Chapter 8 - The Maid Who Refused to Run|
"Show me the message."
Luca held out his hand.
For a moment, I hesitated.
Not because I wanted to hide anything.
Because the threat against my parents had turned my blood cold.
My father could barely walk without pain.
My mother worked part-time at a grocery store.
They had no security guards.
No powerful friends.
Nobody who could protect them from people like Antonio Moretti.
But Sophia was thirteen.
And somewhere in Chicago, she was waiting for someone to save her.
I handed Luca my phone.
He read the messages.
His expression darkened.
"Daniel."
The security chief approached.
"Yes, boss?"
"Send a team to Megan's parents. Quietly. Make sure they're safe."
I stared at him.
"Mr. Moretti, you don't have to—"
"Yes, I do."
His voice softened.
"Nobody gets threatened because they helped my daughter."
My eyes filled.
"Thank you."
He looked back at the photograph.
"Whoever sent this wants you separated from me."
Daniel examined the screen.
"That means they think Megan knows something."
I shook my head.
"I don't."
"Maybe you saw something without realizing it," Luca said.
I studied the photograph again.
Sophia was sitting in an industrial building.
Behind her were stacked wooden crates.
A blue-painted steel door.
A faded sign on the wall.
I enlarged the picture.
The sign contained three words.
HARRISON COLD STORAGE.
My stomach tightened.
I knew that name.
Not because of Luca.
Because of my father.
Before his back injuries, he'd worked in warehouse maintenance.
He used to tell stories about abandoned industrial buildings along the Chicago River.
One of them had been a cold-storage facility owned by the Harrison family.
It had shut down years ago after a fire.
"Mr. Moretti."
He looked at me.
"I think I know where Sophia is."
Daniel stepped closer.
I showed him the sign.
"Harrison Cold Storage used to be near the South Branch of the river."
Luca frowned.
"That's fifteen minutes from the Bellini warehouse."
I nodded.
"They might be using one place to lure you away while holding her somewhere else."
Daniel was already calling his team.
Within minutes, they confirmed that the old building still existed.
But there was another problem.
The property had recently been purchased by a holding company.
One connected to Antonio Moretti.
Luca looked at the information.
His jaw tightened.
"Of course."
I glanced at the clock.
11:31 p.m.
Twenty-nine minutes until the deadline.
Daniel began outlining a rescue plan.
Two teams would approach the storage building from separate directions.
Another would watch the Bellini warehouse.
Luca would remain in contact with the kidnappers while the teams moved into position.
But something bothered me.
The person messaging me had demanded that I come alone.
Why?
I thought of the necklace.
The letter.
The music box.
Then suddenly I remembered something Mrs. Carter had said.
Caroline had given her the key because she wanted Sophia protected.
Not because she wanted revenge.
Maybe the kidnappers believed I had taken something else.
Something they hadn't found.
My phone vibrated again.
BRING THE SECOND PEARL.
I stared at the screen.
The loose pearl.
The one Sophia had kept inside her mother's jewelry box.
I'd almost forgotten about it.
It was still in the small cloth pouch I had placed inside my apron earlier that evening.
I reached into my pocket.
The pearl felt cool against my burned fingertips.
Luca noticed.
"What is that?"
I held it up.
"The pearl Sophia found."
Daniel frowned.
"Why would they want one loose pearl?"
I examined it beneath the desk lamp.
It was larger than the others.
Slightly yellowed.
And there was a tiny mark near its base.
Not a natural flaw.
A seam.
"Luca," I whispered.
He came closer.
"I think this pearl opens."
Daniel retrieved a magnifying glass.
Under the light, we saw that the pearl was actually a carefully crafted container.
Its two halves were joined so precisely that the seam was nearly invisible.
Daniel used a small jewelry tool to separate them.
Inside was a tiny memory card.
Nobody spoke.
Luca stared at it.
Then at me.
"Caroline hid something in there."
Daniel carefully placed the card inside a reader.
A single file appeared.
A video.
Luca clicked it.
Caroline's face filled the screen.
But this time, she wasn't alone.
Beside her sat a man in a dark suit.
I recognized him immediately.
Judge Harrison.
The same man who had attended Luca's engagement dinner.
Caroline looked directly into the camera.
"If anything happens to me, this recording proves who ordered it."
Judge Harrison leaned forward.
Then said the words that changed everything.
"Antonio Moretti paid me two million dollars to bury the investigation."
Luca went completely still.
Caroline looked toward the camera again.
"And he wasn't working alone."
May you like
The judge lowered his eyes.
Then whispered, "Victoria Bellini approved the plan."
