Chapter 5 - THE GREEN LEDGER
Gabriel stared at the black screen of the phone.
The silence in the study was suffocating, broken only by the distant wail of police sirens approaching the mansion gates.
“He has Leo,” Gabriel whispered, the words tasting like ash. “My brother has my son.”
“Sir,” I said, my voice trembling, “Dominic thinks he’s saving them. He thinks giving Elias that green ledger is the only way to get Elias to back off so Isabella and Leo can flee to Zurich.”
“If Elias gets that ledger, he doesn’t just destroy me,” Gabriel said, his voice terrifyingly flat. “He destroys the entire Chicago syndicate. And the Commission in New York will kill my entire family in retaliation. Including Lily. Including Isabella. Dominic is a fool.”
Lily tugged on Gabriel’s ruined shirt. “Daddy? Uncle Dominic is a good guy, right?”
Gabriel looked down at his daughter. The anger in his eyes fractured, revealing the profound agony beneath. “He’s confused, baby. I have to go find him before he makes a mistake he can’t fix.”
Marco burst into the study, his suit torn, holding a radio. “Boss, CPD is at the front gates. We stalled them, but they’re coming in with a warrant. Elias’s men tipped them off to the shootout.”
“Let them in,” Gabriel said coldly. “Let them find Elias tied to the dining chair. Tell the police Elias’s men broke in and attacked my family. It buys us time.”
“And what about you?” Marco asked.
“I’m going to the South Side railyard. Dominic used to hide contraband in the old switching station. If he intercepted Victoria’s men and took the boy, that’s where he’s holding up to make the trade with Elias’s lieutenants.”
Gabriel turned to me. “Claire. Panic room. Now.”
“Yes, sir.”
I took Lily’s hand, but before we could move, Gabriel took a heavy, gold signet ring off his right hand. He pressed it into my palm.
“If I don’t come back by dawn,” Gabriel said softly, “take this ring to the family lawyer. It transfers everything to Lily and Isabella. And it contains a trust for you, Claire. For protecting my daughter.”
Tears burned my eyes. “You’re coming back, Mr. Moretti.”
He gave a sad, grim smile. “Just keep her safe.”
He disappeared down the hallway with Marco.
I hurried Lily down the back servant stairs, avoiding the bloodstained foyer where police flashlights were already sweeping through the windows. We descended into the dark, damp wine cellar.
Behind a rack of dusty vintage Bordeaux, I punched the code Marco had given me into a hidden keypad. A heavy steel door clicked open, revealing a small, brightly lit concrete room stocked with water, cots, and a first-aid kit.
I locked us inside.
Lily sat on a cot, pulling Mr. Buttons tight against her chest. “Claire? I’m scared.”
“I know, sweetie. I am too,” I admitted, sitting beside her and opening the medical kit to clean the cut on my cheek. “But your dad is the strongest man I know.”
“My mom is strong too,” Lily whispered.
“She is. She fought so hard for you.”
Lily reached into her pocket and pulled out the oldest birthday letter, the one that had survived the fire. She traced Isabella’s handwriting.
“Do you think I’ll actually get to see her?” Lily asked.
“I know you will.”
Suddenly, a strange, rhythmic tapping echoed through the steel walls of the panic room.
Tap. Tap. Tap-tap-tap.
I froze, the antiseptic wipe hovering over my face.
The panic room was buried deep beneath the earth. The only thing on the other side of the north wall was the old maintenance tunnel leading to the city sewers.
Tap. Tap. Tap-tap-tap.
Lily looked at me, her eyes wide. “What is that?”
I stood up slowly, grabbing a heavy metal flashlight from the emergency supplies. I pressed my ear against the cold steel of the north wall.
A voice, muffled and desperate, filtered through the concrete.
“Gabriel? Are you in there?”
My breath caught. It was a woman’s voice.
“Hello?” I called out, my voice shaking.
“Please!” the voice sobbed. “It’s Isabella!”
I stumbled back. How was that possible? Isabella was in Milwaukee. Marco had sent men to get her.
“Isabella?” I yelled back. “It’s Claire! The housekeeper! Lily is with me!”
“Mommy?!” Lily screamed, leaping off the cot.
“Lily!” Isabella’s voice broke into a hysterical cry. “Oh my god, my baby. Lily, are you safe?”
“Mommy, where are you?!” Lily slammed her little hands against the steel wall.
“I’m in the tunnels,” Isabella cried. “Claire, you have to open the emergency hatch. Please! They’re right behind me!”
My hands flew to the heavy red wheel on the emergency hatch. I began to turn it, the rusty metal groaning.
But then, I stopped.
Something was wrong.
“Isabella,” I yelled. “How did you get from Milwaukee to Chicago so fast?”
Silence from the other side.
“Isabella?” I pressed. “It’s a two-hour drive. You called me thirty minutes ago from a payphone!”
The silence stretched on, thick and terrifying.
Then, a new voice spoke through the steel wall.
A man’s voice. Cold and mocking.
“She’s a smart maid, Victoria. I told you the recording wouldn’t fool her.”
My blood turned to ice.
It wasn’t Isabella. It was Elias’s men. They had recorded Isabella’s panicked voice during the kidnapping and spliced it together to trick us into opening the door.
May you like
And Victoria was with them.
“Open the door, Claire!” Victoria shrieked, slamming a heavy tool against the steel. “I know you’re in there! Open the door and give me the girl!”
