Chapter 5 - The Safe Nobody Knew AboutThe first thing Vittorio did was run home.
Lucy was in the library with Emma.
She looked frightened when she saw him.
“Daddy?”
He knelt.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded.
“Did anyone come here?”
“No.”
Vittorio looked at Emma.
“Did she leave the room?”
“Not once.”
He turned back to Lucy.
“Where is Mommy's safe?”
Lucy frowned.
“I don't know.”
“Then why did you write that?”
“I didn't.”
Vittorio showed her the paper.
Lucy stared at it.
“That isn't my handwriting.”
He compared it to her school notebook.
The letters were close.
But not exact.
Someone had copied her handwriting.
Someone who knew enough about her to make the lie believable.
Vittorio's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A man's voice spoke.
“Your wife left something for you.”
“Who are you?”
“Someone who wants to stay alive.”
“What did she leave?”
“A safe.”
“Where?”
“In the house.”
Vittorio looked around.
“Where?”
“Not where you think.”
The line ended.
Emma whispered.
“Maybe the wall.”
Vittorio remembered Elena's bedroom.
The room had been renovated after her death.
He walked to the fireplace.
One stone looked slightly different.
He pressed it.
Nothing.
He pressed harder.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a small steel safe.
Lucy stared.
“Mommy had that?”
“Yes.”
“What's inside?”
“I don't know.”
Vittorio tried the obvious combinations.
Elena's birthday.
Lucy's birthday.
Their wedding date.
Nothing.
Then Lucy spoke.
“Daddy.”
“What?”
“Mommy used to sing a song when she couldn't sleep.”
Vittorio remembered.
A lullaby.
Four numbers hidden in the lyrics.
He entered them.
The safe opened.
Inside were envelopes.
A flash drive.
A passport.
A small audio recorder.
And a photograph.
Vittorio picked up the photograph.
Elena stood beside a car.
Bianca stood behind her.
Marcus was next to the vehicle.
Ferraro stood near the driver's door.
Vittorio turned the photo over.
A date was written on the back.
Two days before Elena's death.
He inserted the flash drive into his laptop.
A single folder appeared.
ELENA.
Inside were seven videos.
The first showed Elena sitting in this room.
She looked exhausted.
“Vittorio, if you're watching this, then something has gone wrong.”
He leaned closer.
“I don't know who I can trust anymore.”
The second video showed bank documents.
The third showed Bianca entering a private bank.
The fourth showed Marcus meeting Ferraro.
The fifth showed Elena speaking with a private investigator.
The sixth was corrupted.
The seventh had no audio.
Vittorio opened the sixth.
Static.
Then Elena's voice.
“She knows about the trust.”
Static.
“She knows Lucy gets control at eighteen.”
Static.
Then another voice.
Bianca.
“You should have left it alone.”
The video ended.
Vittorio stared at the screen.
Then he opened the seventh.
There was no audio.
But the image showed Elena getting into a car.
Marcus stood several feet away.
Bianca watched from the house.
A minute later, the car disappeared down the road.
Then the video showed Marcus making a phone call.
The timestamp was clear.
11:47 p.m.
Elena's accident was at 12:13 a.m.
Vittorio replayed it.
Again.
Again.
Then he noticed something.
Marcus wasn't calling emergency services.
He was calling someone else.
The number was visible for one second.
Vittorio paused the footage.
He knew the number.
It belonged to Ferraro.
Emma whispered.
“They were together before the accident.”
“Yes.”
Lucy stood behind them.
Her face had gone pale.
“Daddy.”
Vittorio turned.
“What is it?”
Lucy pointed at the screen.
“That car.”
“What about it?”
“I've seen it before.”
“Where?”
She swallowed.
“In the basement.”
Vittorio looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
Lucy stepped closer.
“It was parked there the night Mommy died.”
Vittorio's blood ran cold.
“You were there?”
Lucy nodded.
“I was awake.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Bianca said I would die too.”
Vittorio stared at his daughter.
“What did you see?”
Lucy looked at the video again.
Then she whispered:
“Mommy was fighting with someone.”
“Who?”
Lucy shook her head.
“I couldn't see his face.”
“Was it Marcus?”
“No.”
“Ferraro?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Lucy pointed to the man's silhouette on the screen.
“Daddy…”
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“What?”
“He was wearing your watch.”
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