Chapter 3
Luca looked at my phone.
Then at Gabriel.
For the first time since he entered the house, Gabriel's smile disappeared.
"Give me that."
Nobody moved.
The hidden laughter stopped.
My screen lit again.
MATTEO: WEST WALL. THIRD PANEL.
Luca's eyes shifted toward the paneled wall behind Gabriel.
Gabriel noticed.
"Don't."
Daniel fired.
The shot hit the device in Gabriel's hand.
It flew across the hall.
Gabriel moved at the same time.
Fast.
He disappeared through a side door before Daniel could fire again.
"Go!" Luca shouted.
Two guards chased him.
Luca crossed the hallway and pressed the third wall panel.
Nothing.
Adrian stepped forward.
"Lower edge."
Luca found a hidden latch.
The panel opened.
Behind it was a narrow service passage.
Old.
Dusty.
Built into the mansion walls.
A man stood inside.
He looked exactly like the man from the video.
Scar along his jaw.
Blood at his temple.
But he wasn't tied to any chair.
Luca stopped.
The man stared at him.
Neither spoke.
Seven years.
Seven years between them.
Then Matteo said:
"You got old."
Luca hit him.
Not hard enough to injure him.
Hard enough to make the moment real.
Matteo staggered.
Then laughed.
Luca grabbed him and pulled him into a hug.
It lasted only two seconds.
Maybe three.
Then Luca shoved him back.
"You let me bury you."
Matteo's smile faded.
"I know."
"You let Mom die believing you were dead."
Pain crossed Matteo's face.
"I know."
Luca punched the wall beside him.
"Stop saying that."
Nobody spoke.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Adrian looked away.
Matteo saw him.
"Dad."
Adrian stepped forward.
"You okay?"
"Mostly."
Luca turned.
"You knew he was in the house?"
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
Matteo answered.
"Nobody did."
He looked at me.
"Except apparently Mia."
I blinked.
"I didn't know anything."
"You found my phone."
"Your phone?"
He nodded.
"The black one."
Vanessa stared.
"That was yours?"
Matteo looked at her.
"Technically it belonged to Gabriel. I stole it two days ago."
"Then why was it in Luca's study?"
"Because I left it there."
Luca frowned.
"Why?"
"To see who picked it up."
I stared at him.
"So I was bait?"
His expression changed.
"No."
"That's exactly what you just said."
"I expected Vanessa to retrieve it."
Vanessa looked away.
Matteo continued.
"I slipped it under the table before dinner. Gabriel believed Vanessa still had it. I needed proof she was communicating with him."
Luca's gaze moved to my shoulder.
"And instead Mia found it."
Matteo saw the cut.
His face hardened.
"She did that?"
I said nothing.
He looked at Vanessa.
"You hurt her over a phone you thought contained messages from Gabriel."
Vanessa's voice shook.
"I panicked."
Matteo laughed bitterly.
"That seems to be your defense for everything."
Luca stepped between them.
"Where is Gabriel?"
Matteo looked toward the passage.
"He knows the tunnels."
"How?"
"Because he designed the security renovation twelve years ago."
Daniel returned.
"He disappeared near the east stairwell."
Matteo nodded.
"There's a tunnel to the old garage."
Daniel swore into his radio.
Luca looked at Matteo.
"Who is he?"
Matteo's face became serious.
"Former intelligence contractor. Corporate security. Fixer. Whatever name you prefer."
"And why does he want my company?"
"He doesn't."
Luca frowned.
"Then why the shares?"
"Access."
"To what?"
Matteo looked at the silver key.
"Box 317."
Adrian said, "We need to move."
Luca held up a hand.
"No. I've spent seven years being lied to. Nobody moves until I know what's in that box."
Matteo looked at me.
I didn't know why.
Maybe because I had found the key.
Maybe because he was deciding whether I could be trusted.
Finally he said:
"A drive."
"What drive?" Luca asked.
"Encrypted records from the last twenty years."
"Money?"
"Money. Bribes. Blackmail. Assassinations."
The hallway became very quiet.
Luca's face went blank.
Matteo continued.
"Gabriel built a private network for men who wanted problems solved without police, courts, or newspapers."
Vanessa whispered:
"My father?"
Matteo looked at her.
"Your real father tried to leave."
She flinched.
"That's why he died?"
"Yes."
Her face collapsed.
For the first time, I believed her grief.
Not her innocence.
But her grief.
Luca asked:
"And our father?"
Matteo looked at Adrian.
Adrian answered.
"I helped finance Gabriel's network."
Silence.
Luca stared at him.
"You what?"
"I thought it was private intelligence."
"You paid people to spy?"
"At first."
"At first."
The words were ice.
Adrian rubbed his face.
"Competitors. Negotiations. Political risk. Nothing violent."
Matteo cut in.
"Until it became violent."
Adrian looked at him.
"I didn't know."
"You didn't want to know."
That hurt him.
Luca took one step back.
"So all of this began because you hired him."
"Yes."
"And when you tried to stop?"
"He threatened the family."
"Then the crash."
Adrian nodded.
"Matteo had copied part of the ledger. We were leaving for New York to meet federal investigators."
Luca laughed once.
"You? Federal investigators?"
"I was trying to fix it."
"You were trying to save yourself."
Adrian didn't deny it.
That was worse.
My phone vibrated again.
Unknown number.
Not Matteo this time.
A photograph.
Mrs. Carter.
Sitting in a chair.
Tied.
My heart stopped.
"But she was downstairs."
I turned toward the room.
The Mrs. Carter we had rescued was gone.
Daniel's face changed.
"Who was with her?"
A guard answered through radio.
"No one. She said she was going to the kitchen."
Matteo grabbed my phone.
The photo had a timestamp.
Thirty seconds ago.
MIA FOR 317.
Luca's expression hardened.
"No."
Another message.
SHE HAS FIVE MINUTES.
I felt sick.
"He's using me."
Matteo looked at me.
"He thinks you matter to Luca."
I looked at Luca.
Nobody said anything.
That silence said enough.
Luca ignored it.
"Trace the phone."
Daniel took mine.
"Trying."
Matteo studied the photo.
"Zoom in."
Daniel did.
Behind Mrs. Carter was a painted brick wall.
A brass pipe.
Part of a number.
4.
I recognized it.
"The old laundry basement."
Luca looked at me.
"How?"
"Pipe labels. Mrs. Carter showed me the shutoff valves last winter."
Daniel shouted orders.
Luca started walking.
I followed.
He turned.
"No."
"She's there because of me."
"She's there because of Gabriel."
"He asked for me."
"Exactly."
"Mia," Matteo said, "he may not want to kill you."
I looked at him.
"Comforting."
"He wants leverage."
"Still not comforting."
Luca stepped closer.
"You stay with Daniel."
"Daniel is going to the basement."
"Then stay with Matteo."
Matteo shook his head.
"I'm going too."
Luca looked furious.
"Perfect. Everyone ignore me."
For the first time, despite everything, I almost laughed.
Then a fourth message arrived.
FOUR MINUTES.
We moved.
The mansion's old laundry basement had been unused for years.
The stairs were narrow.
Concrete walls.
No windows.
Daniel and two guards went first.
Luca behind them.
Matteo.
Me.
Adrian stayed upstairs with Vanessa under guard.
At the bottom, we found the chair.
Empty.
Rope on the floor.
Blood on the armrest.
I ran forward.
"Mrs. Carter?"
A speaker crackled overhead.
Gabriel's voice.
"Hello, Mia."
Luca raised his weapon toward the ceiling.
"Show yourself."
Gabriel laughed.
"Still dramatic, Luca."
I looked around.
"Where is she?"
"Safe."
"Prove it."
A door opened on the far side of the basement.
Mrs. Carter stumbled out.
Alive.
Untied.
I ran toward her.
Luca grabbed me.
"Wait."
Mrs. Carter stopped.
Her eyes were wide.
"Mia, don't come closer."
I froze.
"Why?"
She looked down.
A small black vest was strapped beneath her blouse.
Wires.
A blinking green light.
My stomach dropped.
Gabriel spoke again.
"Now we negotiate."
Luca stared at the vest.
"What do you want?"
"The key."
"You leave her first."
"No."
"The key for her."
"No."
Gabriel sounded amused.
"Then she dies."
Matteo walked forward.
"You're bluffing."
A red light flashed.
Mrs. Carter gasped.
Gabriel said, "Try me."
Matteo stopped.
Luca took the key from his pocket.
"No," Matteo said.
Luca ignored him.
"Mia."
I looked at him.
"When I hand him this, take Mrs. Carter upstairs."
"You can't—"
"Do it."
He placed the key on the floor.
Then pushed it across the concrete.
It slid beneath a half-open metal door.
A hand reached out.
Grabbed it.
Matteo cursed.
The lights went out.
Again.
This time I heard Luca shout:
"NOW!"
I ran toward Mrs. Carter.
Someone collided with me.
A man.
I screamed.
He grabbed my arm.
Then another body hit him.
Punches.
Grunting.
Emergency lights flashed.
Matteo had the man pinned against the wall.
Not Gabriel.
One of the security guards.
The same guard who had told us Vanessa was upstairs.
Daniel stared.
"You."
The guard spat blood.
"Too late."
A timer began beeping on Mrs. Carter's vest.
00:30.
"No!" I screamed.
Daniel rushed toward her.
Matteo shouted:
"Don't touch it!"
00:26.
Luca looked around.
"Where's Gabriel?"
The guard laughed.
"Already gone."
00:21.
Mrs. Carter was crying.
"Mia."
I held her hands.
"We'll fix it."
00:17.
Matteo stared at the vest.
Then ripped open the side panel.
Three wires.
Black.
White.
Blue.
00:12.
"Which one?" Luca asked.
Matteo's hands shook.
"I don't know."
00:09.
The captured guard laughed again.
"Guess."
Luca pointed the gun at his knee.
"Tell me."
00:06.
The guard smiled.
"Blue."
Matteo looked at Luca.
"He's lying."
00:04.
I looked at the vest.
At the blinking green light.
At the wiring.
Then I remembered.
The photo.
The vest had been visible beneath Mrs. Carter's blouse.
In the photo, the indicator had been red.
Now it was green.
"Don't cut anything!"
00:02.
I reached behind the vest and pulled the battery pack free.
The timer stopped.
00:01.
Silence.
Nobody moved.
Then Mrs. Carter collapsed into my arms.
Luca stared at me.
"How did you know?"
"I didn't."
My voice shook.
"I guessed."
Matteo laughed.
"Remind me never to play poker with you."
Daniel grabbed the captured guard.
"Where is Gabriel?"
The man said nothing.
Luca crouched in front of him.
"Where is he going with the key?"
The guard smiled through bloody teeth.
"You still don't understand."
Luca's voice was cold.
"Understand what?"
"317 isn't a vault number."
Matteo froze.
The guard looked at him.
"You never told him?"
Luca slowly turned.
"Matteo?"
Matteo's face went pale.
The guard laughed.
"317 is a date."
March 17.
Luca stared at his brother.
"What happened on March seventeenth?"
Matteo whispered:
"Our mother died."
The basement went completely silent.
Then Luca's phone rang.
No caller ID.
He answered.
Gabriel's voice came through.
"I have the key."
Luca said nothing.
May you like
Gabriel continued.
"Now ask your brother what your mother hid before she died."
