CHAPTER THREE The Man in the Black Gloves
No one breathed.
Emma's tiny finger remained pointed straight at Marco Bellini.
"The glove man."
Her voice was soft.
Certain.
Completely free of fear.
Children didn't understand power.
They didn't recognize titles.
To Emma, Marco wasn't the head of Moretti Security.
He was simply the man she'd seen.
Marco forced a smile.
It looked painful.
"I think the little girl is confused."
Emma frowned immediately.
"No."
"You've never met me before."
"I did."
"When?"
She answered without hesitation.
"After lunch."
Every eye shifted toward Marco.
Vanessa's fingers tightened around the fabric of her gown.
I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.
Marco folded his hands behind his back.
"I've been supervising security downstairs all afternoon."
It sounded convincing.
Until Alessandro spoke.
"Have you?"
The question floated through the room like a blade.
Marco looked at him.
"Yes, sir."
Alessandro didn't reply.
Instead, he looked toward the family butler.
"Antonio."
The elderly butler stepped forward immediately.
"Yes, Mr. Moretti."
"Where was Captain Bellini between one and three this afternoon?"
Antonio blinked.
"I..."
He hesitated.
"I assumed he was inspecting the west entrance."
"Assumed."
Alessandro repeated the word slowly.
"You didn't actually see him."
"No, sir."
Marco answered before anyone else could.
"I was checking camera blind spots."
"Cameras."
Alessandro nodded.
"Excellent."
He turned toward the security technician standing near the doorway.
"Replay every hallway recording from noon until now."
Marco's face remained calm.
Too calm.
"I already reviewed them earlier."
"No need."
"I didn't ask whether there was a need."
Silence.
"I gave an order."
The technician hurried away.
Vanessa suddenly stepped forward.
"This is ridiculous."
Her voice carried just enough indignation to sound believable.
"We're interrogating loyal employees because a sick child imagined a story?"
Several guests nodded.
One senator cleared his throat.
"Perhaps Miss Cole has a point."
Another businessman added,
"We're losing perspective."
The room began drifting back toward Vanessa's side.
She sensed it immediately.
Her shoulders relaxed.
Then Emma ruined it again.
"I wasn't sick then."
Everyone looked at her.
She blinked innocently.
"My fever was yesterday."
Vanessa stared.
Emma continued.
"I wasn't sleepy today."
A tiny statement.
But devastating.
Because it quietly destroyed the idea that Emma had hallucinated.
Alessandro crouched again until he was level with her.
"Emma."
She smiled.
"Can you tell me exactly what happened?"
"I was playing."
"Where?"
"Upstairs."
"Then?"
"I wanted to find the porcelain kitty."
She pointed toward the hallway.
"I opened the wrong door."
"The closet?"
"No."
"My room."
Everyone looked confused.
Emma shook her head.
"The pretty lady's room."
Vanessa interrupted sharply.
"Enough."
Every head turned.
Realizing she'd spoken too forcefully, she softened her tone.
"This is becoming absurd."
Alessandro didn't even look at her.
He kept his eyes on Emma.
"What happened inside?"
Emma closed one eye as she tried to remember.
"The lady was standing."
"Alone?"
"No."
The room became motionless.
"There was another man."
A murmur swept through the crowd.
"What did he look like?"
Emma thought carefully.
"He smelled funny."
Several guests exchanged puzzled glances.
Children often remembered smells better than faces.
"What kind of smell?"
She wrinkled her tiny nose.
"Like Daddy's old garage."
Oil.
Grease.
Machine lubricant.
Not expensive cologne.
Not wine.
Not perfume.
Marco unconsciously shifted his weight.
The scent hit me then.
Faint.
Almost hidden beneath his aftershave.
Gun oil.
I had smelled it before while washing security uniforms.
Emma continued.
"He helped the lady take off the tummy."
The ballroom seemed to shrink.
"He put it inside a bag."
"What color?"
"Blue."
Vanessa laughed.
This time it sounded forced.
"A blue bag?"
Emma nodded.
"With wheels."
A suitcase.
My stomach tightened.
Someone had removed the fake pregnancy.
Not hidden it.
Taken it away.
Alessandro stood.
His expression hadn't changed.
But something dangerous had settled behind his eyes.
He looked toward Marco.
"Did you carry any luggage today?"
"No."
"Search his office."
Marco stiffened.
"Sir?"
"My office contains confidential files."
"Then you'll have no objection."
"I object because of procedure."
Alessandro smiled.
A cold smile.
"When did procedure become more important than my orders?"
Marco lowered his head.
"...No objection."
Two security officers immediately left.
Vanessa suddenly reached for Alessandro's arm.
"Please."
Her eyes shimmered with tears.
"You're humiliating everyone over nothing."
He slowly looked at her hand.
She withdrew it.
His voice remained almost gentle.
"If there's nothing to find..."
He paused.
"...then no one has anything to fear."
Those words echoed through the room.
No one.
Except two people.
Vanessa.
And Marco.
I saw them exchange the briefest glance.
Less than a second.
But it was enough.
Not lovers.
Not strangers.
Partners.
The realization sent a chill down my spine.
Minutes crawled by.
No one dared leave.
No one dared speak above a whisper.
Rain hammered the windows harder than before.
Lightning flashed across the sky.
Then footsteps echoed from the corridor.
The two officers returned.
Empty-handed.
Marco exhaled almost imperceptibly.
"Nothing, sir."
Vanessa smiled through relieved tears.
"There."
She looked around the room.
"Can we finally put this nightmare behind us?"
No one answered.
The officers looked uncomfortable.
One of them finally cleared his throat.
"We didn't find a suitcase."
Marco allowed himself the faintest smile.
"But..."
The smile disappeared.
"...we found this."
The officer held up a small object sealed inside a transparent evidence bag.
A child's pink hair clip.
My breath caught.
Emma gasped.
"My bunny!"
She reached toward it instinctively.
I froze.
I knew that clip.
I had put it in Emma's hair that morning.
It had disappeared after lunch.
Emma looked at Marco.
"You said you couldn't find it."
Every face turned back toward the security chief.
Marco stared at the tiny pink hair clip.
For the first time that night...
He had absolutely no explanation.
Then, before anyone could speak again...
A deafening scream erupted from downstairs.
Not one scream.
Several.
Panicked.
Terrified.
A security guard burst into the bedroom, pale as death.
"Mr. Moretti!"
He was struggling to catch his breath.
"The east gate..."
"What about it?"
The guard swallowed hard.
"We found a body."
The room exploded into chaos.
Then the guard uttered seven words that made even Alessandro's face harden.
May you like
"He was carrying a blue suitcase."
End of Chapter Three
