Chapter 3 - The Box Beneath the Rabbit
The dead man's last secret was meant for me.
We left the safe room through a tunnel I had never known existed.
Julian pressed a hidden panel beneath the library bookshelf.
The wood swung inward.
Emma stared.
“You said the house didn't have tunnels.”
“I said you didn't know about them.”
She glared at him.
“You've lied to me for thirteen years.”
Julian didn't answer.
I led the way.
The tunnel smelled of dust, stone, and old smoke.
Lily held my hand.
Her tiny fingers were cold.
“Are we going somewhere bad?” she asked.
“No.”
“Then why does Mommy look scared?”
I looked at Emma.
She didn't answer.
At the end of the tunnel was a steel door.
Julian entered a code.
The lock clicked.
Inside was a room filled with filing cabinets.
Documents.
Photographs.
Weapons.
Old hard drives.
My father's handwriting covered several boxes.
I walked toward one marked with a date.
The year I became head of the family.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph of Julian.
Young.
Bloodied.
Standing beside a man I recognized.
Daniel Harper.
My breath stopped.
“You said you barely knew him.”
“I said I didn't know what he'd become.”
I picked up the photograph.
There was one more person in it.
My father.
His hand rested on Daniel's shoulder.
They looked like friends.
“Why is my father standing with him?”
“Because Daniel wasn't an accountant.”
Emma stepped forward.
“He was your father's private archivist.”
“Archivist?”
“He kept records of every secret agreement,” Julian said.
“Every bribe. Every murder. Every politician. Every judge.”
I stared at the cabinets.
“How many?”
“Enough to bring down three governments.”
Emma stepped forward.
“And your father wanted it destroyed.”
“Daniel refused.”
“What happened?”
Julian's eyes hardened.
“He ran.”
“And you hunted him.”
“I found him.”
“Then why is he dead?”
Julian said nothing.
Emma answered for him.
“Because someone else got there first.”
Silence.
I turned toward the stuffed rabbit.
“Give it to me.”
Lily clutched it.
“No.”
“Lily.”
“Mommy said only if it's safe.”
I crouched.
“I'll keep you safe.”
She studied me.
Then slowly handed me the rabbit.
There was a zipper beneath the red ribbon.
I opened it.
Inside was a small metal key.
And a folded piece of paper.
I unfolded it.
Four words were written in Daniel's handwriting.
DO NOT TRUST THE SMILING MAN.
I looked up.
Emma was staring at me.
“The smiling man,” I said.
She nodded.
“Your father always smiled before he lied.”
I felt my stomach twist.
“Who is the smiling man now?”
She looked toward Julian.
“That's what I don't know.”
Julian walked toward one of the file cabinets.
He pulled out a folder.
Inside were photographs of people.
Politicians.
Judges.
Police chiefs.
Businessmen.
Most had red circles around their faces.
At the bottom was one photograph.
Mine.
My picture had a black X through it.
I stared.
“What is this?”
Julian didn't respond.
“Who wants me dead?”
“Not who.”
He looked at the paper in my hand.
“When.”
I looked back.
Tomorrow.
The date.
Tomorrow.
Someone wasn't planning to threaten me.
They were planning to replace me.
A noise came from the tunnel.
Footsteps.
Julian spun around.
Gun raised.
“Stay behind me.”
A single bullet struck the steel door.
Then another.
Emma screamed.
Lily ducked against my chest.
Julian fired through the wall.
The shooting stopped.
Silence returned.
Julian motioned for us to move deeper into the room.
“There's another exit.”
We reached the far wall.
Julian opened another door.
And I stopped.
Beyond it was a basement laboratory.
Old medical equipment.
Chains.
A chair bolted to the floor.
Emma stared in horror.
“What is this?”
I couldn't answer.
On the wall was a photograph.
My father.
Standing beside a younger Julian.
Behind them was the same room.
And seated in the chair was Daniel Harper.
My stomach dropped.
Julian looked at the photograph.
Then at Emma.
“I never brought him here.”
Emma whispered,
“Then who did?”
A voice came from the darkness behind us.
“Your father.”
We spun around.
A man stepped into the room.
He was smiling.
And I knew his face.
Giovanni Moretti.
The one man my father had supposedly killed twenty years ago.
He spread his arms.
“Hello, Matteo.”
Emma grabbed Lily.
Julian raised his gun.
Giovanni smiled wider.
“Don't shoot, Julian.”
Julian froze.
May you like
Giovanni tilted his head.
“You still owe me.”
