Chapter 14 - The House With No Safe RoomWe escaped the tunnel before dawn.
Daniel drove.
Emma slept in the back seat.
I stared at the message on Alessandro's phone.
“He's inside my home.”
Daniel's face was grim.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“We need to go back.”
“No.”
“My apartment.”
“They'll be waiting.”
“Then where do we go?”
He hesitated.
“Your mother's house.”
“My mother is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because the house is empty.”
We drove across Chicago before sunrise.
The old house looked exactly as I remembered.
Dust.
Broken windows.
Blackened walls.
The fire had never truly been repaired.
Daniel stopped the car.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Nora…”
“You lied to me for years.”
He sighed.
“You're right.”
I took Emma's hand.
“We go together.”
Inside, everything smelled like ash.
The old music box was still there.
Hidden beneath a loose floorboard.
I picked it up.
My fingers trembled.
The melody began.
One note.
Two.
Three.
Then the lid opened.
A tiny compartment appeared.
Inside was a key.
Daniel stared.
“That shouldn't be there.”
“What does it open?”
A voice answered behind us.
“My office.”
I turned.
Matteo stood in the doorway.
Blood covered his shirt.
He was wounded.
But alive.
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Drop it.”
Matteo smiled.
“I'm not here to fight.”
“Then why?”
He looked at Emma.
“To warn you.”
I laughed.
“You've killed people.”
“Yes.”
“You hunted my daughter.”
“Yes.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because Alessandro is alive.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Matteo nodded.
“But he won't be for long.”
“Where is he?”
“Chicago General.”
Daniel froze.
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because there was no hospital alert.”
Matteo smiled.
“Exactly.”
I stepped forward.
“Where is he?”
“Below the hospital.”
My blood turned cold.
“Who took him?”
Matteo looked at the key in my hand.
“The person you've been trusting.”
I looked at Daniel.
He stared back.
“What?”
Matteo smiled.
“Daniel didn't survive the accident.”
I froze.
“What does that mean?”
“The man standing beside you isn't Daniel.”
Silence.
Daniel's face changed.
I stepped backward.
Matteo laughed.
“You finally see it.”
I looked at the man I had mourned.
His eyes.
His voice.
His face.
Everything.
Then he whispered:
“Nora, don't listen to him.”
And I saw the scar above his eyebrow.
May you like
It wasn't Daniel's scar.
It belonged to someone else.
