The Locksmith Was Just The Beginning

I stared at the screen.

Vanessa didn’t work alone. Check the pockets of the new uniforms.

The peace I had felt five minutes ago vanished, replaced by a cold knot in my stomach.

I quickly deleted the text so Lily wouldn't see my shaking hands.

"Mommy, are we ready?" Lily asked, zipping her pink backpack.

"Yes, baby. Just one second."

I walked over to Paul, who was standing by the door.

"Paul, I left something in my locker at the estate. I need to go back before we go to the new house."

Paul frowned. "Mr. Moretti wants you settled immediately, Rachel."

"It’s important. It will only take five minutes."

He sighed but nodded. "Alright. We swing by the estate."

When we arrived, the caterers were packing up the untouched reception food. The house felt like a tomb.

I left Lily in the car with Paul and hurried down to the staff office.

The room was exactly as we had left it.

The box of new black uniforms Luca had swept off the desk was still scattered across the linoleum floor.

I knelt down and picked up the first uniform. The name tag read ALICIA.

I checked the pockets. Empty.

I picked up the next one. MONICA.

Empty.

I went through four more before I found it.

A uniform with the name tag KAREN.

Inside the right apron pocket, my fingers brushed against something hard.

I pulled it out.

It was a small, black iron key.

But it wasn't a house key. It had a strange, jagged shape, with a serial number stamped into the metal.

Wrapped tightly around the top of the key was a piece of heavy black thread.

I stared at it. I had seen this kind of thread before.

Mrs. Carter used it to mend the heavy winter curtains in the grand parlor.

The door to the staff office suddenly creaked shut.

I spun around.

Mrs. Carter was standing in the doorway.

She wasn't wearing her usual warm, grandmotherly expression. Her face was entirely blank.

"You shouldn't have come back down here, Rachel," she said quietly.

My heart hammered against my ribs. "Mrs. Carter? What is this?"

"Vanessa was a fool," Mrs. Carter said, stepping into the room and locking the door behind her. "She thought she was using me. She didn't realize I was using her."

I backed away, clutching the iron key. "You helped her? You helped her plan Luca's murder?"

"Luca's father took twenty years of my life," she snapped, a sudden, venomous anger flashing in her eyes. "I raised his children while mine grew up without a mother. When the old man died, he promised me a pension that would secure my family. He lied. He left me with nothing but a silver tea set and a pat on the back."

"So you went to the Romanos."

"I went to whoever paid the most," she said coldly. "Vanessa wanted to replace the staff to bring in her own hitters. I ordered the uniforms. I supplied the floor plans. I told her the security blind spots."

"You told her about Lily," I whispered, the realization hitting me like a physical blow.

Mrs. Carter didn't flinch. "I told her you were the weak link."

I looked at the black key in my hand. "What is this?"

"That is the key to the estate's main breaker box. Vanessa was supposed to cut the power before the ceremony so the cameras wouldn't record her men moving into position. But she panicked. She forgot the key in the uniform."

Mrs. Carter reached into the pocket of her cardigan.

She pulled out a small, snub-nosed revolver.

"Give me the key, Rachel. And the phone you used to get that text message."

"You texted me?"

"I couldn't let you walk away thinking it was over. I need you to disappear, Rachel. You know too much now."

I gripped the key so tightly it cut into my palm.

Paul was in the car. Luca was upstairs. But no one knew I was in the basement with a loaded gun pointed at my chest.

"I'm not giving you anything," I said, my voice shaking but firm.

Mrs. Carter raised the gun.

"Then I suppose you'll hit your head on the filing cabinet again," she said.