Chapter 5 - THE DARK ESTATE
The heavy thud of boots rushed up the central staircase. Dominic didn't hesitate. He grabbed Norah by the arm and shoved her behind Salvatore’s heavy medical bed. "Stay down," he hissed, chambering a round into his weapon. "Who is it?" Norah asked, her voice shaking. "Vincenzo," Dominic replied, his eyes scanning the pitch-black hallway. "If my mother took the fall for him sixty years ago to protect me and my brother... he knows these letters exist. And he knows my father kept them." Salvatore let out a low, guttural growl in the dark. It wasn't fear. It was pure, distilled hatred. Gunfire erupted down the hall. Frank’s voice bellowed, followed by the heavy slam of a door. "Leo," Norah gasped. "They have to get past Frank to get to Leo's room." Dominic’s jaw clenched. The cold, calculating boss was suddenly warring with the uncle who actually loved his nephew. "I have to hold this door," Dominic said, aiming at the entrance. "If they get to my father, he's dead." "I'll get Leo," Norah said. "You're a nurse, not a soldier, sit down!" "I know the back servant corridors," Norah fired back, already crawling toward the adjoining bathroom. "Your staff told me on day one. It connects to the east wing. I can reach Leo from the inside." Before Dominic could stop her, she slipped into the dark bathroom, feeling for the hidden panel in the woodwork. She pressed the latch, and the narrow servant passage opened with a groan. It smelled of dust and old wood. Norah crept through the darkness, her heart hammering against her ribs. She could hear shouting below her, the terrifying sounds of men tearing the house apart. She reached the panel behind Leo's bedroom and pushed it open. The room was dark. Frank was standing by the main door, his massive frame blocking it, a gun in his hand. "Leo?" Norah whispered. The little boy was hiding under the bed, trembling violently, clutching his bear. "Norah!" Frank whispered harshly. "Get him out. They're coming up the main stairs." Norah pulled Leo from under the bed. The boy wrapped his arms around her neck, burying his face in her shoulder. "I've got you," she promised, backing into the secret passage. As the panel clicked shut behind them, she heard the main door to Leo's room get kicked in. Frank roared, and deafening gunshots filled the air. Norah clamped her hands over Leo's ears and ran through the dark corridor, tears stinging her eyes. She navigated blindly until she reached the end of the hall, popping out near Dominic’s private study. She rushed inside, locking the heavy doors behind them. She set Leo down behind a massive leather sofa. "Stay right here, baby. Don't make a sound." Norah needed a weapon. She frantically opened Dominic’s desk drawers. Nothing. Then, her hand brushed against something strange in the bottom drawer. It wasn't a gun. It was a small, velvet jewelry box. She pulled it out, her hands shaking. The lid flipped open. Inside was a delicate gold bracelet with a unique charm—a tiny enameled bluebird. Norah stopped breathing. She pulled up her own sleeve. Around her wrist was a cheap, faded string bracelet that her grandmother Rosa had given her before she died. Attached to it was an identical, albeit tarnished, bluebird charm. Underneath the velvet in the box was a folded piece of paper. Norah opened it. It was a DNA test. Dated three weeks ago. Before she had ever set foot in the house. Dominic had known who she was the entire time. He had requested her from the agency. Before she could process the betrayal, the study doors rattled violently. Someone was trying to get in. "Open the door, little bird," a smooth, raspy voice called from the hallway. "Uncle Vincenzo wants to meet the family."
