Chapter 4 - THE COAT IN THE CEDAR CLOSET
The study smelled of leather, scotch, and now, sheer panic.
Luca pulled Maria and Leo away from the door.
"She has men at the hospital?" Maria panicked, her eyes wide. "Mr. Moretti, my mother can't defend herself!"
"Look at me," Luca ordered, gripping her shoulders. "My men guard this estate. If Vanessa brought her family's soldiers in, it means she bought off my head of security. We need leverage, and we need it now."
He turned to the massive bookshelf behind his desk.
"Isabella built this house," Luca said, feeling for a hidden latch behind a row of encyclopedias. "She never trusted anyone. Not even my father."
He pulled a heavy book.
With a low groan, the entire bookshelf swung open, revealing a narrow, dust-covered passageway.
Leo’s eyes went wide. "A secret door?"
"Stay quiet, Leo," Luca whispered, ushering them inside.
He pulled the shelf shut just as the study doors burst open behind them.
They stood in total darkness, listening to Vanessa’s men tearing the room apart.
"They’re gone!" a man yelled.
"Find them!" Vanessa shrieked. "I want that maid alive!"
Luca turned on the flashlight on his phone. The passage led up to the attic.
"Where does this go?" Maria asked, favoring her injured knee as they climbed the steep wooden steps.
"To the cedar closets. Where my mother kept her winter clothes."
They reached the top, pushing through a hidden panel that opened behind a row of heavy fur coats. The attic was freezing, lit only by moonlight streaming through a high window.
Luca began frantically searching the pockets of Isabella’s old garments.
"Anthony said your mother told him to look for the woman with the silver swallow necklace," Luca said, tossing a mink aside. "Maria, do you know what that means?"
Maria froze.
Her hand slowly went to her collar. Beneath her high-necked uniform, she pulled out a delicate, silver chain.
Hanging from it was a small, intricately carved swallow.
"My mother gave this to me," Maria whispered. "She said Isabella gave it to her the day she left the estate."
Luca stared at it. "Does it open?"
Maria pressed the tiny bird's wing. It clicked.
Inside was a tiny, folded train ticket.
Luca carefully unfolded it. It was a baggage claim ticket for Union Station, dated nine years ago.
"The black box," Luca breathed. "It’s been sitting in a locker at Union Station for nine years."
Suddenly, the attic door rattled violently.
"They’re up here!" a voice shouted from the hallway.
Luca grabbed a heavy iron fire poker from the corner.
"Maria," he said, handing her his car keys. "Take the service stairs. Get to the garage. Take the black SUV and get my son out of here."
"I can't leave you!"
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"Go!" Luca roared, pushing them toward the back exit just as the main doors splintered open.
TITLE: The Watch on the Concrete Floor
