Chapter 6 - THE LOCKED ROOM
“Vanessa!” I pounded on the door. “Let us out!”
Leo whimpered behind me, backing into the corner of the room. I stepped in front of him, my heart hammering against my ribs.
“You ruined everything,” Vanessa’s voice slithered through the door. “Luca was supposed to die tonight in the tunnel. I would have inherited the estate. But you just had to play nurse with the driver.”
“Luca knows you burned my apartment!” I yelled, hoping the noise would attract a guard. “He knows about the forged accounts!”
“Oh, honey,” she laughed. “Who do you think let me inside today? You think everyone is loyal to Luca?”
My blood ran cold. The guards. She had bought someone on the inside.
I looked around the playroom. It was on the second floor. The windows were locked and made of reinforced glass.
I grabbed a heavy bronze bookend from the shelf.
“I’m going to make sure you and the brat don’t make it out of that room,” Vanessa said. I heard the unmistakable sound of liquid splashing against the bottom of the wooden door. The sharp smell of gasoline seeped under the crack.
She was going to burn us alive.
“Leo, get to the bathroom!” I shouted, pointing to the en-suite.
I didn't wait for Vanessa to strike a match. I swung the bronze bookend as hard as I could at the door handle. It dented, but didn't break.
I swung again. And again.
Smoke began to curl under the door frame. Leo was crying now.
I took a final, desperate swing at the locking mechanism. The brass shattered. I kicked the door open just as the carpet in the hallway caught fire.
Through the smoke, I saw Vanessa backing away, a lighter in her hand. Behind her stood Marco.
“Marco! Help us!” I screamed.
But Marco didn't move to stop the fire. He pointed a gun straight at me.
“Sorry, Nora,” Marco said. “Vanessa pays better.”
Before he could pull the trigger, a gunshot rang out.
But it didn't come from Marco’s gun.
Marco’s eyes went wide, and he collapsed onto the carpet.
Standing at the end of the hallway, smoke swirling around his dark suit, was Luca. His weapon was still raised.
He didn't look at Marco. He looked directly at Vanessa.
“It’s over,” Luca said.
Vanessa screamed and turned to run toward the back stairs. As she moved, something fell from her pocket, sliding across the floorboards to stop right at my feet.
May you like
I looked down. It was a heavy silver rosary.
My father’s rosary. The one I kept on my nightstand in the apartment that had burned down.
