Chapter 4 - THE SHATTERED GLASS
Glass exploded across the mahogany floor.
Vanessa collapsed, blood instantly pouring down the side of her face.
I screamed and stepped back.
Luca didn't flinch.
He didn't rush to help her.
He stood perfectly still, watching her writhe on the carpet.
The study door burst open behind her.
Three of Luca's guests—including the mayor—rushed into the room, followed closely by two security guards.
"Oh my God!" the mayor's wife shrieked, covering her mouth.
Vanessa looked up.
Tears streamed down her face, mixing with the blood.
She pointed a trembling finger directly at me.
"She hit me," Vanessa sobbed. "She went crazy! She said I ruined her life!"
The guests turned to stare at me.
I was standing behind the desk.
My right arm was in a sling.
I was cornered.
"That's a lie!" I cried out. "I didn't touch her! She did it to herself!"
The mayor stepped forward, his face flushed with outrage. "Luca, what is going on here? This maid just assaulted your fiancée!"
Luca looked at the mayor.
Then he looked down at Vanessa.
"Daniel," Luca said calmly.
The head of security stepped through the crowd. "Yes, boss?"
"Call for a doctor. Have Miss Bellini taken to the east wing. Secure the room. No one goes in or out."
Vanessa's eyes widened in panic. "Luca, no! She attacked me! Call the police!"
"The police aren't coming to my house tonight, Vanessa," Luca said softly.
He stepped closer to her, his voice dropping so only she could hear.
"Because if they do, I'll show them the footage of you handing Andrew Keller a key to this room."
Vanessa's sobbing stopped instantly.
The color drained from her face, leaving only the stark red of the blood on her cheek.
She realized she had overplayed her hand.
Daniel and another guard lifted Vanessa by her arms.
"Luca, wait—" she started.
"Get her out of my sight," Luca ordered.
The guards dragged her away.
The guests murmured nervously, backing out of the study.
Once the door closed, Luca turned to me.
"We don't have much time," he said.
He walked to the wall behind his desk and pressed his hand against the wood paneling.
A section of the bookshelf clicked and swung open, revealing a hidden steel safe.
He quickly punched in a code.
He pulled out a heavy black steel lockbox and handed it to me.
"What's this?" I asked, struggling to hold it with one hand.
"Cash. Fifty thousand dollars. And two passports. One for you, one for Leo."
I stared at him. "I'm not leaving without my son."
"You aren't leaving at all," Luca said. "But if things go wrong tonight, I need to know you have a way out."
He closed the safe.
"Keller thinks he has the upper hand because he has Leo," Luca said. "But he made a mistake."
"What mistake?"
"He told you Mrs. Higgins bumped her head."
I frowned. "What does that matter?"
"Because Keller is a professional," Luca explained, pulling a sleek black handgun from his desk drawer and checking the magazine. "He doesn't leave loose ends. If he broke into your apartment to take the rosary, he wouldn't have left Mrs. Higgins alive to identify him."
My stomach churned.
"But he said the paramedics took her to Mercy Hospital."
"Exactly," Luca said. "Which means he didn't attack her. She actually fell."
He looked me dead in the eyes.
"And if she actually fell, Keller didn't have time to plan this kidnapping. He improvised."
"I don't understand."
"It means Leo isn't tied up in some warehouse," Luca said. "Keller took him somewhere public. Somewhere he could blend in while he waits for my answer."
He grabbed a heavy wool coat from a chair.
"Where?" I asked desperately.
Luca looked at the blue train ticket on the desk.
"Union Station," he said.
My heart leaped into my throat.
"But the train doesn't leave until 11:45."
"He's not putting him on the train," Luca said, slipping on his coat. "He's going to put him in a locker."
I felt physically sick.
"Let's go," Luca said.
We bypassed the main staircase and took the servant's elevator to the underground garage.
Luca's black SUV roared to life.
We tore out of the driveway, the tires squealing against the wet pavement.
The drive to downtown Chicago was a blur of neon lights and rain.
My hands shook the entire time.
At 11:10 P.M., we pulled up to the massive stone columns of Union Station.
"Stay close to me," Luca ordered.
We walked into the echoing Great Hall.
It was massive, crowded, and overwhelming.
Hundreds of people moving in every direction.
"How are we going to find him?" I panicked.
Luca's eyes scanned the crowd with lethal precision.
"We don't look for Keller," Luca said. "We look for the bag."
We moved toward the baggage claim area.
Suddenly, I saw something.
Draped over a metal bench near the ticketing counter.
A small, bright red winter coat.
I stopped breathing.
"Luca," I gasped, pointing.
It was Leo's coat.
I ran toward it, ignoring the pain in my shoulder.
"Leo!" I screamed.
I reached the bench and grabbed the coat.
It was empty.
But underneath it, sitting on the metal seat, was a silver key.
Attached to the key was a plastic tag.
Locker 402.
I grabbed the key and turned around to show Luca.
But Luca wasn't behind me anymore.
Standing ten feet away, holding a suppressed pistol aimed directly at my chest, was Andrew Keller.
And standing right beside him, gripping my son by his fragile wrist, was a woman I had never seen before.
May you like
She smiled at me.
"Hello, Sophie," she said. "You have something that belongs to me."
