Chapter 3 - THE HOUSEKEEPER WHO CHOSE THE WRONG SIDE
Mrs. Conti had managed the Moretti household for twenty-six years.
She knew every room.
Every corridor.
Every hidden staircase built during the mansion's original construction.
She also knew the service tunnel beneath the greenhouse.
Dante had forgotten it existed.
Mrs. Conti had not.
By the time security reached the tunnel, Bellini and Mrs. Conti were gone.
Their vehicle was discovered two miles away.
Abandoned.
Inside were two empty suitcases and a discarded phone.
Dante stared at the footage.
"She helped him escape."
His security chief nodded.
"Yes."
Dante looked toward Alessia.
She was standing beside the fireplace.
"Did Mrs. Conti know about the note?"
Alessia hesitated.
"I don't know."
"Did she ever threaten you?"
"No."
"Then why did she fire you?"
Alessia looked down.
"Because Bellini told her to."
Dante closed his eyes.
For years, he'd believed his household operated through loyalty.
Now he was discovering how easily obedience could be mistaken for it.
That evening, he visited Carlo Romano.
The prison meeting room smelled of disinfectant and stale coffee.
Carlo entered slowly.
He was sixty-three.
Thin.
Gray-haired.
His shoulders bent from years of confinement.
But his eyes were sharp.
When he saw Dante, he stopped.
"Mr. Moretti."
Dante stood.
"Mr. Romano."
Carlo looked toward the chair.
"Never thought I'd see you here."
Dante swallowed.
"Neither did I."
They sat.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Dante said:
"Your daughter told me you were innocent."
Carlo's eyes filled.
"Alessia?"
Dante nodded.
"She's safe."
Carlo closed his eyes.
"Thank God."
Dante watched him.
"You've been writing to me."
"Every year."
"I never received the letters."
Carlo looked down.
"I figured."
Dante leaned forward.
"Tell me what happened that night."
Carlo took a slow breath.
"I was repairing a heating valve in the east wing."
"At midnight?"
"Your mother asked me to."
Dante frowned.
"Why?"
"She said she didn't want anyone else in that part of the house."
Carlo looked toward the table.
"When I arrived, I heard shouting."
"Who was shouting?"
"Your mother. And a man."
"Bellini?"
Carlo hesitated.
"I couldn't see him."
"What did you hear?"
Carlo swallowed.
"She said, 'I won't let you take the children.'"
Dante went still.
"What children?"
"I don't know."
Carlo continued.
"Then something broke. I ran inside."
His hands trembled.
"Your mother was on the floor."
Dante felt sick.
"Was she alive?"
"Yes."
"Did she speak?"
Carlo nodded.
"She grabbed my sleeve."
Dante leaned forward.
"What did she say?"
Carlo's eyes filled.
"She said, 'Tell Dante about the red room.'"
Silence.
Dante stared.
"The red room?"
Carlo nodded.
"That's all."
Dante sat back.
His mother had left him a message.
A message nobody had delivered.
For eleven years.
Carlo looked at him.
"Mr. Moretti, I know you have no reason to believe me."
Dante swallowed.
"Maybe I should have listened sooner."
Carlo's eyes filled.
As Dante rose to leave, Carlo spoke again.
"There's one more thing."
Dante turned.
"The man who threatened me wore a ring."
"What kind?"
"A black stone. Square."
Dante felt cold.
Bellini wore a black onyx ring.
A gift from Vittorio Moretti.
Carlo continued.
"And he had a scar across his right wrist."
Dante stared.
Bellini had that scar too.
Outside the prison, Dante called Nathan.
"I want the case reopened."
Nathan hesitated.
"Enzo, we'll need new evidence."
Dante looked toward the gray sky.
"Then we'll find it."
That night, Alessia received a photograph on her phone.
Her father.
Sitting in the prison visiting room.
Taken only hours earlier.
May you like
Beneath it was a message.
STOP DIGGING, OR HE WON'T SURVIVE THE WEEK.
