Chapter 7 - Come Downstairs
Russo pointed the gun at Gemma.
“Give me the card.”
Leonardo moved his wheelchair between them.
Russo laughed.
“You can't protect her.”
Leonardo's expression did not change.
“Try me.”
Gemma looked toward the final camera.
Still active.
Matteo was watching.
She hoped.
Russo extended his hand.
“The card.”
Gemma lifted it.
Then dropped it down the front of her uniform.
Russo's face twisted.
“You stupid—”
Gemma shoved Leonardo's wheelchair hard into the blind spot.
Russo grabbed her arm.
She twisted away.
He struck her.
Leonardo rammed the chair into his knees.
Russo fell.
Gemma ran toward the camera.
She held up a note she had prepared hours earlier.
IF YOU TRULY LOVE YOUR BROTHER, STOP WATCHING HIM AND COME DOWNSTAIRS.
In the surveillance room, Matteo read it.
Then he saw Russo rise behind her.
For seven years Matteo had responded to danger by sending other men.
This time he ran.
Down two flights.
Across the marble corridor.
Into the east wing.
Russo had Gemma by the throat when Matteo arrived.
Matteo hit him with enough force to send both men into the wall.
The gun slid away.
Leonardo reached it first.
He could not bend easily.
Gemma kicked it toward him.
Leonardo trapped it beneath his wheel.
Guards arrived.
Russo was taken alive.
Matteo knelt beside Gemma.
“Are you hurt?”
“I've had worse bus rides.”
He stared at her.
She coughed.
“Bad joke.”
Then Matteo turned to Leonardo.
His brother was trembling.
Matteo crouched.
“Leo.”
Leonardo looked at him.
“You came.”
Three words.
Matteo's eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“No guards.”
“No.”
“You came.”
Matteo put his hand on Leonardo's shoulder.
Only after Leonardo nodded permission.
“Yes.”
Russo refused to speak.
Until Matteo showed him the memory card.
Then he smiled.
“You think that's the original?”
Matteo's stomach tightened.
Russo leaned forward.
“Daniel Riley played all of you.”
Gemma struck the table.
“Where is my father?”
Russo laughed.
“Ask Leonardo.”
Leonardo stared at him.
Russo continued.
“You don't remember everything from the crash, do you?”
“No.”
“You remember waking in the hospital.”
“Yes.”
“Wrong.”
Leonardo's face changed.
Russo smiled wider.
“You woke before the ambulance arrived.”
A memory hit Leonardo.
Rain.
Broken glass.
A man's hands.
Daniel.
“You gave Daniel something,” Russo said.
Leonardo whispered, “The camera card.”
“Exactly.”
“But he put it in my brace.”
“No.”
Russo nodded toward the card.
“He put something in your brace.”
They played it.
It contained one video.
Daniel Riley sat in a dark room.
“If Leonardo found this, Enzo is probably moving.”
Gemma leaned closer.
Daniel continued.
“The real recording is stored somewhere nobody can steal it. I divided the access code between three people.”
Three names appeared.
TERESA.
JOSEPH.
GEMMA.
Gemma stared.
“Me?”
Her portion of the code was hidden in something Daniel had given her before disappearing.
Gemma thought of every possession she owned.
Then remembered her canvas bag.
Her father's old bag.
She emptied it.
Nothing.
Leonardo examined the lining.
A seam had been repaired.
Inside was a strip of numbers.
Teresa's portion came from the newborn photograph.
Joseph's portion—
Joseph was still unconscious in hospital.
Matteo called.
The nurse answered.
Then screamed.
Matteo stood.
“What happened?”
The line went dead.
They raced to the hospital.
Joseph's room was empty.
Blood stained the pillow.
On the wall, someone had written:
ONE CODE LEFT.
Beneath it was another message.
BRING LEONARDO TO THE OLD FERRARO HOUSE.
May you like
ALONE.
And taped beneath those words was Joseph's severed hospital wristband.
