Chapter 10 - The cellar erupted into chaos.Tony's team tried the door.
Locked.
Adrienne pulled Mia behind him.
Sofia held Bruno's collar.
Vivien stood frozen.
Then the speaker crackled.
“You have ten minutes.”
Adrienne looked up.
“For what?”
“To decide which part of your life you are willing to sacrifice.”
A monitor appeared.
Two images.
Mia in one room.
Bruno in another.
Both alive.
Both restrained.
Adrienne's blood ran cold.
Anthony continued.
“You save the girl, the dog dies.”
“The dog survives…”
“…the girl loses her inheritance.”
Adrienne stared.
“You're lying.”
“Perhaps.”
“But you won't know until you choose.”
The screen went black.
Tony looked at Adrienne.
“Boss, we'll find them.”
Adrienne turned to Vivien.
“You know this system.”
She nodded.
“Then help me.”
They searched the cellar.
Behind a wine rack was an old control panel.
Vivien entered a code.
The system opened a map.
Three locations flashed.
The estate.
The old veterinary hospital.
And a private airstrip.
Anthony was moving Mia.
Adrienne pointed.
“That one.”
Tony checked.
“Private flight scheduled in twelve minutes.”
Adrienne looked at Vivien.
“Whose plane?”
She answered:
“Moretti Holdings.”
Adrienne smiled coldly.
“Of course.”
They ran.
The airstrip was less than two miles away.
By the time they arrived, the plane had already started moving.
Adrienne jumped into a vehicle.
“Open the gate.”
Tony drove.
They raced along the runway.
The aircraft lifted.
Adrienne watched it disappear into the sky.
Tony slammed the brakes.
Too late.
Then Adrienne noticed something.
A second hangar.
A black car stood outside.
Inside was Carlo.
Alive.
He had been waiting.
Adrienne pulled open the door.
Carlo raised a weak pistol.
Adrienne knocked it away.
“Where is Mia?”
Carlo laughed.
“You're asking the wrong question.”
Adrienne grabbed his collar.
“What question?”
Carlo looked at Bruno.
“The dog.”
Bruno growled.
Carlo whispered:
“He knows.”
Adrienne released him.
“Knows what?”
“The location.”
Adrienne stared.
“Stop speaking in riddles.”
Carlo smiled.
“Your father didn't train Bruno to find the vault.”
Adrienne froze.
“He trained him to recognize a person.”
“Who?”
Carlo's smile disappeared.
“Sofia.”
Sofia stepped closer.
“Why?”
Carlo looked at her.
“Because your daughter was hidden in a place only you could find.”
Adrienne frowned.
“What place?”
Carlo answered:
“Home.”
Adrienne turned toward the estate.
The house suddenly seemed different.
The halls.
The portraits.
The basement.
Bruno's routines.
All of it.
Then it hit him.
Bruno had never been guarding money.
He had been guarding a person.
For eight years.
Adrienne whispered:
“Mia.”
Carlo nodded.
“She was never hidden from the family.”
“She was hidden from you.”
Adrienne's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Anthony's voice.
“You finally understand.”
“Where is Mia?”
“Where she has always been.”
Adrienne's face hardened.
“In my house?”
Anthony laughed.
“Look beneath your mother's room.”
Adrienne froze.
His mother's room had been untouched for twelve years.
Except…
Bruno had always scratched at the door.
Adrienne turned to Tony.
“Back to the estate.”
They raced home.
Adrienne entered the old bedroom.
Bruno immediately ran toward a wall.
He scratched once.
Twice.
A panel opened.
Inside was a small nursery.
Dust covered the crib.
Adrienne found old toys.
Blankets.
A photograph.
Mia as a baby.
And a note.
WELCOME HOME, LITTLE GIRL.
Adrienne's hands trembled.
Sofia stared.
“She was here.”
Adrienne shook his head.
“Not recently.”
He looked at the floor.
There were footprints.
Fresh.
Someone had returned.
A hidden speaker activated.
Anthony's voice whispered:
“You were never searching for Mia.”
“You were searching for the place where your father kept her.”
Then a child's voice came through.
“Daddy?”
Adrienne froze.
Mia.
She was somewhere in the room.
Adrienne looked around.
“Mia!”
No answer.
Then Bruno barked.
Not toward the wall.
Toward the floor.
Adrienne dropped to his knees.
He pulled away the rug.
A trapdoor opened.
Below was a staircase.
And at the bottom stood Mia.
Beside her was a woman Adrienne had never seen.
The woman looked at him.
Then whispered:
“You're late.”
Adrienne stared.
“Who are you?”
May you like
She smiled sadly.
“Your father's first daughter.”
Related Stories
