Chapter 3 - The Man in the PhotographBy midnight, the mansion was surrounded by police cars.
Their blue lights moved across the tall windows, turning the walls into flickering shadows. Officers searched the grounds while detectives questioned every employee one by one.
Elena sat in the library with Sophia sleeping against her shoulder.
Titan lay at their feet.
He had refused to leave them.
Dante had tried twice to move him to the security wing. Both times, Titan had growled until the guards backed away.
Finally, Dante had stopped trying.
“He has selected his post,” Mrs. Bellini had said quietly.
Dante had not found that amusing.
Elena watched him through the glass doors as he spoke to two detectives in the hallway. His face was hard, but his shoulders were tense.
He looked like a man who had discovered an enemy inside his own home and no longer trusted the walls around him.
The library door opened.
Dr. Reynolds entered.
“How is he?” Elena asked.
“Still unconscious, but stable.”
“Can I see him?”
“Not yet. He needs rest.”
Elena nodded.
She looked down at Sophia.
The child had fallen asleep while holding one of Titan’s paws.
The massive dog had not moved for more than an hour.
Dr. Reynolds noticed the child’s hand.
“That dog has never allowed anyone near him?”
“Not that I know of.”
“And your daughter?”
“She gave him cookies.”
Dr. Reynolds smiled faintly.
“Apparently, that was enough.”
Elena wished she could smile back.
“What did the lab find?”
“The residue in the glass is a concentrated plant-based toxin. It attacks the heart.”
“Can it be traced?”
“Eventually. But the more important question is how Adrian got it.”
“Through the water.”
“Most likely.”
“Could someone have poisoned the entire bottle?”
“No. Only the glass.”
Elena stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
“It means the person knew exactly which glass Adrian would use.”
A chill moved through her.
Adrian had a private office. His own crystal decanter. His own glass.
The poisoner had not acted randomly.
They had watched him.
They had studied his habits.
They had waited for the right moment.
Dr. Reynolds lowered his voice.
“Is there anything you remember from this morning?”
Elena thought about the hallway.
The crash.
The guards.
Titan standing over Adrian.
Sophia walking toward him.
Then something surfaced in her memory.
“I heard footsteps.”
“Where?”
“Near the office. Before the crash.”
“Could you identify them?”
“No. They were quick. Someone was running.”
“Did you see anyone?”
Elena hesitated.
“Not clearly.”
“What does that mean?”
“I saw a reflection in the window.”
Dr. Reynolds leaned closer.
“What kind of reflection?”
“A person standing behind me. I turned around, but no one was there.”
“Man or woman?”
“I don’t know. A dark jacket. Maybe gray.”
Before he could ask more, the lights went out.
Sophia woke instantly.
Titan rose.
Every emergency light in the library switched on, bathing the room in red.
A siren began ringing somewhere below them.
Dr. Reynolds moved in front of Elena.
“Stay behind me.”
“What happened?”
“Power interruption.”
The library door slammed shut.
Titan lunged forward and struck it with his shoulder.
The sound echoed through the room.
Elena grabbed Sophia.
“Mommy?”
“Stay close.”
The door handle moved.
Once.
Twice.
Someone was trying to open it from the hallway.
Dr. Reynolds pulled a metal lamp from the side table.
Titan growled so deeply that Elena felt the vibration in her chest.
The handle stopped moving.
Then a voice came from outside.
“Mrs. Castillo?”
Elena recognized it.
“Dante?”
“Open the door.”
Dr. Reynolds did not move.
“Why?”
“The security system has been breached.”
“What happened?”
“Open the door.”
Titan growled harder.
Elena looked at the dog.
His body was angled toward the door, but his eyes were fixed on the narrow gap beneath it.
Sophia whispered, “That isn’t Dante.”
Elena’s blood turned cold.
The voice came again.
“Mrs. Castillo, move away from the door.”
Dr. Reynolds lifted the lamp.
“Who are you?”
The person outside remained silent.
Then the library windows shattered.
Elena screamed and dropped to the floor with Sophia.
Glass exploded across the carpet.
Titan threw himself over the child.
Dr. Reynolds pulled Elena behind a bookcase.
A dark figure appeared beyond the broken window.
The intruder wore a black mask and held something metallic in one hand.
Before he could climb inside, gunfire erupted from the hallway.
The masked figure disappeared into the night.
Dante shouted from somewhere outside.
“Everyone stay down!”
The library door opened.
Dante entered with two armed guards.
His eyes moved immediately to the broken windows, then to Titan covering Sophia.
“Is anyone hurt?”
“No,” Dr. Reynolds answered.
Dante walked to the window.
Below, the grounds were filled with running guards.
A shadow vanished beyond the hedge.
“Find him!” Dante shouted.
The guards ran.
Elena pulled Sophia out from beneath Titan.
Her daughter’s face was pale.
“Are you hurt?”
Sophia shook her head.
Titan remained pressed against her.
Dante looked at the dog, then at the broken window.
“He wasn’t trying to get inside,” Dante said.
Dr. Reynolds frowned.
“What?”
“The shot came from outside. The glass broke inward.”
Dante crouched near the window frame.
“There are no footprints beneath the window.”
Elena stared at him.
“How is that possible?”
Dante did not answer.
He examined the carpet and found something caught in the fibers.
A small silver button.
He picked it up with gloved fingers.
The button was engraved with a symbol.
A black bird with its wings spread.
Dante’s expression changed.
Dr. Reynolds noticed.
“You know it?”
“Not personally.”
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
Dante closed his hand around the button.
“Everyone out.”
The guards moved toward the door.
Elena remained still.
“What is that symbol?”
Dante looked at her.
“It belongs to the Varela organization.”
The name meant nothing to Elena, but the way he said it made the room feel smaller.
“Who are they?”
“An old enemy of Adrian’s.”
“Why would they attack the library?”
Dante glanced at Sophia.
“They may not have been attacking the library.”
Elena felt her stomach tighten.
“Then what were they doing?”
Dante looked toward the shattered window.
“Trying to scare someone.”
Sophia clutched her teddy bear.
“Who?”
No one answered.
A radio crackled at Dante’s shoulder.
His face hardened as he listened.
“What happened?” Dr. Reynolds asked.
Dante turned slowly.
“The west gate guard is missing.”
Elena stared at him.
“Missing?”
“His weapon is still there. His car is still there.”
“Then where is he?”
Dante looked down at the silver button in his hand.
“We found blood near the gate.”
Titan suddenly lifted his head.
He stared at Sophia’s teddy bear.
Then he began to growl.
Sophia looked down.
“What?”
Titan stepped closer and sniffed the bear.
His growl deepened.
Elena pulled it away from him.
“What’s wrong?”
Sophia hugged the bear protectively.
“Titan doesn’t like my teddy.”
Dante approached.
“May I see it?”
“No.”
“Sophia.”
She shook her head.
“My daddy gave it to me.”
Elena froze.
Sophia’s father had been dead for four years.
The teddy bear had belonged to him.
Dante looked at Elena.
“Where did she get it?”
“It was in our apartment.”
“Who gave it to her?”
“Her father.”
“Did he buy it?”
“I don’t know.”
Dante reached toward the bear.
Titan stepped between them.
The dog’s teeth showed.
Dante immediately stopped.
Dr. Reynolds looked at the toy.
“Perhaps there’s something inside it.”
Elena stared down at the faded brown bear.
The stitching along one side was loose.
She had never noticed that before.
Sophia sensed the adults’ attention and held it tighter.
“Don’t cut him.”
“No one is going to hurt him,” Elena said gently.
Dante’s radio crackled again.
A guard shouted from the hallway.
“Sir! We found the missing man!”
Dante turned.
“Where?”
“In the old greenhouse.”
“Alive?”
A pause.
“No, sir.”
Elena felt Sophia bury her face against her waist.
Titan moved closer to both of them.
Dante looked back at the teddy bear.
“Take them to the safe room.”
Elena’s voice trembled.
“Why?”
“Because the person who attacked this house may not want Adrian dead anymore.”
“Then what do they want?”
May you like
Dante stared at the loose stitching.
“They want whatever is hidden inside that bear.”
