Chapter 3 - THE SONG INSIDE THE TOY
Emma screamed when she saw the rabbit.
Clara reached the toy first.
The cut ran from its chest to its stomach.
White stuffing hung from the opening.
One paw was missing.
The folded ear had been ripped away completely.
Emma dropped to her knees beside it.
“He’s hurt.”
Clara picked up the rabbit carefully.
“We can fix him.”
“You promised.”
“I know.”
Clara held the damaged toy against her chest.
A hard round object pressed beneath the remaining stuffing.
Alessandro entered the hidden passage with his pistol raised.
“Stay here.”
Clara ignored him.
She handed Emma to one of the guards who had entered behind them.
“Hold her.”
Then she followed Alessandro.
He turned sharply.
“I told you to stay.”
“And I told my daughter we would find out what happened to her rabbit.”
“This passage may not be empty.”
“Then don’t walk so slowly.”
For a second, Alessandro stared at her.
Then he continued.
The passage was narrow and smelled of dust.
Old wiring ran along the stone walls.
It had once connected the library to a servants’ stairwell.
Clara knew Villa Moretti contained hidden corridors, but most had supposedly been sealed decades ago.
Alessandro reached a bend.
A man groaned in the darkness.
Marco lay against the wall.
Blood covered the side of his face.
His jacket had been removed.
His pistol was gone.
Alessandro knelt beside him.
“Marco.”
The guard’s eyes opened.
“Sir.”
“Who attacked you?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were escorting Vivian.”
“She never reached the blue salon.”
Alessandro’s expression hardened.
“What happened?”
“The lights flickered.”
Marco struggled to breathe.
“The two men behind me went down.”
“How?”
“Needles.”
“Where is Vivian?”
“She ran.”
“Which direction?”
Marco lifted one shaking hand.
“Toward the chapel corridor.”
Alessandro called to the guards behind them.
“Seal the chapel and the western courtyard.”
The men hurried away.
Clara looked at Marco’s injuries.
The blood came from a cut near his hairline.
It looked dramatic, but not deep.
His breathing sounded strained.
Yet his eyes remained unusually focused.
Clara’s gaze moved to the wall.
A smear of blood ran behind Marco’s shoulder.
It ended at the height of his own hand.
“You lost your badge,” she said.
Marco looked at her.
“Someone took it.”
“It was beside the rabbit.”
“They must have dropped it.”
“After stealing it from you?”
“Yes.”
“Why would they carry your badge into the passage and leave you twenty feet away?”
Marco’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Clara saw it.
Alessandro saw her see it.
Marco reached suddenly beneath his shirt.
Alessandro seized his wrist.
A slim blade fell onto the floor.
Marco drove his shoulder into Alessandro’s chest.
They struck the stone wall.
Clara stepped backward.
Marco twisted free and grabbed her by the throat.
He pulled her against him.
The blade had fallen, but he drew a second weapon from his boot.
“Put the gun down.”
Alessandro aimed at his head.
“You will not leave this passage.”
“I will if you care whether she breathes.”
Clara felt the cold edge against her side.
Marco’s arm tightened around her neck.
“You disabled the cameras,” Alessandro said.
Marco smiled.
“You should have replaced them years ago.”
“You took the rabbit.”
“I opened it.”
“What did you find?”
“Not what I expected.”
Clara looked toward the library.
Emma stood between the guards, watching from the hidden doorway.
Her face was pale.
Clara forced herself to remain calm.
“You cut open a child’s toy and found nothing.”
Marco pressed the blade harder.
“I found an old music device.”
Alessandro’s eyes shifted toward the rabbit in Clara’s hand.
The round shape beneath the stuffing.
“A recording button,” Marco said.
“Very clever.”
“Where is it?”
Marco laughed.
“You think I would leave it inside?”
Clara suddenly understood.
His left jacket pocket sagged.
Marco noticed her glance.
He moved the blade toward her ribs.
“Do not.”
Emma began crying.
“Let my mommy go.”
Marco looked toward the child.
That was his mistake.
Clara drove her heel backward into his shin.
His grip loosened.
She bit his wrist.
Marco shouted.
Alessandro fired.
The bullet struck the stone beside Marco’s head.
The sound stunned him.
Alessandro crossed the distance in two steps and slammed Marco against the wall.
The knife fell.
Clara stumbled away.
Alessandro struck Marco once in the stomach.
Then he twisted both arms behind the guard’s back.
“Search him.”
Two guards rushed forward.
They pulled a small black recording device from Marco’s pocket.
It was no larger than a coin.
Marco laughed through gritted teeth.
“You are already too late.”
Alessandro took the device.
“For what?”
“The Romano family knows you found the mark.”
“Vivian told them?”
“She told them before the lights went out.”
Alessandro’s eyes hardened.
“How?”
Marco smiled.
“She did not need a phone.”
A deep explosion rolled through the villa.
The floor trembled.
Dust fell from the stone ceiling.
Emma screamed.
One guard touched his earpiece.
“The western gate.”
His expression changed.
“Two vehicles forced their way through.”
Alessandro handed Marco to the guards.
“Take him below.”
Marco began laughing again.
“You cannot protect them.”
Alessandro stopped.
Marco looked directly at Clara.
“Daniel couldn’t either.”
Clara crossed the passage before anyone could stop her.
She struck Marco across the face.
The sound echoed through the narrow space.
Marco’s smile vanished.
“Where is my husband?”
“He is where men go when they learn too much.”
“You said his name as though you knew him.”
“I did.”
Clara grabbed the front of his shirt.
“Was the accident staged?”
Marco leaned close.
“You still call it an accident?”
Alessandro pulled Clara away before she could strike him again.
“Take him.”
The guards dragged Marco down the passage.
Clara turned toward Alessandro.
“You knew Marco for years.”
“Fourteen.”
“And he worked with Vivian.”
“Yes.”
“How many others?”
“I don’t know.”
The honesty chilled her.
Another burst of gunfire came from outside.
Alessandro took Emma from the guard and placed her in Clara’s arms.
“We have to leave this room.”
“Where?”
“The underground garage.”
“Your own security chief betrayed you.”
“Which means everyone expects me to use the main safe room.”
He looked at the recording device.
“We will do what they do not expect.”
They returned to the library.
Alessandro locked the hidden passage behind them.
Then he examined the rabbit.
The remaining stuffing came out easily.
A small plastic disk was attached to the inside by a faded ribbon.
Alessandro placed the disk on the desk and pressed the center.
Static filled the room.
Then Daniel Bennett’s voice emerged.
Clara stopped breathing.
“My name is Daniel Bennett.”
Emma looked at the device.
“Daddy.”
Clara covered her mouth.
Daniel’s recorded voice continued.
“If Clara is hearing this, then I failed to return.”
A long burst of static interrupted him.
“I am sorry.”
Clara’s knees weakened.
Alessandro guided her into a chair.
The recording crackled again.
“The Circle of Thorns is not dead.”
“They control insurance firms, shipping companies, private banks, and men inside every major family.”
“I found a ledger proving that the accidents were ordered.”
Alessandro leaned closer.
“What accidents?”
Daniel’s answer came through the static.
“Luca Moretti.”
Alessandro’s face became rigid.
“Isabella Ricci.”
Don Ricci, who had entered the library silently, stopped in the doorway.
“My daughter,” he whispered.
The recording continued.
“Matteo Bellandi.”
Cesare Bellandi appeared behind Don Ricci.
His face went white.
“My brother.”
Daniel’s voice weakened.
“They were not accidents.”
“They were removals.”
“Every death cleared a seat, transferred an account, or forced a marriage.”
Vivian’s face entered Clara’s mind.
The planned union between Moretti and Romano.
Daniel took a shaky breath on the recording.
“The complete ledger is hidden where the dead travel but never arrive.”
“The brass key opens the first door.”
“The numbers identify the second.”
“If I disappear, do not trust the police.”
“Do not trust Bellandi Freight.”
“And Clara…”
Static swallowed several words.
Clara pressed the device closer to her ear.
“Clara, forgive me.”
“I made one final mistake.”
“I trusted—”
The recording cut off.
Alessandro pressed the center again.
Nothing happened.
“Who did he trust?” Clara asked.
The device remained silent.
Cesare Bellandi looked toward the door.
“We should move.”
Alessandro rose.
“Why are you here?”
“The main corridor was attacked.”
Cesare glanced at the broken rabbit.
“And I heard my brother’s name.”
Don Ricci walked toward the desk.
His hands shook as he touched the brass key.
“My daughter died when her car left a mountain road.”
He looked at Alessandro.
“Your brother died six weeks later.”
Cesare’s voice turned hollow.
“Matteo died in a fire at our freight terminal.”
Clara looked at all three men.
“Who benefited?”
No one spoke.
She answered for them.
“Vivian’s family.”
The library doors burst open.
A guard entered, breathing hard.
“Sir, Vivian Romano has been found.”
Alessandro reached for his weapon.
“Where?”
“In the chapel.”
The guard’s face tightened.
“She has a gun against Father Matteo’s head.”
May you like
He hesitated.
“And she is demanding Mrs. Bennett and the child.”
