Chapter 4 - THE NAME BENEATH THE FLOOR
By morning, the estate had become a fortress.
Armed guards searched every corridor. Servants were questioned separately. Gideon disappeared into a secured room beneath the garage.
Clara stayed beside Bruno near the library fireplace.
The dog slept with his head resting on her ankle.
Matteo entered carrying the brass key.
“Bruno has not left you,” he said.
“He is recovering from being shot at.”
“He is also guarding you.”
“Maybe he has noticed that everyone here is dangerous.”
Matteo almost smiled.
Almost.
Bruno suddenly lifted his head and walked toward the library rug.
He scratched at the wooden floor.
Matteo called for tools.
When the rug was moved, one plank appeared newer than the rest.
He pried it open.
Beneath the floor was a metal box.
The brass key opened it.
Inside lay a black ledger, a silver locket, and an old photograph.
Clara picked up the photograph first.
Three people stood outside Moretti House twenty-four years earlier.
Anton Moretti was in the center.
Beside him stood a young woman Clara recognized immediately.
Her mother.
On Anton’s other side stood a ten-year-old Matteo.
Clara turned the photograph over.
EVELYN HAYES — WITNESS.
MATTEO MORETTI — SURVIVOR.
THE GIRL — HIDDEN.
Clara’s fingers went numb.
“What does this mean?”
Matteo did not answer.
She opened the ledger.
Most pages contained dates, initials, and coded numbers. One page listed women’s names.
EVELYN HAYES.
MARGARET HAYES.
The third name had been scratched away.
Clara stared at the locket.
“My mother gave me this before she died.”
Matteo examined it. “There may be something hidden inside.”
He used the edge of a blade to open the damaged clasp.
A tiny strip of paper slid out.
One name was written on it.
LUCA MORETTI.
Matteo stopped breathing.
“Who is Luca?” Clara asked.
“My brother.”
“You have a brother?”
“I had one.”
“What happened to him?”
“He died twenty-three years ago.”
Before Clara could answer, a gunshot cracked from the upper floor.
Matteo ran toward the stairs.
Clara followed.
They found Daniel Rusk, Matteo’s security chief, bleeding near the landing. The window stood open, and a rope hung against the outside wall.
A photograph lay beside him.
It showed a little girl standing next to a black puppy.
The child wore the same silver locket Clara had just opened.
On the back, someone had written:
SHE WAS NEVER THE MAID.
Clara looked at Matteo.
A second gunshot echoed outside.
Then a voice came through the security speakers.
“Matteo.”
Everyone froze.
The voice was old, calm, and disturbingly familiar.
Matteo looked toward the ceiling.
“Who are you?”
The speaker crackled.
“You know exactly who I am.”
Matteo’s face turned pale.
“Anton?”
The voice laughed.
“Your father taught you better than this.”
“That is impossible.”
“People die when it becomes useful for them to die.”
Clara felt Bruno press against her leg.
Anton continued.
“Give me the girl, and the dog lives.”
Matteo drew his weapon.
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
The speakers went silent.
From somewhere inside the walls came three slow knocks.
Clara looked at Matteo.
“What is behind this house?”
May you like
His expression hardened.
“Everything my family tried to bury.”
