Chapter 2 - THE MOTHER WHO NEVER CAME BACK
Elena Reyes had worked at the Moretti estate for eight months.
She was twenty-nine, quiet, hardworking, and careful never to attract attention.
She cleaned the upstairs bedrooms, polished the antique furniture, and helped in the kitchen when the staff was short-handed.
Her daughter Sophie usually stayed with Elena's elderly neighbor in Queens.
But that afternoon, the babysitter had suffered a fall, and Elena had no one else to call.
The estate manager reluctantly allowed Sophie to remain in the staff sitting room.
“Keep her out of sight,” he'd warned.
Elena had promised.
Now she was missing.
Dante ordered his guests escorted into the adjoining drawing room while investigators were contacted.
The silver dish remained untouched.
Victor stood near the dining-room entrance.
Two members of Dante's personal security detail approached him.
“Mr. Romano,” one said. “Please remain here.”
Victor stared.
“On whose authority?”
“Mr. Moretti's.”
Victor's face tightened.
“You have no idea what you're doing.”
Dante looked at him.
“Then explain it.”
Victor turned.
“Sir, this is a misunderstanding.”
“Good. Misunderstandings are easy to clear up.”
Dante glanced at the untouched cherries.
“Start with the bottle.”
Victor said nothing.
Sophie stood beside Dante's chair.
Her eyes searched the hallway.
“Where's Mama?”
Dante crouched again.
“We're looking for her.”
“Is she in trouble?”
He hesitated.
“I don't know yet.”
Sophie began twisting the end of her braid.
“My mama doesn't like the dark.”
Dante frowned.
“Why would she be in the dark?”
Sophie looked toward the servants' corridor.
“Because the man said she had to go downstairs.”
“What man?”
She pointed toward Victor.
Dante slowly turned.
Victor's expression remained unreadable.
Within minutes, security personnel began checking the service areas.
A maintenance supervisor found Elena in a locked storage room beneath the east wing.
She was sitting against a shelf, her wrists bound with packing tape.
Her face was bruised.
But she was conscious.
When the door opened, she tried to stand.
“My daughter.”
The supervisor helped her.
“She's safe.”
Elena began crying.
Upstairs, Sophie saw her mother emerge from the hallway.
“MAMA!”
She ran.
Elena dropped to her knees and caught her.
They held each other so tightly that Dante had to look away.
For a moment, the most feared man in the room became the least important person in it.
When Elena finally looked up, her eyes met Dante's.
“I'm sorry, sir.”
He frowned.
“For what?”
“For bringing her.”
Dante stared.
“Your daughter just stopped someone from poisoning me.”
Elena looked confused.
“What?”
Sophie clung to her.
“The lady had bad water, Mama.”
Elena's face drained of color.
Dante approached carefully.
“Miss Reyes, did someone lock you downstairs?”
Elena nodded.
“Mr. Romano told me there was a problem with the medicine cabinet. He asked me to follow him.”
She swallowed.
“Then another man came in.”
Dante's jaw tightened.
“Did you recognize him?”
Elena shook her head.
“He wore a maintenance uniform.”
Dante looked toward the hallway.
A terrible possibility was forming.
Victor hadn't merely helped Isabella.
He had arranged for Elena to disappear before the poisoning.
Which meant someone had anticipated that Sophie might speak.
Dante turned toward the child.
“Sophie.”
She looked up.
“Did anyone see you watching the lady?”
Sophie nodded.
“The man with the shiny shoes.”
Dante glanced at Victor's polished black shoes.
Then looked toward Elena.
“Take your daughter somewhere safe. A doctor will examine both of you.”
Elena hesitated.
“Sir—”
“Please.”
Something in his expression stopped her.
As mother and daughter were escorted away, Dante received a message from the estate's surveillance technician.
The conservatory cameras were disabled at 6:42 p.m.
May you like
The same minute Elena had been sent downstairs.
And the same minute Victor Romano had entered the security control room.
