Chapter 5 - The Girl Who Wasn’t Afraid
The plan sounded too scary.
Even I knew that.
Alejandro wanted to use the hidden footage to make Bellini come back. He would send a message saying the evidence was being delivered to federal investigators at midnight.
But it was a lie.
The evidence would stay in the mansion.
And Bellini would come for it.
Mama said no.
She said it three times.
Then four.
“No, Mr. Moretti. My daughter is four years old. She is not bait.”
Alejandro nodded. “She won’t be.”
“But Bellini knows we’re here.”
“Yes.”
“And Detective Harris could come too.”
“Yes.”
“Then how can you promise she’ll be safe?”
Alejandro looked down at me, sitting on the safe room couch with Bunny in my lap.
“I cannot promise the world is safe,” he said quietly. “But I can promise that I will put every resource I have between Emma and anyone who wants to hurt her.”
Mama looked away.
I could tell she wanted to believe him.
But she didn’t trust him.
Not yet.
That night, the mansion became quiet.
Too quiet.
The fire had been put out. The guards were everywhere, hidden in hallways, behind doors, near the garden walls. Vincenzo spoke into a tiny earpiece. Dr. Romano stayed close to Alejandro, checking his pulse every ten minutes.
Mama and I were supposed to remain in the safe room.
But I heard something.
A scratching sound.
From inside the wall.
“Bunny?” I whispered.
My rabbit had fallen beside the bookshelf.
I crawled down from the couch and picked her up.
Then I saw it.
A small air vent near the floor was open.
Behind it was darkness.
And in that darkness, a phone screen glowed.
Someone was watching us.
I screamed.
Mama spun around.
The phone disappeared.
Vincenzo rushed in, gun drawn.
“There!” Mama cried, pointing.
The guards tore open the vent cover, but the narrow passage behind it was empty.
Except for a tiny black device.
Vincenzo picked it up.
“A listening transmitter.”
Alejandro entered moments later.
His face hardened when he saw it.
“They know our plan,” Vincenzo said.
“No,” Alejandro replied. “They know we are still here.”
Mama looked terrified.
I held Bunny tighter. “The person in the wall is gone.”
Alejandro knelt beside me. “Did you see who it was?”
I shook my head. “Only a phone.”
“Did you hear anything?”
I thought.
At first, I remembered only scratching.
Then a sound.
A little song.
Someone humming.
It was the same tune the kitchen staff played sometimes while working.
I hummed it softly.
Mama’s eyes widened.
“That’s Teresa’s song.”
“Who is Teresa?” Alejandro asked.
“The housekeeper,” Mama said. “She’s worked here longer than I have.”
Vincenzo’s hand went to his earpiece. “Find Teresa. Now.”
But Teresa was already gone.
Her room was empty. Her closet was empty. Her car was missing.
On her bed, they found a note.
MIDNIGHT. THE GREENHOUSE. COME ALONE OR THE CHILD DIES.
Mama collapsed into a chair.
“No,” she whispered. “No, no, no.”
Alejandro took the note.
His expression did not change, but something dangerous filled the room.
“They want me alone,” he said.
“They’re using my daughter to get to you,” Mama said.
“No,” Alejandro answered. “They are using me to get to her.”
Mama stared at him.
Then Alejandro did something nobody expected.
He handed Vincenzo his gun.
“Take Sofia and Emma out through the north tunnel,” he said.
Vincenzo frowned. “Boss—”
“That is an order.”
“You’ll be walking into a trap.”
“Yes.”
Mama stood. “You’re not going alone.”
Alejandro looked at her.
“You have to protect Emma.”
“She is my daughter. I will protect her. But I know the greenhouse. I know Teresa. And I know this house better than your men do.”
Alejandro shook his head.
Mama stepped closer. “You need someone Bellini won’t expect.”
For a moment, the room was silent.
Then I tugged on Mama’s sleeve.
“Can I help too?”
Mama’s eyes filled with tears.
“No, baby.”
“But I saw the camera.”
“You already helped enough,” Alejandro said.
His voice was gentle.
Then he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small gold necklace with a tiny lion charm.
“This belonged to my mother,” he said.
He placed it carefully around my neck.
“What does the lion do?” I asked.
“It reminds you that brave does not mean you are never scared.”
I touched the little lion.
“What does it mean then?”
Alejandro looked at me.
“It means you do the right thing, even when you are scared.”
Outside, the clock began to strike midnight.
May you like
And from somewhere beyond the mansion windows, a single green light flashed in the darkness.
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