Chapter 2 - His Sister’s Voice
Lorenzo reached for the recorder again.
I caught his hand.
“Later. Right now, you need to keep pressure on that wound.”
“That’s my sister.”
“I heard.”
“She raised me.”
“And someone is standing over our heads looking for you.”
That brought his eyes back to mine.
Upstairs, a drawer slammed.
“Nothing here.”
“Then where’d the blood come from?”
I turned off the room’s speaker.
Emma stared at the red stain spreading beneath Lorenzo’s fingers.
“Did he spill something?”
“Yes, baby.”
She considered that.
“He needs a towel.”
I found sealed gauze and gloves in a metal cabinet. Beside them were bottled water, old emergency blankets, and a landline telephone.
I lifted the receiver.
Dead.
Of course.
Lorenzo watched me pull on the gloves.
“What’s your name?”
“Nora Bell.”
“You work in the house.”
“For fourteen months.”
He looked ashamed that he hadn’t known.
I didn’t have room for his shame.
I pressed clean gauze against his side and wrapped it in place as carefully as I could.
“This doesn’t fix it,” I told him. “You need a hospital.”
“Marco controls the gates.”
“Then we won’t use the gates.”
My phone showed no service beneath the thick stone ceiling.
Emma tugged my sleeve.
“Can Mr. Lorenzo have Rabbit?”
“If he wants.”
She tucked the toy beneath his arm before he could answer.
The recorder’s display listed several rooms. Study. Dining room. West hall.
A camera feed showed Vittoria at her brother’s desk.
She wore a cream silk blouse and pearl earrings.
Marco stood beside her with a phone in his hand.
I turned the sound low.
“The maid’s room is empty,” he said.
Vittoria didn’t look up.
“Which maid?”
“The widow. The one with the little girl.”
Lorenzo pushed himself upright.
I pressed his shoulder down.
On-screen, Vittoria stopped moving.
“The child was near the garden after dinner.”
Marco nodded.
“Find them,” she said.
“The woman too?”
Vittoria lifted her eyes.
“Especially the woman.”
Emma touched my cheek.
“Mama, why are you shaking?”
I covered her small hand with mine.
“Because I’m cold.”
May you like
Above us, someone dragged the potting bench across the floor.
Then a voice said, “There’s a ring down here.”
