Chapter 7 - THE CHILD WHO REMEMBEREDThe doctors pushed Luca out of the room.
He stood in the hallway, motionless.
Adrian had flatlined for forty-seven seconds.
Then his heart returned.
But he was unconscious again.
The sentence remained.
She isn't three.
Luca called Elena.
“Bring Nora to the hospital.”
“Why?”
“Now.”
“Elena—”
“I said now.”
An hour later, Elena arrived trembling.
Nora was in her arms.
Luca crouched.
“Nora.”
She smiled.
“Hi.”
He looked into her eyes.
“Do you remember Uncle Adrian?”
Nora nodded.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“In the blue room.”
“What blue room?”
She pointed toward Luca.
“Your house.”
Luca's heart raced.
“The hidden room?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“The other one.”
“There is another?”
Nora nodded.
“Mama said never tell.”
Luca looked at Elena.
She was crying.
“I didn't know.”
Nora suddenly touched the side of Luca's face.
“Uncle Adrian said you would be scared.”
“Did he?”
“Yes.”
“What else did he say?”
Nora smiled.
“He said you always come when somebody calls.”
Luca nearly broke.
“Where is the blue room?”
Nora pointed toward the mansion.
“Behind the big painting.”
They returned immediately.
The painting was a portrait of Luca's father.
Six guards stood around the room.
Luca moved it.
Behind it was solid stone.
No door.
No seam.
Then Nora walked over.
She placed her small palm against one section of the wall.
“Here.”
Luca frowned.
He tapped it.
Hollow.
They opened it.
A narrow room appeared.
Blue walls.
A child's table.
A chair.
A cassette recorder.
And dozens of drawings.
Nora ran inside.
“This is where Uncle Adrian used to hide.”
Luca looked around.
On the wall were drawings of the mansion.
The carriage house.
The underground tunnel.
The chapel.
And one strange object.
A black box.
Nora pointed.
“That.”
“What is it?”
“Uncle Adrian said never touch.”
Luca opened it.
Inside was a tiny recording device.
He pressed play.
Adrian's voice filled the room.
“If you're hearing this, Nora is old enough to understand.”
Luca looked at the little girl.
Adrian continued.
“Nora, you were there when they came.”
Elena covered her mouth.
“You saw your father get taken.”
Luca's eyes narrowed.
The room seemed to disappear.
“Nora, you were hiding under the table.”
A pause.
“You saw the man who shot me.”
Nora began crying.
Luca knelt.
“You don't have to remember.”
But the child's eyes were fixed on the recorder.
Then she whispered:
“The man had Uncle Luca's watch.”
Luca froze.
His watch.
The one his father had given him.
The recording continued.
“Nora, there is a reason I taught you to remember the blue room.”
A pause.
“It contains the evidence that can destroy the Circle.”
The audio crackled.
“And the key is not in the room.”
Luca leaned closer.
“It is inside you.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
Adrian continued.
“You were too young to understand then. But you heard the numbers.”
Luca frowned.
“Numbers?”
“The account number.”
Silence.
“Nora knows the sequence.”
Luca looked at the child.
“Nora, what numbers did Uncle Adrian teach you?”
She began counting on her fingers.
“Six…”
Then she stopped.
“Three…”
Then looked afraid.
“Seven…”
Elena whispered:
“Don't.”
Luca turned.
“Why?”
“He made her memorize it because she could repeat things.”
“What account is it?”
Elena shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Luca picked up the recording.
Another message appeared on the device.
ACCOUNT 637.
He recognized the number.
It belonged to the Vega Foundation.
The shell account.
The one receiving $18,000 each month.
Luca opened the banking system.
The account contained more money than he expected.
$214 million.
Transferred over thirteen years.
He stared at the screen.
Then something else appeared.
A list of names.
Judges.
Police chiefs.
Senators.
Company executives.
And one final name.
LUCA FERRARO.
Beside it was a payment date.
Tomorrow.
Amount:
$50,000,000.
Purpose:
ASSASSINATION ADVANCE.
Luca's face went cold.
Elena stepped closer.
“What is it?”
Luca turned the screen toward her.
“You're looking at the reason Adrian disappeared.”
“Who ordered your death?”
Luca scrolled down.
At the bottom was the authorization.
The digital signature was unmistakable.
Charles Harland.
But beneath it was something else.
A second signature.
Luca stared.
His own.
Authentic.
Not forged.
He whispered:
“This one is real.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
Luca looked at her.
“It was signed from inside this mansion.”
Suddenly every alarm in the estate began screaming.
Matteo's voice came through the radio.
“Mr. Ferraro!”
Luca grabbed it.
“What?”
“Someone breached the main gate.”
“How many?”
A pause.
“Too many.”
Then gunfire erupted.
Nora screamed.
Luca lifted her into his arms.
“Stay with me.”
He looked toward the hallway.
The guards were running.
The mansion doors exploded inward.
And through the smoke walked Charles Harland.
He wasn't holding a gun.
He was holding a photograph.
He raised it.
“Luca.”
Luca stared.
May you like
Harland smiled.
“It's time you met your real father.”
