’s phone rang.
He answered.
Maria could not hear the conversation.
But she saw his face change.
He looked toward the house.
Seconds later, the cellar phone rang.
Marco answered.
“Boss?”
Vincent’s voice came through.
“Maria.”
Marco handed her the phone.
She took it.
“I’m here.”
“Is Sofia safe?”
“Yes.”
“Isabel?”
“Here.”
“Good.”
“What’s happening?”
“Carlo says Daniel is at the storage facility.”
Maria looked at Isabel.
Her sister went pale.
“How does he know about the locker?”
“He knows everything we’ve learned before we learn it.”
Maria’s skin crawled.
“You still have a leak.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I’m working on it.”
“Vincent, Daniel—”
“I know.”
She heard movement on his side.
Then his voice lowered.
“Maria.”
“What?”
“If I tell you to do something, will you argue?”
“Yes.”
He almost laughed.
“Good.”
“Tell me.”
“Take Sofia and Isabel into the armored room behind the wine cellar.”
“No.”
“Maria.”
“You said you were working on the leak. What if the leak knows about the armored room?”
Silence.
She had him.
“Then where?”
Maria thought.
“The forbidden room.”
“What?”
“Nobody expects us to go back there.”
“It’s upstairs.”
“Exactly. Every guard is watching exits and secure rooms.”
Vincent considered.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because that room is not secure.”
“Neither is anything else.”
He said nothing.
Maria continued.
“And whoever started this wants Sofia connected to that room. Maybe there’s something else there we haven’t found.”
Vincent exhaled.
“You’re terrifying.”
“I clean bathrooms for a living. We learn things.”
“Take Marco.”
“Okay.”
“And Maria.”
“Yes?”
“Do not leave his sight.”
She looked at Marco.
“I won’t.”
The call ended.
They moved upstairs through the passage.
Elena joined them.
Antonio remained below coordinating with Vincent’s men.
The forbidden room was exactly as they had left it.
Except for one thing.
The painting.
Maria stopped.
A new red mark had appeared beneath Sofia’s butterfly.
A small arrow.
Pointing toward the floor.
Marco drew his weapon.
“That wasn’t there.”
“No.”
Sofia pointed.
“Pretty.”
Maria crouched.
The arrow ended near the baseboard.
Marco removed a knife and pried the wood loose.
Behind it was a narrow cavity.
Inside lay a child’s bracelet.
Silver.
Engraved with Lucia’s name.
Vincent had said the bracelet was buried with her.
Elena began crying.
“She wore that at the clinic.”
Maria lifted it carefully.
Something was attached beneath the clasp.
A tiny microSD card.
Marco stared.
“Your husband?”
Maria shook her head.
“Lucia.”
Elena looked confused.
“Lucia was six.”
Maria turned the card over.
A small strip of tape had been wrapped around it.
One word was written in a child’s handwriting.
DADDY.
Vincent returned eight minutes later.
Carlo had been taken into custody inside the estate.
Not police custody.
Vincent’s.
He entered the room and saw the bracelet.
Everything else disappeared from his face.
“Where?”
Maria pointed to the wall.
He held it with both hands.
“She had this when she died.”
Elena nodded.
“Antonio must have hidden it.”
But Antonio, when summoned, denied it.
“I never saw that.”
Vincent inserted the card into a reader.
One video file appeared.
The timestamp was from the night Lucia died.
The screen flickered.
Lucia appeared.
Weak.
Pale.
Smiling.
Vincent gripped the table.
“Daddy,” Lucia whispered in the video.
Vincent stopped breathing.
“I’m making this because Mommy is crying and Uncle Tony said I can say anything.”
Maria looked away.
It felt too private.
Vincent did not.
Lucia continued.
“I know you’re mad because I went in the car.”
His eyes filled.
“I’m sorry.”
Vincent whispered, “Baby…”
Lucia looked off-camera.
Someone spoke.
The voice was distorted.
Then Lucia looked back.
“Grandpa says you have to be strong.”
Vincent’s face changed.
Carlo had been there.
The child continued.
“He says sometimes people have to go away so families stay powerful.”
Elena covered her mouth.
Then Lucia whispered something.
Vincent turned the volume higher.
“I heard Grandpa talking to Uncle Rocco.”
Vincent leaned closer.
“They said Mommy is next.”
The recording ended.
No one moved.
Then the bedroom door slammed shut behind them.
The lock turned from the outside.
Smoke began curling beneath the door.
Marco rushed forward.
“Fire.”
Maria grabbed Sofia.
Vincent looked toward the window.
Three floors down.
No balcony.
Smoke thickened.
Then Sofia pointed toward Lucia’s painted girl.
“She has a door.”
Vincent looked at the wall.
A tiny painted door sat beneath the flowers.
He pressed it.
May you like
The entire panel clicked.
And something opened behind Lucia’s portrait.
