Chapter 6 - The Drawing In Her Hand
“Why is she at the school?” Luca demanded, leaning over the monitors. “It’s eleven o’clock at night. It’s empty.”
“Not completely,” the tech said, typing rapidly. “The night janitor is on duty. Name is David Hall.”
Luca’s jaw tightened. “Run him.”
Seconds later, David Hall’s face appeared on the screen.
“No criminal record,” the tech read. “But his wife is in hospice. Massive medical debt. And… wait.”
The tech tapped a key, pulling up a bank statement.
“An offshore account wired fifty thousand dollars to David Hall’s bank two days ago. The routing number traces back to a Romano shell corporation.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“He’s not just a janitor,” I whispered.
Luca looked at me.
“He works at the school,” I said, panic rising again. “He knows the building. He knows the blind spots for the cameras. And he has keys to every room.”
“They didn’t take Lily to a safe house,” Luca realized, his voice dangerously low. “They took her to the school. It’s the perfect cover. No one looks for a missing child in the very place she goes every day.”
“We have to go,” I grabbed Luca’s sleeve. “Now.”
“Paul, arm up,” Luca barked. “Take four men. We hit the school from the south entrance. No sirens. No lights.”
Ten minutes later, we were sitting in the back of the SUV, speeding through the dark streets of Chicago.
Luca was loading a matte black handgun. The metallic click-clack of the slide echoed in the quiet car.
He looked up and saw me staring at the weapon.
“Have you ever fired one of these, Rachel?”
I shook my head, my throat dry.
He didn’t offer me one. He knew I would freeze. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the antique gold pocket watch he’d given me earlier.
“Keep this in your pocket,” he said. “If we get separated, and Vanessa finds you, you show it to her. You tell her the deal is dead.”
I nodded, gripping the heavy gold watch so tightly my knuckles turned white.
We parked two blocks away from Lincoln Elementary.
The brick building was dark, save for one single light glowing from a basement window.
The boiler room.
Luca signaled to Paul. The tactical team fanned out, disappearing into the shadows of the playground.
“You stay behind me,” Luca ordered, his voice barely a whisper.
We approached the side entrance. The lock had been expertly picked. The door was unlocked.
We slipped inside.
The smell of floor wax and stale cafeteria food hit my nose. It was a smell I associated with parent-teacher conferences and school plays. Now, it smelled like a graveyard.
We crept down the hallway toward the basement stairs.
Faint voices drifted up from the boiler room.
“…I don’t care how much she cries, keep her quiet,” a woman’s voice snapped.
Vanessa.
“Miss Bellini, I didn’t sign up for this,” a man’s voice trembled. The janitor. “You said you just needed a place to hold her for two days. You didn’t say the Romanos were sending cleaners to—”
“I paid you fifty thousand dollars, David. You don’t get to ask questions.”
I couldn’t wait anymore.
Before Luca could stop me, I shoved the stairwell door open and ran down the concrete steps.
“Lily!” I screamed.
Vanessa spun around.
She was standing in the center of the boiler room, wearing a cashmere coat over her silk pajamas.
In the corner, sitting on a pile of dusty gym mats, was Lily. Her hands were tied with zip ties, her tear-stained face looking up in sheer terror.
“Mommy!” Lily cried.
“Rachel,” Vanessa smiled, a cold, empty expression. “You really are stupid. I thought Luca would have the sense to keep you locked up. But here you are. Walking right into the trap.”
The janitor stepped out from the shadows, pointing a shotgun directly at my chest.
But Vanessa wasn’t looking at me. She was looking past me, up the stairs.
Luca walked down the steps slowly. His gun was lowered, resting casually at his side.
“Vanessa,” Luca said smoothly.
“Luca, darling,” Vanessa smiled wider. “You shouldn’t have come. This is terribly messy.”
“You’re a disappointing woman, Vanessa. Marcus Romano? Really? The man can barely tie his own shoes, let alone run a family.”
Vanessa’s smile slipped. “Marcus has vision. You just have rules.”
“Let the girl go. This is between us.”
“No,” Vanessa said. “The girl ensures Rachel takes the fall for your assassination on Sunday. A disgruntled maid, desperate for money, poisons her billionaire boss. It’s a tragic headline.”
“You think you’re walking out of here?” Luca asked.
“I know I am.” Vanessa snapped her fingers.
The janitor racked the shotgun.
Suddenly, Lily let out a sob.
Her small hands, bound by the zip ties, were clutching something.
A piece of paper.
“Don’t hurt my mom,” Lily whimpered, holding the paper out with trembling hands. “I’ll give you my drawing.”
Vanessa rolled her eyes. “Shut up, brat.”
“Look at the drawing, Vanessa,” Luca said.
Vanessa frowned. She looked at Lily’s hands.
It wasn’t a drawing of a tooth, or a house, or a dog.
It was a crude, crayon replica of a family crest. A lion holding a sword.
The Moretti crest.
Vanessa froze. “Where did you get that?”
Lily sniffled. “Mr. Luca’s friend gave it to me. Before we came here.”
Vanessa’s head snapped toward the janitor.
David Hall slowly lowered the shotgun.
He didn’t look terrified anymore. He looked completely calm.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out the fifty thousand dollar wire transfer receipt, and tore it in half.
“Mr. Moretti pays better,” David said.
Vanessa realized it a second too late.
The janitor didn’t belong to the Romanos. He belonged to Luca.
Luca raised his gun.
“Checkmate, Vanessa.”
But Vanessa didn’t raise her hands. She started laughing.
“You think this was my only play?” she sneered. “You think I would come here without a backup plan?”
She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and pressed a single button.
Upstairs, the heavy steel doors of the school auditorium slammed shut, locking the tactical team outside.
And from the shadows of the boiler room, three men stepped out.
Men with Romano crest tattoos on their necks.
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And they all had their guns pointed at Luca.
TITLE: The Blood On The Floor Wax
