Chapter 9 - WHAT I SAW AS A CHILDThe memory came in fragments.
A hallway.
Rain.
A red umbrella.
Bruno barking.
My father's voice.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“No.”
Vanessa grabbed my chin.
“Remember.”
“I can't.”
“Yes, you can.”
She held the photograph in front of me.
“Look at yourself.”
Seven-year-old me stood beside Vivian.
The brass key hung from a string around my neck.
Then another fragment surfaced.
A door.
My father kneeling.
A man entering.
Three black lines tattooed on his wrist.
I gasped.
Anthony saw my face change.
“You remember.”
I nodded slowly.
“The tattoo.”
Vanessa smiled.
“Who was he?”
I struggled to breathe.
“I don't know.”
“You do.”
“He…”
The memory sharpened.
My father had pushed me behind a curtain.
“Don't move, Emma.”
A man entered.
Frank Bellini.
But younger.
He carried a gun.
He shouted at my father.
My father shouted back.
Then Vivian appeared.
She was crying.
Bruno barked.
There was a gunshot.
I covered my mouth.
“My father wasn't killed by Vivian.”
Vanessa's smile vanished.
“What did you see?”
“Frank.”
Anthony stepped backward.
“No.”
I stared at him.
“Your father shot mine.”
Anthony's face went pale.
“No.”
The memory continued.
Vivian grabbed me.
She whispered,
“You saw nothing.”
Then she removed the key from my neck.
“Don't let them find you.”
The memory broke.
I started crying.
Vanessa looked furious.
“You remember everything?”
“Not everything.”
“Enough.”
She turned toward Bruno.
“Kill the dog.”
Anthony froze.
“You said he wasn't supposed to die yet.”
Vanessa glared at him.
“He has the scent.”
“What scent?”
“The safe.”
I stared at her.
“What safe?”
She ignored me.
Then the door exploded open.
Luca entered with Daniel behind him.
Vanessa grabbed me and pressed a knife to my throat.
“Stay back.”
Luca's face changed.
“Vanessa.”
“Drop your weapon.”
Luca lowered it.
“You're not hurting her.”
“She remembers.”
His eyes shifted toward me.
“What does she remember?”
“The night your father died.”
Luca stared at me.
Vanessa laughed.
“Ask her.”
“Emma?”
I swallowed.
“Your father was killed by Frank Bellini.”
Luca's face went blank.
Anthony shouted,
“She's lying!”
I looked at Anthony.
“No.”
I remembered the tattoo.
The gun.
The sound.
Vivian crying.
And then one final detail.
A second man had entered the room.
Someone I had forgotten until that moment.
A man with white hair.
I looked at Luca.
“He wasn't alone.”
“Who?”
My voice trembled.
“The man behind him.”
Luca frowned.
“Who?”
“I don't know his name.”
Vanessa suddenly looked terrified.
That was the first time I'd ever seen genuine fear on her face.
“Emma,” she whispered.
“Don't.”
I continued.
“He wore a ring.”
Luca stared.
“What ring?”
I looked at Vanessa.
“The ring in the photograph.”
Vanessa backed away.
Because I finally remembered what had been engraved inside it.
Three letters.
Not a name.
An organization.
M.M.C.
Luca turned toward Daniel.
“What is MMC?”
Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“Boss…”
“What?”
“We just identified the second man.”
“Who?”
Daniel looked directly at Luca.
“Your grandfather.”
Luca went completely still.
“He died thirty years ago.”
Daniel nodded.
“We know.”
May you like
He looked toward the door.
“But the security footage from tonight shows him entering the mansion twelve minutes ago.”
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