Chapter 4 - A House Full of Liars.
The darkness lasted six seconds.
Lorenzo counted every one of them.
He did not move during the first two.
On the third, he heard Serena inhale sharply.
On the fourth, Marco's shoes shifted near the door.
On the fifth, something struck the hallway wall outside.
On the sixth, the emergency lights came alive in a dull amber line along the floor.
The library returned in pieces.
Fireplace.
Desk.
Serena.
Marco.
Empty doorway.
Lorenzo was already moving.
"Lock the estate."
Marco reached for his radio.
"All gates?"
"All gates, all service roads, every garage."
"What about the guests still leaving?"
"Nobody leaves until Elena and Mia are found."
Serena followed him into the corridor.
"Lorenzo, my father is still on the property."
"Then he can enjoy my hospitality a little longer."
The mansion had never looked unfamiliar to Lorenzo before.
He had grown up under its high ceilings.
He knew which stair groaned in winter, which window rattled during storms, which corridor trapped the smell of coffee every morning.
Tonight, every familiar corner looked like a place where someone could hide a lie.
Guards appeared from both ends of the corridor.
Marco issued instructions without raising his voice.
Kitchen.
Basement.
Garage.
Guest wing.
Garden paths.
Service tunnels.
The estate had been renovated so many times across three generations that it contained passages even longtime employees forgot existed.
Lorenzo headed toward the service elevator.
Mia's yellow bow had been found near the brass doors.
He crouched and examined the floor.
A faint black streak ran across the pale marble.
Shoe rubber.
Beside it lay a small blue plastic bead.
Serena leaned closer.
"That came from Mia's bracelet."
Lorenzo looked up.
"You're sure?"
"She was wearing one with blue beads tonight."
"You noticed."
"I notice children."
"Apparently."
She flinched again.
The elevator opened.
Empty.
Marco pressed the basement button.
"Power interruption reset the cameras," he said.
"Convenient."
"Too convenient."
They descended.
The basement level held the wine cellar, storage rooms, staff lockers, a small laundry, and the mechanical systems that powered most of the older wing.
The doors opened to silence.
A security guard stood twenty feet away with his flashlight raised.
"Nothing yet."
Lorenzo pointed toward the wine cellar.
"Check there first."
Serena stopped.
He noticed.
"Problem?"
"No."
"That answer is becoming expensive."
She stepped forward.
The wine cellar door was unlocked.
It should not have been.
Only Lorenzo, Marco, and Celeste Moretti, the household manager, carried the long silver key that opened it.
Lorenzo looked at Marco.
"Where is Celeste?"
Marco checked his phone.
"She signed out at ten forty-three."
"During the party?"
"Said her sister was ill."
Serena's expression tightened.
The cellar smelled of cork, oak, and cold stone.
Rows of bottles rested behind glass cabinets.
A tasting table stood in the center beneath low amber lamps.
On the floor behind the table lay a child's yellow shoe.
Serena covered her mouth.
Lorenzo picked it up.
Mia's.
"Mia!"
He called louder than he intended.
No answer.
His own voice came back strangely inside the stone room.
The ringing in his left ear sharpened.
He ignored it.
Marco moved along the shelves.
One cabinet door stood open.
Behind it, a narrow maintenance hatch led into the old ventilation corridor.
The hatch was barely large enough for an adult.
Lorenzo shone a flashlight inside.
A strip of yellow fabric was caught on a screw.
"They went through here."
Serena shook her head.
"Why would Elena take her through that?"
"Maybe she didn't have a choice."
Lorenzo crouched.
A second mark appeared on the floor.
Not a shoe print.
A drag line from a heavy object.
Marco pointed toward a dark stain on the stone.
"Oil."
"From what?"
"Maintenance cart, maybe."
Lorenzo stood.
"Find every cart on this level."
A guard moved away.
Serena reached toward Lorenzo's arm.
He stepped back before she touched him.
Her hand remained suspended for a moment.
Then she lowered it.
"You think I did this too."
"I think you admitted putting something in my drink."
"Because I believed I was helping you."
"You believed a doctor who told you to secretly add drops to wine?"
She looked away.
"He said you wouldn't take them otherwise."
"And that sounded reasonable?"
"At the time."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Her silence stretched.
"Because he said you'd refuse treatment if you knew."
Lorenzo's stare hardened.
"You know me better than that."
"I thought I did."
Marco returned from the far wall.
"Boss."
He held a small metallic object between two gloved fingers.
A silver key.
Long.
Old-fashioned.
Exactly like the one in Mia's drawing.
Lorenzo looked at Marco's key ring.
His wine-cellar key was still there.
Lorenzo checked his own pocket.
His was still there too.
That left Celeste.
"Bag it," he said.
Serena stared at the key.
"Celeste wouldn't do this."
"You said the same thing about yourself ten minutes ago."
"That's not fair."
"Fair isn't the question."
A radio crackled from the corridor.
A guard's voice came through.
"Found something in the laundry garage."
Lorenzo and Marco moved at once.
The laundry garage connected the basement to a covered service lane behind the east garden.
Two electric carts were parked inside.
A third space stood empty.
On the floor sat Elena's black handbag.
Her phone was inside.
So were her wallet and house keys.
Lorenzo opened the bag carefully.
A folded paper rested beneath the wallet.
It was another drawing.
This one had been made in black crayon.
A large house stood beneath a moon.
Beside it was a car.
Inside the car, Mia had drawn herself and Elena.
A gray man stood behind them.
Over the man's chest, the child had drawn a small square with the letter M.
Marco frowned.
"M for Marco?"
Lorenzo looked at him.
Marco met his gaze directly.
"If you need to ask me, ask."
Lorenzo studied the drawing again.
M could mean Marco.
It could mean Moretti.
It could mean Matteo.
His cousin Matteo Duca wore a silver monogrammed tie clip with a large M.
He had also spent the last year complaining that Lorenzo's marriage to Serena would give the Romano family too much influence.
Serena saw the realization in Lorenzo's face.
"Matteo was here tonight."
Marco nodded.
"Left twenty minutes before the lockdown."
"Where did he go?"
"His driver says Manhattan."
Lorenzo handed him the drawing.
"Find out."
Marco left.
Serena stared at Lorenzo.
"If Matteo took them, this has nothing to do with my family."
"That's what you hope."
"And what do you hope?"
The question surprised him.
He looked at her.
"I hope the child is safe."
Serena's expression softened for the first time.
"So do I."
A guard called from outside.
They ran into the service lane.
Beyond the hedges, headlights appeared on the private road.
An electric cart rolled toward them slowly.
Elena was driving.
Mia sat beside her.
Lorenzo exhaled for what felt like the first time in minutes.
The cart stopped.
Elena climbed out shaking.
Mia jumped down and ran directly to Lorenzo.
He caught her by the shoulders.
"Are you hurt?"
She shook her head.
"Where were you?"
Mia did not answer.
Elena did.
"Someone came into the blue room through the connecting door."
"Who?"
"I didn't see his face."
"How did you get away?"
"Mia knew another door behind the wine cellar."
Lorenzo looked down at the child.
Mia reached into the pocket of her yellow dress.
She pulled out a small black button.
Embossed on it was a silver letter.
M.
Serena whispered the name first.
"Matteo."
Lorenzo stared at the button.
Then Mia shook her head.
Violently.
She pointed at the letter.
Then at Marco, who had just returned from the corridor.
Everyone froze.
Mia pointed again.
Not at Marco's face.
At the security badge clipped inside his jacket.
A badge marked M.B.
May you like
Marco slowly looked down.
For the first time in twenty years, Lorenzo saw fear in his head of security's eyes.
