Chapter 8 - The Voice in the Dark
“Mommy?”
Leo sat upright in bed.
The voice came again.
Soft.
Gentle.
Familiar.
“Leo, come to Mommy.”
He climbed toward the edge of the mattress.
Rico caught him before his feet touched the floor.
“No, buddy.”
Leo began struggling.
“Mommy!”
Rico held him against his chest.
“That's not Mommy.”
The words hurt him.
I could hear it.
The voice continued through the dark hallway.
“Come downstairs, baby.”
I stared at the doorway.
Then I noticed a tiny light beside the ceiling vent.
Red.
Blinking.
“Rico.”
He looked at me.
“Up there.”
Dante followed my gaze.
His expression changed.
“Speaker.”
The voice was coming from the house's intercom system.
A recording.
Someone had deliberately played Elena's voice to lure Leo out of his bedroom.
Rico's face hardened.
“Who has access to that system?”
Dante was already speaking into his radio.
“Control room, answer.”
Static.
The house's backup lights flickered on.
A low alarm sounded downstairs.
Rico passed Leo to me.
“Take him into the bathroom.”
I held the boy tightly.
“No.”
Rico stared at me.
“Clara—”
“If someone can control the house, how do you know the bathroom is safer?”
He hesitated.
Dante nodded.
“She's right, Boss. We need a secure exit.”
Another sound came from below.
Glass breaking.
A man's voice shouting.
Then footsteps.
Dante drew his weapon.
Rico moved between us and the doorway.
“Get them out.”
Dante opened a concealed panel behind the wardrobe.
A narrow passage appeared.
I stared at it.
“Seriously?”
Rico gave me a grim look.
“Old houses have secrets.”
I tightened my hold on Leo.
“Apparently this one has too many.”
We entered the passage.
Mrs. Bellini followed with a flashlight and Leo's blanket.
Behind us, Dante closed the panel.
The child's breathing became rapid.
“Mommy,” he whispered.
I pressed my cheek against his hair.
“I know you heard her voice.”
He nodded.
“That must have felt confusing.”
“Mommy downstairs.”
My throat tightened.
“No, sweetheart. Somebody played her voice.”
Leo began to cry.
“Want Mommy.”
I stopped walking.
Mrs. Bellini looked back.
There was nothing I could say that would make the truth painless.
So I didn't try.
“I know.”
Leo buried his face against me.
“I know you do.”
We reached a narrow service staircase.
Dante's radio crackled.
“North gate secure. One intruder detained.”
Then another voice.
“Control room compromised. Security contractor is missing.”
Rico's expression turned murderous.
“Who hired him?”
Dante looked uncomfortable.
“Vincent's office.”
Of course.
We descended into the garage.
Two SUVs waited with their engines running.
But before we could reach them, Leo suddenly lifted his head.
“C'ara.”
“Yes, baby?”
“Mommy sang.”
I brushed his cheek.
“She did?”
He nodded.
“Boat song.”
Something about that made me pause.
The painting.
The sailboat.
The safe.
“Rico, did Elena sing a song about boats?”
He looked at us.
“Yes. Why?”
Leo began humming.
A simple melody.
Three repeating notes.
I had never heard it before.
But Rico knew it.
His face changed.
“Elena sang that every night.”
Leo stopped humming.
“Mommy said safe.”
Rico approached slowly.
“What, son?”
“Blue boat safe.”
I looked at him.
“Blue boat?”
He nodded.
“Mommy put it there.”
Rico's eyes shifted toward the house.
“The painting.”
Dante spoke sharply.
“Boss, we have to leave.”
Rico shook his head.
“The painting was just covering the safe.”
“Maybe not,” I said.
He looked at me.
“What?”
“Elena made a point of giving him a memory connected to that boat.”
Rico stared at the child.
Then at me.
And for the first time that night, I saw fear give way to understanding.
“The painting has another compartment.”
Dante's radio erupted.
“Multiple vehicles approaching the east entrance!”
Rico swore.
“Vincent.”
I held Leo closer.
“Go.”
Rico looked at me.
“No.”
“You need whatever Elena hid.”
“Not more than I need my son alive.”
His voice was fierce.
Final.
And I realized this wasn't the same man who had slammed his hand on a restaurant table and demanded that someone make his child stop crying.
Rico turned to Dante.
“Get them somewhere safe.”
Dante nodded.
“What about you?”
Rico looked toward the dark mansion.
“I'm going to find out what my wife died trying to tell me.”
Before I could argue, Leo reached toward his father.
“Daddy.”
Rico stopped.
The little boy held out his stuffed rabbit.
“Bunny help.”
Rico took it.
Very carefully.
Then he kissed his son's forehead.
“I love you, little man.”
Leo touched his cheek.
“Love Daddy.”
Rico closed his eyes.
It was the first time Leo had said those words aloud in six months.
And it nearly brought the most feared man in Brooklyn to his knees.
May you like
Then he turned and disappeared back into the house.
Seconds later, a gunshot cracked through the night.
