Chapter 5 - The Girl in the Safe RoomThe safe room was hidden behind a wall of wine racks beneath the east wing.
Lucia had never known it existed.
She sat on a narrow bench with Emma wrapped in her arms, listening to muffled thunder from above. Not real thunder. Guns. Doors. Men shouting. The whole estate groaned like a living creature wounded in its sleep.
Emma stared at the steel door.
“Is Mr. Romano bad?” she whispered.
Lucia closed her eyes.
What kind of answer could she give?
Allessandro Romano was feared across Federal Hill. Men lowered their voices when his name passed through a room. Businesses paid debts on time because of him. Enemies disappeared from power, if not always from the earth.
But he had paid for Emma’s medicine last winter when Lucia’s wages were short.
He had sent a driver at midnight when Lucia’s sister went into labor.
He had never raised his voice at Emma.
And now men were trying to kill him because a child told the truth.
“He is dangerous,” Lucia said carefully. “That is not the same as bad.”
Emma thought about this.
Then she nodded.
“Miss Isabella is pretty bad.”
Lucia almost laughed, but fear strangled it.
A small speaker crackled in the wall.
Marco’s voice came through.
“Lucia. You safe?”
“Yes.”
“Do not open the door for anyone except me or Mr. Romano.”
“What about the police?”
“No police enter this room.”
Lucia stiffened. “Why?”
“Because Matteo may have uniforms.”
The speaker went dead.
Lucia held Emma tighter.
“Uniforms are supposed to help,” Emma whispered.
“I know.”
“Like doctors.”
“Yes.”
“And priests.”
Lucia looked toward the floor.
“Yes.”
Emma was quiet for a long moment.
Then she reached into the pocket of her oversized gray dress.
“Mama?”
“What?”
“I took something.”
Lucia’s heart stopped.
Emma opened her hand.
A tiny folded piece of paper lay in her palm.
“When Miss Isabella gave me money, there was paper around it. I kept the paper because Rosie needed a blanket.”
Lucia took it with shaking fingers.
It was not ordinary paper.
It was a torn receipt.
Only part of it remained, but enough words could be read.
Harbor Pharmacy. Paid cash. Compound order. M.R.
Lucia stared.
M.R.
Matteo Romano.
She covered her mouth.
Emma looked frightened.
“Did I do bad?”
“No,” Lucia whispered. “Baby, you did very good.”
A noise came from outside the safe room.
Both of them froze.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Not Marco’s heavy steps.
Not Allessandro’s controlled stride.
Someone else.
Lucia rose silently and pulled Emma behind her.
A voice came through the door.
“Lucia?”
Her blood chilled.
Isabella.
“Lucia, open the door. Quickly. Mr. Romano sent me.”
Emma shook her head violently.
Lucia said nothing.
“I know you’re frightened,” Isabella continued, voice soft and sweet. “But Matteo’s men are inside. I can take you out through the garden.”
Lucia held Emma’s mouth gently to keep her silent.
The handle did not move. The door could not be opened from outside without a code.
Isabella sighed.
The sweetness vanished.
“I know what your daughter has,” she said.
Lucia looked down at the receipt in her fist.
“She stole from me,” Isabella said. “That makes her a thief.”
Emma began to cry soundlessly.
Lucia’s fear burned into fury.
“She is six years old.”
“Then teach her before someone else does.”
Lucia stepped closer to the door.
“You will never touch my child.”
A pause.
Then Isabella laughed.
“You poor woman. You think this is about your child? This is about men like Allessandro thinking loyalty can be bought with kindness. It can’t. Fear lasts longer.”
Lucia looked at Emma.
The child was trembling, but her eyes were hard now.
No longer confused.
No longer wondering.
She understood evil when it spoke through a door.
Then Isabella whispered one final sentence.
“When the lights go out, the lock resets.”
Lucia looked up.
The safe room lights flickered.
Once.
May you like
Twice.
Then darkness swallowed them.
