Chapter 5 - THE MAID WHO REFUSED TO RUN|
The bedroom door shook beneath the stranger's hand.
I stood frozen between Mrs. Carter and the hallway, gripping my phone so tightly that my fingers hurt.
"Olivia," Luca said quietly.
"I'm here."
"Is the door locked?"
"Yes."
"Good."
Another knock sounded.
"Miss Bennett, open the door."
The voice was calm.
Almost polite.
That frightened me more than shouting would have.
Mrs. Carter clutched the sewing box against her chest.
I could see the white bandages around her wrists.
She looked exhausted.
And I knew she couldn't run.
"Mr. Moretti," I whispered.
"What?"
"There's a service staircase beside the wardrobe."
"Can you reach it?"
"Yes."
"Take Mrs. Carter down to the garden entrance."
I glanced toward the narrow door.
It hadn't been used in months.
"Where should we go?"
"Daniel is sending a car."
The bedroom handle rattled again.
Then the stranger spoke.
"I know you're in there, Olivia."
My stomach dropped.
He knew my name.
"Please don't make this difficult."
Luca heard him.
His voice became ice.
"Do not answer that man."
I nodded, forgetting he couldn't see me.
Then I put the call on speaker and helped Mrs. Carter stand.
She winced.
Her wrists were still painful.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," she whispered.
"Don't apologize."
I took the sewing box.
"We're leaving."
The service staircase was hidden behind a narrow wooden panel.
I pulled it open.
Cold air drifted upward.
The stairs descended into darkness.
Mrs. Carter looked frightened.
"I haven't used these in years."
"We'll go slowly."
Behind us, the bedroom door suddenly cracked.
The stranger had struck it with something heavy.
Luca heard the noise.
"Olivia?"
"We're moving."
"Stay on the line."
I helped Mrs. Carter onto the first step.
Then the second.
The staircase was barely wide enough for us.
Dust coated the railing.
Somewhere below, water dripped steadily.
Mrs. Carter moved carefully, one hand gripping my shoulder.
We had reached the seventh step when the bedroom door burst open.
A man's voice echoed above us.
"Where did they go?"
I stopped breathing.
Mrs. Carter squeezed my arm.
"Keep moving."
We descended another flight.
Then I heard footsteps entering the hidden stairwell.
He had found the panel.
Luca's voice came through my phone.
"Olivia, tell me where you are."
"Halfway down."
"Daniel's people are at the garden door."
I swallowed.
"Someone's following us."
There was a brief silence.
Then Luca spoke.
"Listen to me."
"I'm listening."
"You are not going to turn around."
My eyes filled.
"Okay."
"You're going to get Margaret outside."
I nodded.
"And then you're going to keep going."
The footsteps grew louder.
Mrs. Carter began breathing heavily.
Her injured wrists made it difficult to hold the railing.
I shifted the sewing box beneath one arm and wrapped the other around her waist.
"Almost there," I whispered.
But we weren't almost there.
The staircase twisted again.
And suddenly Mrs. Carter stumbled.
I caught her before she fell.
Pain shot through my shoulder.
She cried out.
The footsteps behind us stopped.
"There you are."
I turned.
A man stood several steps above us.
He wore a dark security uniform.
His face was unfamiliar.
But the silver pin on his jacket was not.
It matched the one worn by the stranger outside Eleanor's hospital room.
"Give me the box," he said.
Mrs. Carter tightened her grip on me.
I swallowed.
"Who are you?"
"Someone who doesn't want anybody hurt."
"Then leave us alone."
He sighed.
"You're making this harder than necessary."
He took another step.
I moved in front of Mrs. Carter.
The man looked almost amused.
"Do you really think you can stop me?"
My heart hammered.
"No."
He smiled.
"Then be sensible."
I raised the sewing box.
His expression changed.
"Careful."
I glanced at the narrow staircase.
Then at the heavy wooden box in my hands.
I didn't have a weapon.
I didn't know how to fight.
And I had spent most of my life avoiding trouble because trouble always seemed to cost money I didn't have.
But Mrs. Carter had been tied to a chair tonight.
Eleanor was lying in intensive care.
And I had watched a powerful woman nearly destroy two lives because she believed nobody beneath her social class mattered.
So I did something I had never imagined doing.
I threw the sewing box.
Not at his head.
At the staircase between us.
The box struck the steps and burst open.
Buttons scattered everywhere.
Spools of thread rolled beneath his shoes.
The man stumbled backward.
I grabbed Mrs. Carter.
"Go!"
We hurried down the remaining stairs.
Behind us came a curse.
Then the sound of someone slipping.
We reached the bottom.
I shoved open the garden door.
Cold October air hit my face.
Two security vehicles stood beyond the roses.
A man ran toward us.
"Olivia!"
Daniel.
I nearly collapsed with relief.
"Someone's inside!"
He immediately directed two guards toward the staircase.
Then he helped Mrs. Carter into the nearest vehicle.
I remained beside the open door, shaking.
Daniel looked at me.
"Where's the box?"
My stomach dropped.
"On the stairs."
His expression tightened.
"Did you remove anything important?"
I remembered the envelope.
The brass key.
The cassette.
They were still inside.
"No."
Daniel muttered something.
Then spoke into his radio.
"Secure the staircase and recover all contents."
My phone was still connected to Luca.
"Olivia?"
I lifted it.
"Yes?"
"Are you outside?"
"Yes."
"Is Margaret safe?"
"She's with Daniel."
For the first time, I heard Luca breathe properly.
"Thank God."
I closed my eyes.
My legs felt weak.
"Mr. Moretti?"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry about the box."
There was a pause.
Then he said:
"Olivia, you protected her."
"But the evidence—"
"Evidence can sometimes be recovered."
His voice softened.
"People can't."
I began crying.
I didn't want to.
But the tears came anyway.
For eleven months, I had been the woman who polished silverware and carried trays.
I had learned to become invisible.
Tonight, somebody had seen me.
And the feeling was almost unbearable.
Daniel gently took my phone.
"Boss, we're moving them to the secure house."
Luca answered.
"Use the location we discussed."
"Understood."
"Nobody outside your immediate team gets the address."
"Yes, boss."
Daniel returned my phone.
"Come on, Olivia."
I climbed into the vehicle beside Mrs. Carter.
She immediately reached for my hand.
"Sweetheart, are you hurt?"
I shook my head.
"No."
She looked at me carefully.
"You're trembling."
"So are you."
She gave a small, exhausted laugh.
Then she began crying again.
I wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"I'm here."
She leaned against me.
And for a moment, I thought we had finally escaped.
But ten minutes later, Daniel received a radio call.
His expression changed.
"What do you mean he got away?"
I sat upright.
Daniel listened.
Then swore quietly.
"Find out where he went."
He ended the call.
Mrs. Carter looked at him.
"Was it the man from the stairs?"
Daniel nodded.
"He escaped through a service exit."
My stomach tightened.
"What about the sewing box?"
His jaw hardened.
"The officers recovered it."
I exhaled.
Then Daniel continued.
"But the hidden compartment was empty."
Mrs. Carter went completely still.
I stared at him.
"The tape?"
"Gone."
"The envelope?"
"Gone."
I felt sick.
Daniel looked toward the dark road ahead.
"Someone got to the box before we did."
Mrs. Carter pressed a hand to her mouth.
For several seconds, she couldn't speak.
Then she whispered:
"Giovanni's confession."
I looked at her.
"Was it the only copy?"
Her eyes filled.
"I thought so."
Daniel's phone rang again.
He answered.
"Yes?"
A long silence followed.
Then his expression changed completely.
"Are you certain?"
I gripped the edge of my seat.
Daniel slowly lowered the phone.
"That was Luca."
"What happened?"
He looked at Mrs. Carter.
Then at me.
"Someone just delivered the missing cassette tape to his hospital room."
My heart began racing.
"Who?"
Daniel swallowed.
"A woman."
Mrs. Carter leaned forward.
"What woman?"
He hesitated.
"Rebecca Vale."
I stared at him.
"But Rebecca said someone had found her."
Daniel nodded.
"She escaped."
"Then why would she take the tape?"
His expression darkened.
"That's what Luca wants to know."
The vehicle turned onto a quiet road.
Daniel continued.
"She told him she couldn't trust anyone at the mansion."
Mrs. Carter closed her eyes.
"And she was right."
I looked down at my hands.
Then at the woman beside me.
Something about Rebecca's warning still troubled me.
She had said Anthony's betrayal came from inside Giovanni's organization.
Someone he trusted more than his brothers.
I looked toward Daniel.
He had worked for Luca for fifteen years.
He knew the estate.
He knew the cameras.
He knew the secret exits.
And suddenly, a question formed in my mind.
If the intruder had entered the hidden staircase from Mrs. Carter's bedroom, how had he known where the entrance was?
I slowly turned toward Daniel.
"Can I ask you something?"
He glanced at me.
"Of course."
"Who knew about that staircase?"
He hesitated.
"Several longtime employees."
"Did Vanessa know?"
"No."
"Did Salvatore?"
"Not that I'm aware of."
I swallowed.
"Then how did the man find us so quickly?"
Daniel said nothing.
The car continued through the darkness.
Then Mrs. Carter spoke in a voice so quiet I almost missed it.
"Because someone told him."
May you like
Daniel looked at her in the rearview mirror.
And for the first time that night, I saw fear in his eyes.
