Chapter 11 - The Night Sophia Disappeared|
Luca called Sophia's school immediately.
He instructed the principal to remove Vanessa from every pickup authorization and provided written confirmation through Daniel Price.
He also reported the forged signature to Detective Brooks.
Sophia would remain home until the school could verify that its records were secure.
For the next two days, the mansion became a fortress.
Security personnel were reassigned.
Visitors were screened.
The entrance codes were changed.
And Vincent DeLuca was removed from duty while investigators examined his involvement in the foundation payments.
Luca had finally begun taking every threat seriously.
But there was one mistake none of us recognized.
Vincent had spent years overseeing the mansion's security systems.
He knew the building better than almost anyone.
And changing a few passwords didn't erase everything he knew.
On Thursday evening, a powerful thunderstorm swept across Chicago.
Rain hammered against the tall windows.
Lightning illuminated the gardens.
Sophia sat beside me in the sunroom, carefully sewing a pink ribbon onto a small fabric heart.
She had insisted that we make a present for Luca.
"Do you think Daddy will like it?"
I smiled.
"He'll love it."
"It's not very fancy."
"That doesn't matter."
She held the heart against her chest.
"I'm going to put three stars on it."
"That's a beautiful idea."
Sophia looked toward the windows.
"Claire?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"Do you think Vanessa will come back?"
I put down my needle.
"Your father is working very hard to keep you safe."
"But what if she gets angry?"
"Then the grown-ups will handle it."
Sophia stared at her hands.
"She told me nobody could stop her because she knew things about Daddy."
I felt a chill.
"What kind of things?"
"She said Daddy had done bad things before."
I couldn't deny that Luca had a dangerous past.
But Sophia didn't deserve to carry the weight of it.
"Your father has made mistakes," I said gently.
"Does that mean he's bad?"
"It means he has choices to make about the person he wants to become."
Sophia considered that.
Then she whispered, "I think he wants to be good."
I looked toward the doorway.
Luca was standing there.
He had heard everything.
He approached his daughter and knelt beside her chair.
"I do, princess."
Sophia wrapped her arms around him.
"Then you have to keep trying."
He held her tightly.
"I will."
For a moment, the storm outside seemed far away.
Then the lights went out.
The mansion plunged into darkness.
Sophia screamed.
I immediately reached for her.
"It's okay, sweetheart."
A moment later, the emergency lights flickered on.
Marco entered the room.
"The backup power isn't responding properly."
Luca stood.
"Get everyone together and check the security panels."
Before Marco could respond, the fire alarm began sounding.
Its shrill noise echoed through the entire mansion.
A security employee hurried toward us.
"Sir, there's an alarm in the east wing."
"Is there a fire?"
"We haven't confirmed one."
Luca looked at Marco.
"Take Sophia to the protected interior hallway."
Marco nodded.
"Come on, princess."
Sophia grabbed my hand.
"Claire, come with me."
"I'll be right behind you."
I turned toward the sewing table to collect her little fabric heart.
It took only a few seconds.
But those seconds changed everything.
A loud crash came from the hallway.
I hurried toward the sound.
Marco was on the floor beside an overturned table.
He was conscious but struggling to stand.
His forehead was bleeding.
"Marco!"
He grabbed my arm.
"Claire, get Luca."
My heart stopped.
"Where's Sophia?"
He looked toward the service corridor.
"Someone came through the emergency door."
I couldn't breathe.
"Where is she?"
Marco's face twisted.
"They took her."
The fabric heart slipped from my hand.
I ran toward the service corridor.
The emergency exit was open.
Cold rain blew across the floor.
Outside, the rear gate stood partially open.
A dark vehicle was disappearing down the road.
I screamed Sophia's name.
No answer came.
Luca appeared behind me.
"Claire!"
I turned toward him.
"She's gone."
He stared at me.
"What?"
"Someone took Sophia."
For the first time in my life, I watched Luca Moretti lose every trace of control.
He ran into the rain.
He shouted instructions to the remaining security staff.
Then he stopped himself.
He reached for his phone and called the police.
He gave them the vehicle's direction, the time of the abduction, and everything Marco could remember.
Detective Brooks was notified immediately.
Within minutes, patrol cars were searching the surrounding streets.
But I couldn't stop staring at the open gate.
Sophia had been sitting beside me only moments earlier.
She had been smiling.
She had been making a present for her father.
Now she was gone.
Luca returned from outside, drenched and trembling with anger.
I had never seen his hands shake before.
He looked at Marco.
"Did you recognize anyone?"
Marco hesitated.
"One of them was Vincent."
Luca closed his eyes.
Then his phone rang.
An unknown number appeared.
He answered.
"Where is my daughter?"
Vanessa's voice came through.
"She's safe."
Luca's expression became terrifying.
"Put her on the phone."
"Not yet."
"If you've hurt her—"
"Careful, Luca."
Vanessa laughed softly.
"You're not in a position to make threats."
"What do you want?"
"You know exactly what I want."
Luca looked toward me.
Vanessa continued.
"Daniel Price has documents that belong to your daughter."
"They belong to Sophia."
"Then perhaps you should convince him to cooperate."
Luca spoke through clenched teeth.
"If money is what you want, leave my child out of this."
Vanessa's voice turned cold.
"Isabella should have made that decision two years ago."
The line went dead.
Luca stood motionless.
May you like
And I realized that Vanessa had just said something she could never take back.
She had connected Sophia's kidnapping to the secret Isabella had died trying to protect.
