Chapter 8 - The Service Stairs
I ran for the door.
Dante caught my arm.
“The hall could be blocked.”
“My daughter is outside.”
“And I’m getting you to her.”
He grabbed the notebook, letter, and drive, shoved them inside his jacket, and pulled the door open.
Smoke drifted along the ceiling.
Not much yet.
Enough.
Downstairs, someone shouted.
Dante called Luca.
“Guesthouse. Now. Stay with Rosa’s child.”
We moved toward the main staircase.
A hard crack came from below, followed by the sound of breaking glass.
Dante stopped.
“Back.”
He led me through Carmela’s bedroom into a narrow dressing room.
Behind a hanging mirror was a service door.
“Old staff stairs.”
“You know where they go?”
“I used to hide here when I was a kid.”
The door opened into darkness.
We went down carefully, my hand sliding along the wall.
Halfway down, I heard footsteps below.
Dante pushed me behind him.
A flashlight swept across the stairs.
Luca’s voice came through Dante’s phone.
“I have Sophia. Mrs. Bell too. We’re at the west gate.”
I nearly collapsed with relief.
Below us, the flashlight stopped moving.
“Boss?”
Mercer.
“Kitchen fire. I’ve been looking for you.”
Dante didn’t move.
“Then step outside.”
“Main exit’s safer.”
“Step outside, Mercer.”
The silence stretched.
Then Mercer’s footsteps backed away.
Dante waited until we heard the exterior door close.
He guided me down, through a laundry room, and out into the cold.
At the west gate, Sophia reached for me so hard that Luca nearly lost his grip.
“Mommy!”
I held her against my chest.
“I’m here.”
“You went away.”
“I came back.”
Over her head, I saw Dante hand Luca the notebook and envelope.
“Take them somewhere safe.”
Fire engines came through the gates minutes later.
The blaze was contained to a storage room beneath the east stairs. The firefighters said they needed to investigate the source.
Vittorio arrived before the last hose had been rolled.
He embraced Dante.
For a moment, Dante let him.
Then he stepped back.
“Where were you?”
“At dinner. You didn’t answer.”
Vittorio looked toward me.
“Thank God the little one is safe.”
Sophia buried her face in my neck.
Dante’s phone rang.
Luca had reached a separate property and checked the flash drive using an offline computer.
His voice came through the speaker, low and tight.
“There’s a recording.”
Dante looked at Vittorio.
“What recording?”
“Carmela. And your brother.”
May you like
A pause.
“She’s telling him she won’t help cover it up.”
