Chapter 5 - Elena's Last Secret
Vincent Rossi did not shout.
That terrified everyone more.
"Seal the property."
Dominic spoke into his radio.
"Already done."
"Thermal cameras."
"Running."
"Vehicles?"
"All gates locked."
"Coast?"
"Two teams moving."
Vincent looked toward the dark grounds beyond Matteo's balcony.
His face showed almost nothing.
Clara knew better.
She saw the tremor in his hand.
"Vincent."
He turned.
"We'll find him."
His expression broke for half a second.
Then the mask returned.
"Yes."
Clara picked up Matteo's blanket.
It was still warm.
"Whoever took him can't be far."
Dominic entered.
"We found the wheelchair."
"Where?"
"Service corridor."
Clara's stomach dropped.
"Then they carried him."
Vincent was already moving.
The service corridor ran behind the east wing, connecting bedrooms to laundry rooms, kitchens, and maintenance spaces.
One security camera had gone black seven minutes before the alarm.
Not destroyed.
Disabled.
From inside the security network.
Vincent stared at Dominic.
"Who has access?"
"You. Me. Two technicians."
"Names."
"Eric Mason and Paul Rivera."
"Find them."
Paul was found in the security office.
Confused.
Eric wasn't.
Vincent's expression turned lethal.
"How long has Mason worked here?"
"Four years."
Clara stared.
Four years.
Long before the accident.
Dominic swore.
"His car is still here."
Vincent looked at the estate map.
"Old storm shelter."
Dominic's eyes sharpened.
The estate had been built in the 1920s and expanded repeatedly. Beneath the east garden was an old storm shelter connected to the house by a narrow maintenance tunnel.
Vincent ran.
Clara followed.
"Stay back!"
"No!"
"Clara!"
"He may be terrified!"
"So you think running toward whoever took him is smart?"
"No. I think leaving him alone is worse."
There was no time to argue.
Dominic and four guards reached the tunnel entrance.
Locked.
Vincent stepped aside.
Dominic forced it.
They moved down the concrete stairs.
Clara remained behind the armed men.
The tunnel smelled damp.
Then they heard crying.
Matteo.
Clara pushed forward.
Vincent grabbed her.
"Wait."
A man's voice came from below.
"Don't come closer!"
Eric Mason.
Vincent's entire body changed.
"Where is my son?"
"He's fine."
Matteo cried, "Dad!"
Vincent closed his eyes for one second.
Alive.
"Matteo, I'm here."
"Dad!"
Eric shouted, "Shut up!"
Clara saw Vincent's hand tighten around his weapon.
She whispered, "Don't."
He looked at her.
"If he sees you coming angry, he may panic."
Vincent understood.
He lowered the gun.
"Eric."
Silence.
"You worked for me four years."
"Yeah."
"I trusted you."
A broken laugh came from below.
"No, you didn't. You don't trust anybody."
Vincent couldn't argue.
"What does DeLuca want?"
Eric didn't answer.
"Money?"
"Not anymore."
"What?"
"He wants the boy quiet."
Clara felt sick.
Vincent's voice became frighteningly calm.
"Then why is Matteo alive?"
"Because I couldn't."
Silence.
Eric's voice cracked.
"I couldn't do it."
Vincent looked at Dominic.
There might still be humanity left in the man.
"Bring him to me."
"I can't."
"Yes, you can."
"He'll kill my family."
"DeLuca?"
"Yes."
"Where are they?"
"I don't know."
"Then let me find them."
"You can't."
Vincent's voice hardened.
"Eric, I can find anyone."
Clara almost believed him.
Maybe Eric did too.
A minute passed.
Then Matteo cried out.
Clara couldn't wait.
She stepped around Vincent.
"I'm coming down."
Vincent grabbed her wrist.
"What are you doing?"
She whispered, "He knows me."
"So does Eric."
"Exactly."
Then she called out.
"Eric? It's Clara."
"Stay there."
"I can't."
"Don't come down."
"Matteo needs help."
"He won't stop shaking."
Clara's heart sank.
Spasm.
"That's why I need to come."
Eric didn't answer.
Clara slowly descended.
Vincent followed several feet behind despite her warning.
At the bottom, they found Eric sitting against the wall.
Matteo lay on an old cot.
His legs were rigid.
Eric held a gun.
But it pointed toward the floor.
Clara ignored it.
She went directly to Matteo.
"I'm here."
He sobbed.
"Clara."
"I've got you."
She climbed beside him.
Exactly as she had at 3:14 that morning.
"Breathe."
Matteo grabbed her.
Vincent watched Eric.
Eric watched Clara.
"I didn't hurt him."
Vincent said nothing.
"I swear."
"Put down the gun."
"If I do, I'm dead."
"No."
"You don't forgive betrayal."
"Today I do."
Eric laughed.
"You expect me to believe that?"
Vincent glanced toward Matteo.
"My son is listening."
Eric followed his gaze.
Vincent slowly lowered his own weapon and placed it on the ground.
Dominic stared at him.
"Boss."
Vincent raised a hand.
Then he looked at Eric.
"I have spent fourteen months teaching my son the wrong lesson."
Eric's face tightened.
"I taught him that fear is strength."
Vincent pushed his gun farther away.
"It's not."
Clara looked at him.
"So I'm asking you once."
Vincent opened his hands.
"Help me teach him something better."
Eric stared.
Matteo's breathing slowly steadied.
Finally Eric began crying.
The gun slipped from his fingers.
Dominic moved immediately.
But Vincent stopped him from striking Eric.
"His family."
Eric looked up.
Vincent crouched.
"Tell me where DeLuca might have taken them."
Eric gave him an address.
Within forty minutes, Vincent's people located Eric's wife and teenage daughter in an abandoned rental property outside the city.
Alive.
Terrified.
Held by two DeLuca associates who fled before police arrived.
Eric told them everything.
DeLuca had recruited him two years earlier.
Not with money.
With threats.
He had been ordered to report Vincent's movements.
The day of the crash, Eric told DeLuca which vehicle Vincent was expected to use.
Vincent listened without moving.
"I told him you'd be in Elena's car."
Eric cried.
"I didn't know your wife and kid would take it instead."
Vincent looked away.
Clara could see the rage rising.
Eric whispered, "I'm sorry."
Vincent's fist clenched.
Then Matteo spoke from his wheelchair.
"Dad."
One word.
Vincent turned.
Matteo looked frightened.
Not of Eric.
Of him.
Vincent saw it.
And made a choice.
He walked away.
Dominic handled the rest.
Later that night, Vincent stood alone on the terrace.
Clara joined him.
"You spared him."
"For Matteo."
"Still counts."
Vincent looked toward the ocean.
"Old me would've killed him."
"I know."
"You don't sound shocked."
"I'm not stupid."
Vincent smiled faintly.
Then silence returned.
"Elena hated this life," he said.
Clara listened.
"She knew who I was when she married me. But after Matteo was born, she wanted out."
"Did you?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I told myself I was protecting them."
He laughed bitterly.
"I built walls. Cameras. Guards. Cars with armored doors."
He looked at Clara.
"And still couldn't protect them."
"Maybe protection isn't the same thing as control."
Vincent studied her.
"You always have an answer?"
"No."
"Feels like it."
"I have opinions."
"Many."
"Also true."
He smiled.
Clara did too.
Then Vincent's expression changed.
"Why aren't you afraid of what I am?"
"I am."
"But you're still here."
"Matteo's here."
"Only Matteo?"
The question surprised them both.
Clara looked at him.
Something passed between them.
Dangerous in a different way.
Vincent stepped closer.
Clara didn't move.
Then Matteo's voice came through the open terrace doors.
"Clara!"
They separated instantly.
Clara laughed.
"Saved by an eight-year-old."
Vincent looked almost disappointed.
They found Matteo sitting in the living room with a photograph album.
He pointed toward a picture of Elena.
"Mom."
Vincent sat beside him.
"What about her?"
Matteo touched the photograph.
"She knew."
Vincent's heart stopped.
"Knew what?"
Matteo frowned.
"Before crash."
Clara sat opposite him.
"What did she know?"
Matteo squeezed his eyes shut.
Vincent immediately said, "You don't have to remember."
Matteo opened them.
That mattered.
His father had finally learned.
But Matteo wanted to continue.
"Mom was scared."
Vincent felt cold.
"Of DeLuca?"
Matteo shook his head.
"She said she found something."
"What?"
"In your office."
Vincent looked at Clara.
"What did she find?"
Matteo whispered.
"A book."
"What kind of book?"
"Black."
Vincent stood so quickly the chair behind him moved.
Clara looked at him.
"What?"
Vincent didn't answer.
He walked toward his office.
Behind one wall was a hidden safe.
Inside had once been a black accounting ledger containing years of transactions, names, payments, and partnerships.
It had disappeared the week Elena died.
Vincent had assumed one of his men stole it afterward.
Now he understood.
Elena had taken it first.
Matteo followed in his chair.
"Mom said bad people would hurt you if they found it."
Vincent crouched.
"Did she tell you where she put it?"
Matteo nodded slowly.
"She said if something happened..."
His voice trembled.
Clara took his hand.
"...I should tell you."
"Tell me what?"
Matteo looked at his father.
"Mom said the dead flowers don't need water."
Vincent stared.
Then he turned toward the windows.
Outside, beyond the terrace, stood Elena's old greenhouse.
For fourteen months, nobody had entered it.
May you like
Inside were the roses she had planted.
All dead.
