Chapter 11 - THE BROKEN WINDOW
We took the stairs two at a time, my heart hammering wildly against my ribs.
The scream had come from Teresa’s suite.
Luca kicked the heavy oak door open, his gun raised, sweeping the room.
“Mom!” he shouted.
Teresa was sitting on the floor near her bed, clutching her chest, her face pale with terror.
The massive bay window that overlooked the gardens was completely shattered. Glass covered the thick Persian rug like a layer of jagged ice.
Cold wind and rain whipped into the room.
I ran to Teresa and dropped to my knees beside her.
“Are you hurt? Did you get cut?” I asked frantically, checking her arms.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Teresa gasped, pointing a shaking finger toward the broken window. “Hannah... the girls.”
My blood ran cold.
Lily and Sophie were supposed to be playing in the playroom down the hall.
Luca stepped over the glass and looked out the shattered window.
“Matteo!” Luca roared into his radio. “We have a breach on the second floor! Lock down the perimeter!”
He turned back to us, his eyes wild.
“What happened, Mom?”
“I was reading,” Teresa panted. “I heard a noise outside on the balcony. Then the glass just exploded. Someone threw a rock through it.”
Luca frowned, walking over to a large, heavy stone resting amid the shattered glass.
Wrapped around the stone was a red silk ribbon.
Vanessa’s signature color.
“It was a distraction,” Luca realized, his face draining of color.
He sprinted out of the room, heading straight for the playroom.
I helped Teresa onto the bed and ran after him.
When I reached the playroom, the door was wide open.
The television was still playing cartoons. Crayons were scattered across the table.
But the room was empty.
“Lily! Sophie!” I screamed, tearing through the connected bathroom and closets.
Nothing.
Luca was standing perfectly still in the center of the room, staring at the floor.
Lying on the plush carpet was a single white rose.
“She took them,” I sobbed, falling to my knees. “Luca, she took them!”
Luca didn’t speak. The terrifying, cold mafia boss had fully returned.
He pressed the button on his radio.
“Matteo. Check the service tunnels beneath the kitchen. Now.”
“Boss, the tunnels are locked from the inside,” Matteo replied through the static.
“Vanessa lived here for a year,” Luca barked. “She knows the codes. Go!”
He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet.
“Come with me. She won’t get far.”
We ran down the back stairs toward the kitchens.
My mind was racing, picturing the worst. Vanessa was desperate, unhinged, and she had nothing left to lose.
When we burst into the massive kitchen, the cooks were huddled in the corner, looking terrified.
The heavy iron door leading to the basement and the old prohibition-era service tunnels was swung wide open.
Luca raised his gun and went down first, the beam of his flashlight cutting through the dark, damp stairs.
I followed closely behind him.
“Vanessa!” Luca’s voice echoed off the stone walls. “If you hurt them, there isn’t a hole on earth deep enough to hide you!”
“Daddy!”
It was Sophie’s voice. It sounded muffled, coming from the end of the long, dark corridor.
We sprinted toward the sound.
At the end of the tunnel was an old metal grate that led out into the woods behind the estate.
The grate was open.
Vanessa was standing in the pouring rain, struggling to drag both girls toward a black car idling on the dirt access road.
Lily was fighting like a wildcat, kicking and biting Vanessa’s hand.
“Let us go!” Lily screamed.
Vanessa slapped Lily across the face, a sharp, ringing sound that made my vision go red.
“Shut up, you little brat!” Vanessa hissed.
“Let her go!” I screamed, running out into the rain.
Vanessa spun around, pulling a small silver pistol from her coat pocket and aiming it directly at me.
“Don’t take another step, Hannah!” she screamed, her hair plastered to her face, her eyes manic.
Luca stepped out of the tunnel, leveling his weapon at Vanessa.
“Drop it, Vanessa,” Luca said, his voice deadly calm.
Vanessa laughed, a hysterical, broken sound.
“Or what, Luca? You’ll shoot me? Go ahead! I have nothing left!” She pressed the gun against Sophie’s shoulder. “But I promise you, I’ll take one of them with me!”
“You’re sick,” Luca said, taking a slow, measured step forward.
“I loved you!” Vanessa screamed, tears mixing with the rain on her face. “I covered up a murder for you! I lied for you! And you threw me away for a pathetic little maid!”
“You covered up a murder for money,” Luca corrected smoothly, taking another step. “You didn’t love me. You loved the power.”
“Stop walking!” Vanessa shrieked, her hand trembling violently.
I looked at Lily.
My brave, fierce little sister caught my eye. She gave me a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.
I knew what she was going to do.
“Vanessa,” I yelled, drawing her attention back to me. “You don’t want them. You want me!”
Vanessa turned her gun toward me for one split second.
And Lily stomped her heel down as hard as she could onto Vanessa’s foot.
Vanessa shrieked in pain, her grip loosening.
Sophie yanked her arm free, and both girls dove to the mud.
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A single gunshot rang out.
It wasn't Vanessa's gun.
