Chapter 11 - The Empty Chair Nobody Could Ignore|
I had spent years hearing stories about what Luca Moretti did to people who betrayed him.
Men whispered that he never forgave an insult.
That he never forgot a threat.
That he could make an enemy disappear with a single telephone call.
But when Margaret vanished, I watched him make a different choice.
He contacted the investigators already working on Maria's case.
He supplied every threatening message Victor had sent.
He turned over all available security footage and travel information.
Then he sat beside Margaret's empty chair and waited for news.
I could see how much it cost him.
His hands never stopped moving.
Sometimes he rubbed his forehead.
Sometimes he stared at his mother's photograph.
But he didn't send armed men racing through Chicago.
He remembered what Maria had asked of him.
Find the truth.
Ruth remained at the mansion, coordinating with the authorities.
Daniel contacted Thomas at the hospital.
Fortunately, the driver was conscious.
He remembered that Margaret had been carrying her old handbag when they entered the parking garage.
She was talking about buying flowers for Maria's grave.
Then someone approached them.
The man claimed Margaret had dropped an important document.
Thomas turned to look.
That was when he was attacked.
Margaret had shouted for help.
Then the man forced her toward a waiting vehicle.
I felt physically sick.
"She's eighty years old."
My voice cracked.
"How could someone do this to her?"
Elena wrapped an arm around me.
"People who hurt the helpless have already forgotten what being human means."
I looked toward Luca.
He had heard every word.
He closed his eyes.
For several minutes, nothing happened.
Then my phone rang.
It was an unfamiliar number.
I answered cautiously.
"Hello?"
A weak voice whispered, "Claire?"
My heart nearly stopped.
"Margaret?"
"Don't hang up."
I stood so quickly that my chair fell backward.
"Luca!"
He was beside me immediately.
I put the call on speaker so the others could hear.
Margaret was crying.
"Sweetheart, I don't have much time."
"Where are you?" Luca asked.
A man's voice sounded in the background.
Margaret gasped.
Then she whispered, "Remember the place Maria loved because nobody was ever turned away."
The line went dead.
I stared at the screen.
Luca immediately relayed the call details to the police.
Ruth urged everyone not to speculate publicly.
But I couldn't stop repeating Margaret's words.
The place Maria loved because nobody was ever turned away.
I thought of the foundation.
Then the shelter.
Then a church.
"Saint Agnes."
Luca looked at me.
"What?"
"Margaret used to volunteer at the Saint Agnes community center."
"That's where she disappeared."
"No."
I shook my head.
"She once told me Maria helped restore an old Saint Agnes school building."
Daniel opened a map.
The former school had been closed for years.
Its property was now controlled by a company connected to Victor Bellini.
I felt my pulse quicken.
"That's where she means."
The investigators were informed immediately.
Officers began checking the property and nearby buildings.
Luca wanted to go.
Ruth insisted he remain available to provide information and avoid interfering with the search.
For a moment, I thought he would refuse.
Then he looked at me.
"What would my mother want?"
I swallowed.
"She'd want Margaret brought home alive."
He nodded.
"Then we wait where they can reach us."
Those were the longest hours of my life.
At nine-thirty, the police reported discovering a vehicle matching the description of the one used in the abduction.
It had been abandoned near the old Saint Agnes school.
Inside, officers found Margaret's torn handbag.
Her glasses lay beneath the passenger seat.
I began crying.
Luca stood beside me.
"Claire."
I shook my head.
"She can't die because she came to your wedding."
His expression twisted with grief.
"She won't."
But neither of us knew whether that promise could be kept.
Shortly afterward, an investigator called with another update.
Officers had found signs that someone was inside a disused storage building behind the school.
They were preparing to enter.
Nobody in the library spoke.
I stared at the phone.
Then it rang again.
Luca answered.
For several seconds, he listened silently.
I thought I might collapse.
Finally, he closed his eyes.
"Thank you."
He lowered the phone.
"She's alive."
My knees nearly gave way.
Elena caught me.
Luca continued.
"She's frightened, but the officers reached her."
Margaret had been locked in a small office.
A man connected to Victor's company had been guarding the building.
He was taken into custody.
The police also recovered documents suggesting that Margaret had been pressured to sign a statement retracting her account of Maria's death.
She had refused.
I began crying with relief.
Luca covered his face.
For a moment, the most feared man in Chicago looked like a little boy who had narrowly escaped another terrible loss.
But the relief was incomplete.
Victor Bellini was nowhere to be found.
Investigators believed he had already learned of the search and was attempting to avoid questioning.
At eleven, Margaret arrived at the hospital under police protection.
I hurried into her room.
She was sitting upright in bed.
A small bandage covered her wrist.
When she saw me, she held out her arms.
"My brave girl."
I hugged her carefully.
"You frightened me half to death."
"I'm sorry, sweetheart."
She smiled weakly.
"Next time, I'll simply stay home and have tea."
I laughed through my tears.
Luca entered behind me.
Margaret reached for his hand.
"Your mother would be proud of you."
He shook his head.
"I should have protected you better."
"You protected me by choosing not to become Victor."
Luca looked down.
Margaret squeezed his fingers.
"That's what Maria always wanted."
For the first time that night, he smiled.
Then his phone vibrated.
He glanced at the screen.
His expression changed.
"Daniel says Vanessa has disappeared from the mansion."
I stiffened.
"Disappeared?"
Luca nodded.
"She left without telling anyone where she was going."
Margaret looked toward the window.
"Victor?"
Luca's voice grew quiet.
"We don't know."
Then another message arrived.
It contained a photograph sent from an unfamiliar number.
Vanessa stood outside a secluded house beside a dark lake.
She was holding a thick blue notebook against her chest.
Behind her stood Victor Bellini.
May you like
And beneath the photograph was a single sentence.
If you want the last piece of Maria's story, come alone.
