Chapter 2 - THE SCRATCHING BEHIND THE STEEL DOOR
By ten-thirty, the Moretti ballroom had become exactly what rich people believed Christmas Eve should look like.
Gold light.
White roses.
A twelve-foot tree covered in glass ornaments.
Champagne flowing faster than water.
A string quartet beneath the balcony.
Politicians, businessmen, judges, athletes, and men Elra recognized from newspaper photographs speaking in low voices beneath chandeliers.
Isabella moved through them like she owned every room she entered.
Lorenzo Moretti remained near the fireplace.
Black tuxedo.
No smile.
He shook hands when required.
Listened more than he spoke.
The engagement ring on Isabella’s hand looked large enough to purchase Elra’s entire apartment building.
But something bothered Elra.
Leo and Mia had not come back downstairs.
That should have been good.
Isabella had ordered them to the nursery.
They were probably safer there.
Yet every time Elra passed the staircase, she found herself looking up.
At eleven-fifteen, Mr. Henderson sent her toward the service corridor.
“Kitchen needs two more trays of oysters.”
Elra went.
The farther she moved from the ballroom, the quieter the mansion became.
Music softened.
Voices faded.
The service hallway ran behind the formal dining room into the industrial kitchen.
Staff hurried in every direction.
Nobody looked at Elra.
Invisible again.
Good.
She collected the first tray.
Then heard it.
Scratch.
She stopped.
The kitchen was loud.
Pans.
Running water.
A chef yelling about sauce.
Elra waited.
Scratch.
Scratch.
Faint.
Metallic.
She turned toward the walk-in freezer.
The door stood closed.
Something about that bothered her.
“Did someone go in there?” she asked a dishwasher.
He shrugged.
“No idea.”
Scratch.
This time she heard something else.
A tiny voice.
“Help.”
The tray nearly slipped from her hands.
Elra put it down and ran.
The industrial thermometer beside the door read minus ten.
She grabbed the handle.
It did not move.
Locked.
“Who has the key?”
The dishwasher stared.
“What?”
“The freezer!”
A line cook turned.
“Shouldn’t be locked.”
“It is.”
Elra slammed her palm against the door.
“Hello?”
Nothing.
Then:
“Elra?”
Mia.
Elra’s blood went cold.
“Oh my God.”
She pulled harder.
“Leo?”
A weak cough.
“Elra?”
“I'm here!”
The boy’s voice trembled.
“Mia’s sleepy.”
Panic hit her so hard her knees almost gave way.
“How long have you been in there?”
“I don't know.”
“Stay awake. Both of you stay awake!”
Elra spun toward the kitchen.
“KEY!”
Everyone stared.
Mr. Henderson came running.
“What are you screaming about?”
“The Moretti children are inside!”
His face drained.
“What?”
“THE KEY!”
The executive chef ripped a brass ring from his belt.
“Here.”
Elra took it.
Her hands shook so badly she missed the lock twice.
Third time.
Turn.
The door opened.
Cold air rolled out.
Darkness.
Elra stepped inside.
“Leo?”
Behind stacked boxes of frozen meat, she found them.
Leo sat against the wall with Mia curled against him.
His lips were blue.
Mia’s eyes were half closed.
Elra dropped.
“No, baby. Look at me.”
Mia barely moved.
Elra lifted her.
The little girl was frighteningly cold.
Leo tried standing.
His knees buckled.
Elra shouted:
“Get blankets! Call an ambulance!”
People moved.
Finally.
Leo grabbed her sleeve.
“Don't tell her.”
Elra looked down.
“Tell who?”
His eyes filled with terror.
“Isabella.”
Everything inside Elra went still.
“She put you in here?”
Leo shook his head violently.
Fear.
Not denial.
Fear.
Elra crouched.
“Leo, did Isabella bring you here?”
His lower lip trembled.
Mia whispered against Elra’s chest:
“She said bad kids need cold time.”
Elra stopped breathing.
Then the service hallway went silent.
Not normal silence.
The kind produced when someone important arrives.
Lorenzo Moretti stood in the kitchen doorway.
No jacket now.
His face unreadable.
Behind him stood two men in dark suits.
“Elra.”
She had never heard him use her name.
Not once.
He looked at the child in her arms.
Then at Leo.
Then at the open freezer.
“What happened?”
Nobody answered.
Mr. Henderson began:
“Mr. Moretti, there seems to have been—”
“Elra.”
Lorenzo did not look away from her.
“Tell me.”
She swallowed.
“I heard scratching.”
His eyes moved toward the freezer.
“The door was locked.”
Something changed in him.
Tiny.
Terrible.
“How long?”
“I don't know.”
Lorenzo crouched beside Leo.
“Come here.”
Leo flinched.
Not from Lorenzo.
From something behind him.
Lorenzo saw.
He followed Leo’s gaze.
Isabella had entered the kitchen.
She stood in the doorway.
Beautiful.
White gown.
Diamonds.
Perfect smile gone.
“What is this?”
Elra stared at her.
Lorenzo rose.
“Leo.”
His voice remained calm.
“Who put you in the freezer?”
Leo looked at Isabella.
She smiled at him.
Not kindly.
A warning.
He lowered his eyes.
“I went in.”
Elra’s stomach turned.
“Leo—”
Isabella interrupted.
“There. You see?”
She walked forward.
“They’ve been misbehaving all evening.”
Lorenzo did not move.
Isabella continued:
“I told them to stay upstairs. Apparently they came down through the service hall.”
“Why was the door locked?”
“I have no idea.”
Elra stood with Mia still in her arms.
“Yes, you do.”
Mr. Henderson whispered:
“Elra.”
She ignored him.
Isabella looked at her.
“Excuse me?”
“Mia said you put them there.”
The kitchen seemed to lose oxygen.
Isabella laughed once.
“A freezing four-year-old said that?”
“She said you told them bad children need cold time.”
Isabella’s eyes turned poisonous.
“She’s confused.”
Lorenzo looked at Mia.
“Princess.”
Her eyes opened weakly.
“Uncle Enzo.”
He crossed the distance immediately.
Elra transferred Mia carefully into his arms.
Lorenzo held her against his chest.
His entire face changed.
“Mia, look at me.”
She did.
“Who took you into the freezer?”
Mia began crying.
Isabella stepped closer.
“Lorenzo, this is absurd. The child is—”
“Do not speak.”
His voice was barely above a whisper.
Isabella stopped.
Everyone did.
Lorenzo looked back at Mia.
“You will not be in trouble.”
The child clutched his shirt.
“Promise?”
“On my life.”
Mia looked toward Isabella.
Then whispered:
“She did.”
Lorenzo’s face emptied.
“She who?”
“Miss Isabella.”
Leo began crying.
“She said we ruin everything.”
Isabella shook her head.
“This is insane.”
Lorenzo looked at his nephew.
“What happened?”
Leo’s words came in pieces.
They had left the nursery because they wanted to see Lorenzo before the engagement announcement.
Isabella found them near the kitchen.
She took them through the service corridor.
Told them she was teaching them to obey.
Then pushed them inside.
Leo said he grabbed the door.
She hit his hand away.
Then locked it.
Elra stared at Isabella.
“No.”
Isabella pointed.
“You are believing children over me because some waitress—”
Lorenzo turned.
The look on his face silenced her.
“Take the children upstairs,” he told Elra.
Elra blinked.
“What?”
“To my rooms. Doctor Santoro is already on his way.”
“I—”
“Please.”
That word surprised everyone.
Elra nodded.
She took Mia back while one of Lorenzo’s men lifted Leo.
As she passed Isabella, the woman whispered:
“You have no idea what you just did.”
Elra stopped.
Looked at her.
“No.”
Her voice shook.
“I know exactly what you did.”
Then she walked away.
Upstairs, Dr. Santoro examined the children.
Mild hypothermia.
No frostbite.
They had been found in time.
Twenty minutes later, Elra sat beside Mia’s bed while the little girl slept beneath heated blankets.
Leo sat nearby drinking warm chocolate.
Lorenzo entered.
Alone.
“How are they?”
“The doctor says they’ll be okay.”
He nodded.
Then looked at Elra.
“You saved them.”
“I opened a door.”
“You heard them when two dozen people walked past.”
Elra looked away.
“Anyone should have.”
“But no one did.”
He sat.
For a moment, Lorenzo Moretti looked less like a feared man and more like an exhausted uncle.
Then he asked:
“Why did Isabella threaten you earlier?”
Elra’s heart skipped.
“You saw?”
“No.”
“Then how—”
“Leo told me.”
Of course.
Children saw everything.
Elra explained the staircase.
The pinched cheek.
The insult.
Lorenzo’s face became colder with every sentence.
Then he asked:
“Has anything else happened?”
“I don't know.”
“Think.”
Elra remembered Leo’s fear.
Mia’s immediate obedience.
The way both children watched Isabella whenever she entered a room.
“I think tonight wasn’t the first time.”
Lorenzo closed his eyes briefly.
That hurt to see.
Then someone knocked.
One of his men entered.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We checked the freezer camera.”
Lorenzo stood.
“There’s footage?”
“No.”
His man hesitated.
“The camera was disabled at 9:42.”
“What time did Elra find them?”
“Eleven twenty-six.”
Elra felt sick.
Nearly two hours.
Lorenzo’s face turned frighteningly still.
“Who disabled it?”
“We’re tracing the login.”
Another pause.
“But there’s more.”
“What?”
The man held up a small plastic bag.
Inside was a gold cuff link.
Engraved with the Thorne family crest.
Found inside the freezer.
Isabella could deny the children.
She could insult Elra.
She could claim confusion.
But someone wearing Thorne gold had been inside that room.
And somewhere downstairs, the engagement party was still waiting for Lorenzo Moretti to announce his marriage.
He looked toward the ballroom.
May you like
Then said:
“Cancel the announcement.”
