Chapter 6 - THE CHILD'S DRAWING
The wind coming off Lake Michigan felt like tiny blades of ice against Emily’s cheeks, but she barely registered the cold.
Luca sat frozen on the park bench. His phone slipped from his hand, clattering against the concrete.
“They killed her in their house,” Luca whispered. The words sounded hollow, stripped of all humanity. “She never even made it out of Chicago.”
Emily pressed her hand over her mouth, fighting back a wave of nausea. She pictured Isabella, desperate and terrified, making a final, frantic phone call to the man she thought she could trust—Luca’s Uncle Carlo. Instead, she had been trapped, murdered, and tossed into a river like garbage, all while Vanessa plotted to take her place.
“Mr. Moretti,” Emily said urgently, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him slightly to break his shock. “If Isabella was killed at the Bellini estate… then how did Lily survive?”
Luca’s head snapped toward her.
“The police report said Lily was in the car,” Emily continued, her voice trembling but determined. “They said Isabella swerved, the car went into the river, and a passing motorist dove in and pulled Lily from the backseat just before the car sank. If Isabella wasn’t driving that car… who pulled Lily out?”
Luca’s dark eyes widened. The entire narrative of the worst night of his life was unravelling thread by thread.
“The motorist,” Luca muttered, his mind racing. “His name was Thomas. He gave a statement to the police. He said he saw the crash. But he disappeared a week later. The police said he moved out of state.”
“He didn’t move,” Emily said, a cold dread pooling in her stomach. “Arthur Bellini paid him off. Or killed him.”
Luca stood up abruptly. The paralyzing grief vanished, replaced by a ferocious, terrifying need for the truth. He was no longer a grieving widower; he was a father who realized his daughter held the darkest secret in the city.
“We have to talk to Lily,” Luca said. “Right now.”
They rushed back to the Moretti estate in a secure, armored town car driven by Luca’s most trusted guards. The mansion was under total lockdown. Heavily armed men patrolled the perimeter. Arthur Bellini had declared war, and the streets were bleeding.
Inside, the house was silent and tense.
Luca and Emily hurried up the grand staircase to Lily’s room.
The seven-year-old was sitting cross-legged on her thick pink rug, furiously coloring on a large pad of construction paper. The mended rabbit sat vigil beside her.
She looked up as they entered, her big brown eyes instantly searching her father’s face. She could sense the shift in the atmosphere.
“Daddy?” Lily asked softly. “Are the bad men coming?”
Luca’s heart broke all over again. He crossed the room and dropped to his knees in front of her, pulling her into a fierce, desperate hug.
“No, sweetheart,” Luca whispered into her hair. “I promise you, no one is ever going to hurt you again.”
He pulled back, forcing a gentle, reassuring smile. He looked at Emily, silently asking for her help. He knew he was too intense, too terrifying in this moment.
Emily stepped forward, kneeling beside Lily on the soft rug.
“Whatcha drawing, bug?” Emily asked, using her familiar, affectionate nickname for the little girl.
Lily looked down at her paper. She grabbed a dark blue crayon and began coloring furiously again.
“A story,” Lily said quietly.
Emily glanced at the drawing. Her breath hitched.
It was a messy, childlike drawing of a dark blue car. Isabella’s car. But it wasn’t crashing into a river.
The blue car was parked on a dark road. Behind it was a massive, blocky black shape. A truck.
“Lily,” Luca said, his voice trembling slightly. “Can you tell us about this story?”
Lily stopped coloring. She stared at the black truck on the paper.
“I wasn’t supposed to tell,” Lily whispered, tears welling in her eyes. “Mommy told me to play a game. The quiet game. She said if I won, we could go see the big trains.”
Luca squeezed his eyes shut. Union Station.
“Where did you play the game, sweetheart?” Emily asked gently, placing a hand over Lily’s small, trembling fingers.
“In the scary house,” Lily sniffled.
“Vanessa’s house?” Luca asked.
Lily nodded. “Mommy went inside to get her special necklace back. The one Uncle Carlo said we needed for the trip.”
Luca swore violently under his breath, turning his face away so his daughter wouldn’t see the murderous rage flashing in his eyes.
Carlo had set the trap. Isabella pawned the bracelet for cash, called Carlo for help, and Carlo told her she needed the family heirloom crucifix to pawn later. He lured her to the Bellini estate under the guise of safety, only to hand her over to her killers.
“Did you go inside, Lily?” Emily asked, her heart breaking for the child.
“No,” Lily shook her head. “Mommy hid me in the trunk of her car. She told me to stay quiet, no matter what I heard.”
Tears spilled down Lily’s cheeks.
“I heard loud noises,” Lily sobbed. “And Mommy screamed. But I stayed quiet. I won the game. I was so good, Daddy.”
“I know you were, baby,” Luca wept, pulling her into his chest. “I know.”
“But then the car moved,” Lily cried into his shirt. “A scary man drove the car really fast. It smelled like smoke. And then… then the car went flying. It was cold. There was water everywhere in the trunk.”
Emily felt the blood drain from her face. The hitman had driven the car into the river, completely unaware that a four-year-old child was hidden in the trunk.
“How did you get out, sweetheart?” Luca asked gently.
“A man broke the window,” Lily said, wiping her nose. “He pulled me out. He was crying. He hugged me real tight and told me he had a little girl, too. He told the police he saw the crash.”
“Thomas,” Luca murmured. The good Samaritan.
“Did he give you anything, Lily?” Emily asked softly.
Lily nodded. She reached under her pillow and pulled out a small, tarnished silver object on a broken chain.
“He found this on the road next to Mommy’s car before he pushed it in the water,” Lily said, handing it to Emily. “He told me to hide it.”
Emily took the object. It was a heavy silver charm bracelet.
She turned it over in her palm, examining the delicate engraving on the main charm.
Her breath stopped. The room started to spin.
“Emily?” Luca asked, noticing her sudden, horrific pallor. “What is it?”
May you like
Emily slowly held the bracelet out to Luca.
“Mr. Moretti,” Emily whispered, her voice shaking violently. “This bracelet… it has Vanessa Bellini’s initials on it. She wasn’t just waiting at the house. Vanessa was the one driving your wife’s car into the river.”
