Chapter 5 - THE TRAIN STATIONThe old train station had been abandoned for years.
Broken windows.
Rusting benches.
Graffiti across the walls.
The city had forgotten it existed.
Whoever sent the messages hadn't.
Luca parked three blocks away.
Daniel remained in the vehicle with two men.
“You stay beside me,” Luca said.
I nodded.
Rainwater dripped from the station roof.
The only sound was the distant rumble of freight trains.
We entered through a side door.
“Hello?” Luca called.
No answer.
Then a light flicked on.
A single bulb above the platform.
A chair sat beneath it.
On the chair was Bruno's blue blanket.
Luca stopped.
“Bruno!”
A speaker crackled overhead.
A man's voice answered.
“You came.”
“Where is the dog?”
“Safe.”
Luca looked around.
“Show yourself.”
“You still ask the wrong questions.”
“Then tell me what I need to know.”
A long pause.
“Your father did not die naturally.”
Luca's face hardened.
“I know that.”
“You know nothing.”
I stepped closer.
“Why does Bruno matter?”
The speaker went silent.
Then footsteps echoed behind us.
We turned.
Maria walked onto the platform.
Luca froze.
“Where have you been?”
Maria looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“I tried to protect your mother.”
“And you failed.”
“Yes.”
“Who is holding Bruno?”
Maria glanced at me.
Then at Luca.
“Vanessa.”
I felt my stomach drop.
Luca's voice became cold.
“She took him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Maria hesitated.
“Because Bruno remembers.”
“Remembers what?”
“Where your father hid the evidence.”
“What evidence?”
She reached into her coat.
Before she could answer, a gunshot exploded.
The light above us shattered.
I screamed.
Luca pulled me down.
Daniel and the guards rushed through the side entrance.
Another shot hit the metal railing.
Maria ran.
Luca chased her.
I stayed low beside a concrete pillar.
Then I heard barking.
Bruno.
Somewhere nearby.
A sharp, frightened bark.
I turned toward the sound.
A freight tunnel stood open.
The bark came again.
I ran.
“Emma!” Luca shouted behind me.
I ignored him.
Inside the tunnel, I saw a wooden crate.
It moved.
A paw pushed through a gap.
“Bruno!”
I dropped to my knees.
The dog whimpered.
The crate had been nailed shut.
I searched frantically for something to pry it open.
Then a shadow appeared.
The man with the tattoo.
He stood twenty feet away.
He was holding a knife.
“You should have stayed in the mansion.”
I backed away.
“Where's Bruno?”
He smiled.
“You already know.”
I grabbed a metal rod.
He advanced.
Then Bruno barked violently from inside the crate.
The man glanced toward it.
I swung the rod.
It struck his wrist.
The knife fell.
He lunged.
I ran.
A hand grabbed the back of my uniform.
The torn fabric caught again.
I screamed.
Then Luca appeared.
He hit the man hard enough to send him crashing into the wall.
Daniel arrived seconds later.
They pinned him down.
Luca rushed to the crate.
He tore the boards apart.
Bruno staggered out.
The old golden retriever stumbled directly into his arms.
Luca dropped to his knees.
He buried his face in Bruno's fur.
I had never seen him look like that.
Then Bruno lifted his head.
The dog turned toward me.
He walked over slowly.
And placed his nose against my bandaged shoulder.
The same shoulder he had watched Vanessa injure.
Luca looked at the dog.
Then at me.
“What did my mother teach him?”
Before I could answer, Daniel found something inside the crate.
A small black box.
He opened it.
Inside was a USB drive.
And a handwritten note.
For Luca.
Luca unfolded it.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He handed it to me.
The note contained only one sentence.
Your father hid the truth inside the person everyone in this family trusted most.
I looked up.
“Who does that mean?”
Luca didn't answer.
Because Daniel had turned pale.
“Boss.”
He pointed at the captured man.
The tattooed stranger was smiling.
And he said four words.
“It's not Vanessa, boss.”
Luca stared at him.
May you like
The man laughed softly.
“You're looking at the wrong Bellini.”
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