Chapter 2 - THE SEVENTH ROOM
Gabriel reached the staircase before anyone else.
Matteo followed with two guards.
Olivia remained in the library until Nero's barking changed.
Three sharp bursts.
A pause.
Then a low, sustained growl.
She had worked around the dog for eighteen months. She knew the difference between his warning bark and the sound he made when he had found something unfamiliar.
She hurried upstairs.
By the time she reached Guest Room 7, Gabriel was standing outside the bathroom.
Nero faced the linen closet.
Its door was open.
Behind the folded towels, someone had removed a wooden panel.
A narrow passage disappeared into darkness.
Olivia stopped.
“I've cleaned that closet dozens of times.”
Gabriel turned.
“Did you ever see the panel loose?”
“No.”
Matteo shone a flashlight into the opening.
“Service access. Original construction.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“The house plans don't show one here.”
“Then someone kept it off the plans.”
A technician crawled inside.
Three minutes later, he called out.
“There's equipment back here.”
They recovered a laptop, two battery packs, and a compact receiver connected to a concealed network cable.
The laptop was warm.
Someone had used it recently.
But the passage was empty.
Matteo examined the opening.
“It connects to the old servants' staircase. Someone could reach this room without using the main hallway.”
Olivia looked toward the bed.
For twelve nights, Nero had barked at a room everyone believed was empty.
He had been right.
Something had been moving behind the walls.
“Who knows about the staircase?” she asked.
Gabriel's gaze settled on her.
“That's what we're going to find out.”
At four-thirty, the estate's employees were assembled in the downstairs sitting room.
There were twenty-three of them.
Housekeepers, cooks, groundskeepers, drivers, maintenance staff.
Most looked frightened.
A few looked angry.
Olivia recognized the expression on Gabriel's face when he entered.
It was the one that made powerful men lower their voices.
“Someone has violated the security of this house,” he said. “No one here is being accused simply because they work for me. But until we establish what happened, I need everyone to cooperate with the investigators.”
Olivia noticed his choice of words.
Investigators.
Not interrogators.
It was a distinction she appreciated.
Then Gabriel looked at the employees.
“If anyone feels unsafe, tell Matteo. We will arrange transportation and somewhere else to stay.”
A young kitchen assistant raised her hand.
“Are we in danger?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“Yes,” he said.
The honesty unsettled the room.
“But I intend to find out from whom.”
At sunrise, Olivia called her mother.
Lily answered.
“Mommy!”
Olivia closed her eyes.
“Good morning, peanut.”
“Grandma made pancakes.”
“Lucky you.”
“Are you coming tomorrow?”
Olivia looked through the window toward the locked front gates.
“I hope so.”
Lily lowered her voice.
“Is Nero being naughty again?”
Olivia almost laughed.
“No, sweetheart. I think he's being very good.”
After the call, she stood in the corridor holding her phone.
Gabriel appeared behind her.
“Your daughter?”
She turned.
“Yes.”
“How old?”
“Seven.”
He nodded.
“She's staying with your mother?”
Olivia's shoulders stiffened.
“Yes.”
Gabriel noticed.
“I wasn't asking for an address.”
She looked at him.
He continued, “I was asking whether they're safe.”
Olivia studied his face.
“I think so.”
He nodded once.
“Good.”
Then he handed her a folded document.
“Paid leave. As long as you need.”
Olivia stared.
“I don't need charity.”
“It isn't charity.”
“Then what is it?”
“You found a security breach my entire team missed. The least I can do is make sure you don't lose wages because of it.”
She looked down at the paper.
For a moment, she didn't know what to say.
Then Nero trotted down the hallway and pressed his enormous head against her thigh.
Gabriel watched.
“He doesn't do that with most people.”
Olivia scratched the dog's ears.
“Maybe most people don't listen to him.”
Something changed in Gabriel's expression.
Before he could answer, Matteo appeared at the end of the corridor.
“Boss. We recovered a video file.”
Gabriel straightened.
“From the laptop?”
“Yes.”
“What does it show?”
Matteo glanced at Olivia.
Then back at Gabriel.
“Your brother.”
The warmth disappeared from Gabriel's face.
“My brother has been dead for four years.”
May you like
Matteo swallowed.
“Then someone wants us to believe otherwise.”
