Chapter 9 - The Passage Behind Lucia’s Painting
The wall moved inward.
A narrow space appeared behind it.
Vincent stared.
“My house has more secrets than my family.”
Maria coughed through the smoke.
“Complain later.”
They squeezed through.
Marco pulled the panel shut behind them.
The passage was barely wide enough for one adult at a time.
Sofia whimpered.
Vincent took her.
“I’ve got you.”
Maria stayed directly behind them.
Elena and Isabel followed.
Marco came last.
The passage sloped downward.
Old wiring lined the walls.
Dust covered the floor.
Except for footprints.
Fresh footprints.
Vincent noticed.
“Someone’s been using this.”
They descended in darkness until Marco found an old switch.
A yellow bulb flickered on.
The tunnel ended beneath the chapel on the west side of the estate.
Maria had cleaned that chapel dozens of times.
She had never known there was a room beneath it.
Vincent found another door.
This one opened outward.
They emerged behind the altar.
Church candles trembled in the draft.
Sofia looked around.
“Pretty.”
Vincent set her down.
Maria immediately checked her.
“You okay?”
Sofia nodded.
“Can I paint here?”
“No.”
Vincent said it at the same time.
For one absurd second, Maria laughed.
Vincent did too.
Then gunfire sounded outside.
The moment disappeared.
Marco checked the window.
“Carlo’s men.”
Vincent’s phone rang.
Antonio.
Vincent answered.
“They’ve breached the south gate,” Antonio said. “Carlo never came alone.”
Vincent looked toward Maria.
“Where is my father?”
“Gone.”
“What?”
“Two guards were dead. He disappeared during the fire.”
Vincent swore.
“Rocco?”
“Also gone.”
“Together?”
“Probably.”
Maria’s stomach tightened.
Carlo and Rocco had wanted the estate distracted.
The fire had done exactly that.
Vincent gave rapid orders.
Then he turned to Maria.
“Storage locker.”
She understood.
“If Daniel is there, Carlo may go for the original ledger.”
“Yes.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
She stared at him.
“We’ve done this part.”
Vincent rubbed his face.
“Maria.”
“My brother-in-law is there because of my husband’s evidence.”
“It could be a trap.”
“It definitely is a trap.”
“Excellent reason not to go.”
“And you’re going anyway.”
“That is different.”
“Because you’re a man?”
“Because I have twenty armed guards.”
“I have you.”
Vincent stopped.
The words hung between them.
Maria had not intended them to sound that way.
His expression changed.
Softer.
More dangerous for an entirely different reason.
Maria looked away first.
“I mean, if this pretend marriage plan is supposed to scare people, you should at least keep the pretend bride nearby.”
Vincent’s mouth twitched.
“You rejected the proposal.”
“I’m reconsidering the tactical benefits.”
“You are the least romantic woman I’ve ever met.”
“You proposed because people were shooting at us.”
“Fair.”
Elena stared at them.
Isabel looked between them.
“Are you two actually discussing marriage right now?”
“No,” Maria said.
“Yes,” Vincent said.
Maria glared at him.
Sofia clapped.
“Mama gets pretty dress.”
“No one is getting a dress.”
Vincent looked at Sofia.
“Your mother is difficult.”
“You’re bossy.”
“Also fair.”
Another explosion sounded outside.
Vincent’s expression hardened immediately.
“Marco, get them through the west exit.”
Maria grabbed his wrist.
“You promised Sofia.”
“I remember.”
“You come back.”
“Yes.”
“That is not something you say because it sounds nice.”
“I know.”
She released him.
Then Vincent did something neither expected.
He touched her face.
Only briefly.
His thumb brushed the blue paint still dried near her cheek from Lucia’s room.
He looked at it.
Then at her.
“I’ll come back.”
Maria’s heartbeat betrayed her.
He left.
The estate became a battlefield of movement without becoming chaos.
Vincent’s guards pushed Carlo’s men away from the main house.
Police did not come.
Maria realized why.
Too many names on Diego’s ledger.
Nobody knew which officers had been bought.
Marco drove Maria, Sofia, Isabel, and Elena through a service exit.
They took an armored SUV toward the Bronx.
Antonio followed in another car.
The storage facility looked abandoned.
The gate hung open.
Maria’s hands became cold.
“Daniel.”
Isabel opened the door before the car fully stopped.
Marco caught her.
“Wait.”
“My husband is in there.”
“Which unit?”
“C-19.”
They moved together.
Rows of metal doors.
Fluorescent lights.
No voices.
Unit C-19 stood open.
Inside sat a single chair.
Daniel was tied to it.
Isabel ran.
“Daniel!”
Marco entered first.
“No wires.”
They freed him.
He coughed.
“They left ten minutes ago.”
“Who?” Maria asked.
“Older man. Cane. Another guy with gray hair.”
Carlo and Rocco.
Maria looked around.
“Did they take the rabbit?”
Daniel shook his head.
“They couldn’t find it.”
“Why?”
He looked confused.
“They said your mother moved the box.”
Maria froze.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Maria’s phone rang.
Her mother.
She answered immediately.
“Mom?”
No response.
“Mom?”
Breathing.
Then Carlo’s voice.
“Maria.”
Her blood turned cold.
“Where is my mother?”
“Safe.”
“What do you want?”
“You know what I want.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Your mother does.”
Maria gripped the phone.
“Do not hurt her.”
“I have no interest in hurting old women.”
“You murdered my husband.”
Silence.
Then:
“Rocco handled that.”
Maria looked toward Antonio.
His face hardened.
Carlo continued.
“But Diego created complications.”
“You’re going to prison.”
Carlo laughed.
“Half the men who would arrest me are on my payroll.”
“Not all of them.”
“No.”
His voice changed.
“That is why I need the ledger.”
Maria looked toward Sofia.
Her daughter was standing beside the open storage unit.
Looking inside a cardboard box.
“Mama?”
Maria held up a hand.
Carlo continued.
“Bring Vincent Moretti to St. Agnes.”
Maria froze.
The clinic.
Where Lucia died.
“Why?”
“Because everything began there.”
“And if I don’t?”
“You lose your mother.”
The call ended.
Maria lowered the phone.
Sofia tugged her dress.
“Mama.”
“What?”
“I found Papa.”
Maria looked down.
Sofia held the old white stuffed rabbit.
One eye missing.
Blue ribbon faded.
Maria’s breath stopped.
Inside the ribbon was a hard rectangular shape.
She opened the seam.
A second USB drive slid into her palm.
But that was not all.
A folded note came with it.
Diego’s handwriting.
Maria opened it.
IF YOU FIND THIS, DON’T GIVE IT TO VINCENT MORETTI.
She stared at the sentence.
Below it was another line.
HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT HIS FATHER MADE HIM DO.
Maria’s hands began shaking.
Then headlights swept across the storage facility entrance.
Three black cars pulled in.
Antonio looked outside.
His face changed.
“Too late.”
Maria grabbed Sofia.
Marco drew his gun.
Car doors opened.
A familiar figure stepped out.
Vincent.
But he was not alone.
May you like
Rocco Bellini walked beside him.
And Vincent was holding a gun against Rocco’s back.
