Chapter 9 - THE CHILD WHO KNEW THE WAY
Alessandro answered immediately.
“Sophia?”
Her voice shook.
“Vincent is outside our door.”
Alessandro stood.
“Don't open it.”
“I won't.”
He contacted Nicholas.
Security personnel moved toward the upper floor.
But Vincent had already accessed the service corridor.
He knew the house.
He knew the doors.
He knew which locks could be overridden.
Sophia heard metal scrape.
The handle moved again.
Emma began crying.
Sophia held her close.
“It's okay, baby.”
Then Emma pointed toward the wardrobe.
“Mommy, the little door.”
Sophia frowned.
“What little door?”
Emma tugged her hand.
“The one behind the coats.”
Sophia opened the wardrobe.
Behind the hanging clothes was a narrow maintenance panel.
She had never noticed it.
Emma pointed.
“Shiny bird man went there before.”
Sophia stared.
The panel opened into an old service passage.
It was narrow but passable.
Sophia called Alessandro.
“There's a passage behind the wardrobe.”
He went still.
“Stay where you are until security reaches you.”
But the bedroom lock clicked.
Vincent was overriding it.
Sophia looked at Emma.
Then at the passage.
She made a decision.
She guided Emma into the passage, keeping her close and moving only toward a marked emergency access point.
They emerged near a staff stairwell where Nicholas's team was arriving.
Vincent entered the empty bedroom moments later.
He found the wardrobe open.
And realized the child had escaped him again.
Downstairs, police entered the property.
Salerno and his associates were detained.
Vincent attempted to flee through the service entrance but was stopped.
When Alessandro reached Sophia and Emma, the little girl ran toward him.
“Flower man!”
He dropped to one knee.
She threw her arms around his neck.
For a moment, Alessandro couldn't speak.
Sophia stood nearby, trembling.
He looked at her.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
He closed his eyes.
Then whispered:
“Thank God.”
Emma pulled back.
“Are you sad again?”
Alessandro laughed through tears.
“A little.”
She patted his cheek.
“More flowers tomorrow.”
He smiled.
May you like
“Tomorrow.”
And for the first time, Alessandro understood that surviving was not the same thing as living.
