Chapter 9 - Bruno's Last Trail.
Richard Hale was furious in a way Sophia had never seen.
"He could barely stand."
He pointed toward the open exterior door.
"Whoever took him knew exactly what medication I gave and exactly when he would be groggy."
Alessandro picked up the silver ring with a cloth.
"They didn't take him."
Richard stared.
"What?"
"Look at the blood."
The drops began beside the treatment bed but grew farther apart near the doorway.
"He left on his own," Alessandro said.
Sophia followed the trail into the snow.
Bruno's paw prints were unmistakable.
They led past the service garden toward the south wall.
"Why?"
Richard shook his head.
"He was sedated."
Sophia looked at the ring.
"He smelled whoever left that."
The old dog had awakened, recognized a scent, and followed it.
Even injured.
Even exhausted.
Even after running half the night.
Emma was still out there.
That was enough.
The security cameras showed Elias Kline's car entering through the south gate.
But the driver was not Elias.
The image was poor.
A cap hid the face.
Then the vehicle disappeared behind the old carriage house where one camera had been conveniently offline for maintenance.
"Who scheduled the maintenance?" Alessandro asked.
Marco checked.
"Foundation facilities."
"Kline."
Sophia looked at Alessandro.
"Find him."
"We're trying."
"Try better."
The phrase was Emma's.
For one second, nobody spoke.
Richard looked down.
Sophia pressed both hands over her face.
"She should be here bossing us around."
Alessandro stepped closer.
This time, when he placed a hand on her shoulder, she did not pull away.
"She will be."
"You don't know that."
"No."
His honesty hurt more than a promise.
"But Bruno does."
They tracked the dog through a gap beneath the south fence.
His trail crossed a country road, entered a stand of trees, and followed an abandoned rail spur toward Lake Michigan.
Marco wanted Sophia to remain behind.
She ignored him.
Alessandro did not waste time ordering her.
They moved on foot because vehicles would be visible from too far away.
Snow reached Sophia's ankles.
The temperature had dropped below twenty degrees.
Every few hundred yards, they found another dark drop from Bruno's injured paw.
"He can't keep this up," Richard said through the radio from the estate.
"He doesn't know that," Sophia replied.
The rail spur ended near a cluster of abandoned lakefront properties once owned by a paper company.
One building still had electricity.
A low brick administration house sat behind dead trees with a single yellow light in an upper window.
Bruno's tracks led directly toward it.
Alessandro raised one hand.
Everyone stopped.
Marco studied the house through binoculars.
"Two men outside."
"Emma?"
"No visual."
Sophia whispered, "What do we do?"
Alessandro looked at her.
"You stay behind the tree line."
"No."
"Sophia."
"If she sees armed men storming in, she'll panic."
"And if you walk inside, they'll use you too."
"She needs to hear my voice."
Alessandro hated that she was right.
A faint sound came from behind the house.
Bruno barked once.
One of the guards turned.
Then the old dog appeared from beneath the porch.
He moved toward the door slowly, almost dragging his hind leg.
The guard raised a flashlight.
"What the hell?"
Bruno growled.
The second man stepped back.
"That's Moretti's dog."
Inside the house, Emma heard him.
She dropped Mr. Buttons and ran toward the window.
"Bruno!"
A woman grabbed her before she reached it.
"Quiet."
Emma kicked.
"Let go!"
The woman's grip tightened.
"Stop it."
Emma bit her hand.
The woman cursed and released her.
Emma ran into the hallway.
At the bottom of the stairs stood Lorenzo DeLuca.
He looked nothing like a monster.
He looked like a man who should be discussing taxes over lunch.
That frightened Emma less than the masked guards.
She stopped.
"I want Mommy."
Lorenzo crouched.
"Your mommy is coming."
"Now."
"Soon."
"Now."
He sighed.
"You really do sound like her."
Bruno barked again outside.
Emma's face lit up.
"My dog."
"No."
Lorenzo stood.
"That dog is going to cause a problem."
Emma pointed at him.
"Don't be mean."
The front door burst inward.
Not from a weapon.
From Bruno.
The old Cane Corso hit the weakened frame with his shoulder and stumbled into the entry hall.
One guard shouted.
Bruno ignored him.
He saw Emma.
The dog moved directly toward her.
Emma dropped to her knees.
"Bruno!"
He collapsed against her.
She wrapped both arms around his neck.
"You came again."
Lorenzo stared in disbelief.
Outside, Alessandro heard Emma's voice.
Everything changed.
"Now," he said.
Marco's team moved.
The two exterior guards surrendered almost immediately when they realized the property was surrounded.
Alessandro entered through the broken door with Sophia two steps behind despite every instruction he had given.
"Emma!"
Sophia's voice tore through the house.
"Mommy!"
Emma tried to stand.
Lorenzo grabbed her.
Sophia stopped at the end of the hall.
Alessandro raised an empty hand.
No weapon.
No sudden movement.
"Let her go, Lorenzo."
Lorenzo held Emma against his chest.
"Where is the drive?"
"You already know it's useless."
"Where is the real evidence?"
"I don't know."
Lorenzo laughed.
"Daniel knew."
Sophia spoke.
"Daniel is dead because of you."
Something flickered in Lorenzo's eyes.
"Daniel died because he trusted the wrong man."
"You?"
"No."
Lorenzo looked at Alessandro.
"Him."
Sophia stared.
Alessandro did not move.
"Explain."
"Your father built the theft."
Lorenzo's voice shook with anger now.
"I inherited it."
"You're lying."
"Ask Kline."
Alessandro's face hardened.
"Where is he?"
Lorenzo smiled.
"Closer than you think."
A shot cracked from outside.
Everyone flinched.
The upstairs window shattered.
Lorenzo dropped behind the stair wall, dragging Emma with him.
Sophia screamed.
Bruno forced himself up.
Alessandro shouted, "Hold fire!"
Marco's voice came through the radio.
"That wasn't us!"
A second shot struck the wall near Lorenzo.
He looked terrified.
Not angry.
Terrified.
"He's cleaning house," Lorenzo whispered.
"Who?" Alessandro demanded.
Lorenzo looked toward the broken window.
"Kline."
The lights went out.
In the darkness, Sophia heard Emma cry.
Then Bruno roared.
When emergency lights flickered on twenty seconds later, Lorenzo was gone through a rear service door.
So was Emma.
Bruno lay on the floor, struggling to stand.
Sophia dropped beside him.
"No."
The dog tried to crawl toward the rear door.
Alessandro knelt and pressed a hand against Bruno's shoulder.
"Enough."
Bruno growled weakly.
"Enough," Alessandro repeated.
For the first time in sixteen years, his voice broke.
"I'll find her."
Bruno stopped fighting.
Sophia looked toward the open rear door.
In the snow beyond it, two sets of adult footprints moved in opposite directions.
One carried Emma toward the lake.
The other led back toward the Moretti estate.
Someone had not escaped from the house.
Someone had been heading home.
At the lake house, investigators later found crayons beneath the chair where Emma had been held.
On the wall she had drawn three figures in blue wax.
One was small.
One had four legs.
One was tall and had very long arms.
Sophia knew immediately the tall figure was Alessandro because Emma always drew him that way.
Beneath the picture was a shaky circle that might have been the sun or a plate.
Richard found a crumb of cracker pressed into the wax.
The image had no evidentiary value.
To Sophia, it had enormous value.
Emma had drawn home while waiting to be found.
She had included Bruno.
She had included Alessandro.
May you like
Sophia stared at that choice longer than she meant to.
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