Chapter 3 - What Marcus Found
Adrian opened the envelope.
Inside was one sentence.
STOP DIGGING OR THE SECOND CHILD DIES TOO.
Marcus read it over his shoulder.
“Security lockdown.”
Adrian turned immediately.
“Emma and Sofia.”
“I'll get them.”
“No. I will.”
He crossed the corridor.
Then stopped.
The phrase would not leave him.
Second child.
Claire had been the first.
Emma was the second.
Someone had entered his home.
Someone had opened Claire's locked room.
Someone knew about Daniel.
And someone knew Adrian had started asking questions.
Sofia woke when Adrian entered the guest room.
She saw his expression.
“What happened?”
“We're moving you.”
“Again?”
“Now.”
Emma slept beside her.
Sofia rose quietly.
“Tell me.”
Adrian handed her the note.
She read it.
All color disappeared from her face.
“No.”
“Sofia—”
“No.”
She grabbed Emma.
The toddler woke confused.
“Mommy?”
“We're going somewhere.”
“Where?”
Sofia looked at Adrian.
“Somewhere he can't find us.”
Adrian understood the accusation.
“You think this is because of me.”
“I know it is.”
She gathered their clothes.
“You brought us here and now somebody is threatening my daughter.”
“They were already watching your apartment.”
“And why?”
Adrian had no answer.
Then Emma spoke.
“Mommy.”
Sofia stopped.
Emma was looking at the black envelope.
“I saw that before.”
Everyone turned.
“Where?” Adrian asked.
“Daddy had one.”
Sofia stared at her daughter.
“What?”
“In his toolbox.”
Adrian crouched.
“What happened to it?”
“Daddy burned it.”
Sofia slowly sat.
“I never knew.”
Marcus entered.
“Cars are ready.”
Adrian handed him the note.
Marcus read it.
His expression darkened.
“Whoever left this bypassed six cameras.”
“Inside help.”
“Obviously.”
Adrian looked around his house.
For the first time, the estate did not feel like a fortress.
It felt like a trap.
They moved Sofia and Emma to a lake house known only to Adrian, Marcus, and Charles.
Before dawn, Marcus returned with the results of his investigation.
Daniel had not merely discovered the bomb.
He had photographed it.
And according to Detective Walsh, Daniel had hidden the evidence somewhere before his death.
“The key,” Adrian said.
“Storage locker.”
“Number forty-seven?”
Marcus nodded.
They drove to a storage facility near Berwyn.
Unit 47 had not been opened in three years.
The key fit.
Inside were mechanic's tools, boxes, children's clothes, and a metal case.
Adrian opened it.
Photographs.
Dozens.
The Cadillac.
Wires.
Explosives.
License plates.
And photographs of men standing around the vehicle.
Marcus went silent.
Adrian picked up one image.
The man wearing the Moretti ring was clearer now.
Still not his face.
But enough.
A scar crossed the man's right wrist.
Adrian knew that scar.
He had seen it thousands of times.
At dinners.
Meetings.
Funerals.
His own wedding.
“No,” he whispered.
Marcus saw it too.
“This can't be.”
Adrian stared at the photograph.
The scar belonged to Charles Bennett.
The man who had served the Moretti family since Adrian was ten.
The man who had comforted Adrian after Elena died.
The man who had stood beside Claire's grave.
Marcus searched deeper inside the case.
He found a recorder.
Old.
Damaged.
But functional.
He pressed play.
Static.
Then Daniel Romano's voice.
“If you're hearing this, something happened to me.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Daniel continued.
“I found something in a customer's car. I called the police, but then a man came to the garage. He said the police couldn't protect my family.”
Sofia's husband breathed shakily.
“He offered me money.”
Static.
“I refused.”
More static.
“His name is—”
The recording cut.
Marcus cursed.
“Can it be recovered?”
“Maybe.”
Adrian found another photograph beneath the recorder.
Daniel stood beside Sofia.
Emma was an infant in his arms.
They were smiling.
A normal family.
Adrian imagined himself in another photograph.
Elena.
Claire.
Gone on the same morning.
Two families destroyed by one explosion.
His phone rang.
Sofia.
He answered instantly.
“Adrian?”
Her voice was shaking.
“What happened?”
“Emma's gone.”
His heart stopped.
“What?”
“I fell asleep for twenty minutes. The door was locked. Marcus's guard was outside.”
Adrian looked at Marcus.
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“Sofia, listen to me. Don't leave the house.”
“My baby is gone!”
“I will find her.”
“Adrian—”
A sound interrupted her.
A knock.
Sofia stopped speaking.
“What is it?”
“Someone's at the door.”
“Don't open it.”
Another knock.
Then a child's voice came from outside.
“Mommy?”
Sofia sobbed.
“Emma.”
“Wait.”
But Sofia was already running.
Adrian heard the door opening.
Then silence.
“Sofia?”
No answer.
“Sofia!”
The phone remained connected.
Adrian heard footsteps.
Then a man's voice.
Calm.
Familiar.
“Hello, Sofia.”
May you like
Adrian recognized it.
Charles Bennett.
