Chapter 2 - THE KEY ON BRUNO’S COLLAR
The veterinarian arrived before midnight.
Bruno and Diesel were examined in Luca’s private garage office while most guests quietly escaped the mansion.
Dr. Sofia Rossi had treated Bruno for ten years.
The second she saw him, her expression hardened.
“He was not dying.”
Vanessa stood near the door.
“No one said—”
“You told Luca he died.”
Silence.
Dr. Rossi checked Bruno’s gums.
Heart.
Joints.
Hydration.
“He’s old.”
We all knew that.
“Arthritis is worsening.”
Also known.
“He needs fluids and blood work.”
Then Diesel.
Different concern.
Dr. Rossi drew blood.
Examined his pupils.
“Somebody gave him a sedating medication.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I didn't.”
Luca asked:
“Could it happen accidentally?”
“No.”
Direct.
Good.
Bruno’s blood later showed traces of the same type of drug, though at a lower level.
Enough to make an old dog appear gravely ill.
Not enough for me to care about the exact substance.
Some details belong to veterinarians and prosecutors.
What mattered was intent.
Someone wanted both dogs quiet.
Then Luca did something strange.
He brought Bruno’s empty collar into his father’s old study.
I followed only because he asked me to bring water.
The study had been closed for years.
Dark wood.
Old books.
Photograph of Luca at seventeen beside a much younger Bruno.
Luca ran his fingers over the leather collar.
“My father had this made in Florence.”
I set down the water.
“The collar?”
“The tag.”
He looked at me.
“It wasn't only an identification tag.”
I waited.
Luca crossed to an old desk.
Second drawer.
Locked.
He touched a narrow brass slot near the side.
I stared.
“The tag opened that?”
“Yes.”
Apparently Luca’s father had been both powerful and unnecessarily theatrical.
“Why?”
“He trusted paper more than computers.”
That sounded plausible for an older mafia patriarch.
“What’s inside?”
“I don’t know.”
That surprised me.
“My father died suddenly.”
Heart attack.
Eight years earlier.
“He once told me the drawer contained things I would need if the Bellinis ever became too friendly.”
My skin prickled.
Vanessa Bellini.
Engagement.
Merger.
Missing key.
Suddenly everything connected.
Matteo entered.
“We searched Vanessa’s room.”
Luca turned.
“And?”
“No tag.”
“Marco?”
“Gone.”
“Phones?”
“Vanessa’s legal team says we need consent.”
Luca nodded.
Good.
No grabbing.
No threatening.
Then Matteo added:
“Driver talked.”
The man had been paid five thousand dollars to transport Bruno and Diesel to a private kennel three hours away.
No paperwork.
Cash.
He was told the dogs were aggressive and unwanted.
Then instructed to destroy any collars or harnesses left with them.
“Destroy?”
“Yes.”
Luca looked at the brass slot in the desk.
So did I.
The dogs were not the target.
Their tags were.
The dogs were evidence that had to disappear with them.
Luca whispered:
“Marco knows.”
“Knows what?” I asked.
He looked toward the locked drawer.
May you like
“That my father left something he was afraid of.”
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