Chapter 6: The Empty Bed
For one second, Vittorio couldn't understand what he was seeing.
Lucy's pink blanket lay crumpled on the floor.
Her stuffed rabbit rested beside the overturned lamp.
The curtains moved in the cold night air.
But the bed was empty.
“Lucy!””
His voice tore through the room.
He searched beneath the bed, inside the wardrobe, behind the curtains.
Nothing.
He ran to the window.
The garden stretched below, silvered by moonlight. A narrow stone path led toward the eastern wall, where the trees grew thick enough to conceal a person.
“Rafael!”” he shouted into his earpiece.
“Lock down the property! Lucy is missing!””
The response came instantly.
“Copy, sir. All units moving.””
“Check every vehicle. Every building. Every exit. Nobody leaves this property.””
Vittorio turned toward the unconscious nurse.
He dropped to his knees and checked her pulse.
Strong.
Breathing.
He shook her shoulder.
“Wake up.””
Her eyelids fluttered.
Then she gasped.
“Mr. DeLuca?””
“Where is my daughter?””
The nurse looked around, confused.
“She was here.””
“Who came into the room?””
“I don't know. I heard a noise near the window. I turned around, and someone was standing behind me.””
“Did you see his face?””
She began to cry.
“No. He covered it.””
Vittorio helped her sit upright.
“Did he hurt you?””
“He hit me. I'm sorry.””
“Don't apologize. Tell me what happened.””
She pressed a hand against her forehead.
“He said Lucy wanted to see her mother.””
Vittorio went completely still.
“What?””
“He told her that her mother was waiting outside. Lucy got out of bed, and I tried to stop them. Then he struck me.””
Vittorio rose.
“Which direction did they go?””
The nurse pointed toward the window.
“He carried her toward the trees.””
Vittorio ran.
He vaulted over the low garden wall and landed on the grass. The night air struck his face, carrying the smell of wet earth and crushed leaves.
“Lucy!””
No answer.
He followed the stone path toward the eastern boundary.
Halfway down, he found a small pink ribbon caught on a thorn bush.
Lucy's ribbon.
He pulled it free and closed his fist around it.
Then he noticed footprints in the mud.
Two sets.
One belonged to an adult wearing heavy boots.
The other was smaller, uneven, and close to the ground.
Lucy had been walking.
Not carried.
That meant she had followed willingly.
Vittorio felt a terrible pressure in his chest.
The kidnapper hadn't simply taken her.
He had convinced her to go.
A light flashed near the service road.
Rafael appeared between the trees with two armed officers.
“Sir!””
Vittorio held up the ribbon.
“She came this way.””
Rafael examined the footprints.
“There's a vehicle track beyond the wall.””
“Get the dogs.””
“They're on their way.””
Vittorio crouched beside the tire marks.
The vehicle had stopped near the wall, where the old service road connected to the main property.
Someone had known exactly where the cameras couldn't see.
Someone who knew the house.
Someone who knew Lucy.
He rose slowly.
“Bring Claudia to me.””
Rafael hesitated.
“She's secured in the west wing.””
“Then secure her better and bring her here.””
Within minutes, Claudia stood beneath the garden lights, her face pale.
She saw the ribbon in Vittorio's hand and began to cry.
“No.””
“You told me Gabriel would come for the key.””
“I didn't know he would take Lucy.””
“Who knew about the service road?””
Claudia looked toward the old wall.
“Only the people who worked here before the house was renovated.””
“Names.””
She hesitated.
“Your father. Anthony. Elena. And the groundskeeper who maintained the original tunnels.””
“Who was the groundskeeper?””
“Pietro Bellini.””
Vittorio recognized the name.
Pietro had retired twelve years ago and moved to a small coastal town.
He had been the only person his father trusted with the keys to the old estate.
“Find him,” Vittorio ordered Rafael.
“Now.””
Rafael made the call.
Vittorio turned back to Claudia.
“Why would Lucy follow a stranger?””
Claudia wiped her eyes.
“Because he told her something she wanted to believe.””
“What?””
“That Elena was waiting for her.””
Vittorio looked at the ribbon.
Lucy had spent eight years growing up without her mother.
She had asked questions that nobody answered.
She had been told that Elena had abandoned her, that her father was too busy to explain, that some memories were better forgotten.
And now someone had offered her the one thing she wanted most.
Her mother.
Vittorio felt sick.
“Did you tell her Elena might be alive?””
Claudia shook her head.
“No.””
“Did Bianca?””
“I don't know.””
“Then who?””
Claudia looked toward the house.
“Someone who has been talking to Lucy when nobody was watching.””
Vittorio turned.
“Who?””
Before Claudia could answer, his phone rang.
Daniel.
Vittorio answered immediately.
“Tell me you have something.””
“I found the school records.””
“What school records?””
“The guardianship papers you asked me to investigate. Bianca filed an application with a private residential school outside Geneva.””
Vittorio closed his eyes briefly.
“When?””
“Six weeks ago. The application stated that Lucy's father was medically incapacitated and that her mother was deceased.””
“Who signed it?””
“Bianca.””
“Who witnessed it?””
Daniel hesitated.
“Anthony Moretti.””
Vittorio stared into the darkness.
“Anthony was supposedly dead.””
“I know. That's why I'm calling. The signature was submitted digitally, and the authorization came from an account registered to the old DeLuca estate.””
The old estate.
Vittorio looked toward the service road.
“Send me the address.””
“I already did. But Vittorio, there's another name on the paperwork.””
“Who?””
“Gabriel Shaw.””
The call ended.
Vittorio opened the message Daniel had sent.
A school name.
A date.
A scanned application.
And a photograph of Lucy attached to a form describing her as a child requiring long-term residential care due to emotional instability.
His hands began to shake.
They had planned to take his daughter away from him legally.
They had intended to convince a court that he was unfit, that Bianca was acting in Lucy's best interests, and that the child needed to be removed from the family home.
The bowl on the floor had not been an isolated act of cruelty.
It had been preparation.
They were making Lucy frightened, confused, and dependent on the people who intended to control her.
Vittorio looked up.
“Claudia, tell me everything you know about Gabriel.””
She drew a trembling breath.
“He worked for your father. Not officially. He handled problems that couldn't appear in company records.””
“What kind of problems?””
“People who talked too much. Money that disappeared. Witnesses who changed their stories.””
Vittorio's expression hardened.
“And Elena?””
“Your father hired Gabriel to recover the ledger after Elena found it. When she escaped, Gabriel arranged the accident.””
“Why didn't he kill her?””
“Because Elena knew where the original ledger was hidden.””
Vittorio looked at the folder under his arm.
“Then why keep her alive?””
“Because the copies weren't enough. The original contained the names of people who had paid your father. Powerful people. People who still control parts of the business.””
“And Lucy knows where it is?””
Claudia nodded.
“Not exactly. Elena left her clues.””
Vittorio's thoughts raced.
The music box.
The key.
The note.
The house where the girl was born.
He remembered a childhood photograph of the old estate. Elena had been standing in front of a stone fountain, holding baby Lucy. Behind them was a small building with green shutters.
The nursery.
Lucy had spent her first six months there before Vittorio moved the family to the city.
“What did Elena leave in the old house?””
Claudia looked at him.
“A map.””
Vittorio felt a surge of anger.
“You knew about a map?””
“I saw part of it. Elena said the ledger was hidden somewhere nobody would think to look. She told Lucy a story about a little girl who followed the stars to find her way home.””
Vittorio remembered reading that story to Lucy when she was four.
It had been one of Elena's favorites.
He had assumed it was just a bedtime tale.
Now he wondered whether every page had been a clue.
A radio crackled.
“Mr. DeLuca, we've located a vehicle.””
Rafael turned toward the sound.
“Where?””
“Beyond the eastern wall. Abandoned near the old service road. No occupants.””
Vittorio hurried toward the road.
The vehicle was a dark van with tinted windows. The driver's door stood open, and the engine was still warm.
Rafael searched the interior.
“Sir, we found something.””
He held up a small object.
A silver bracelet.
The one Vittorio had bought for Lucy in Milan.
The gift he had carried into the kitchen before discovering her kneeling on the floor.
He took it from Rafael.
There was a folded scrap of paper tucked beneath the clasp.
He opened it.
*Bring the key to the old estate. Come alone. If you bring the police, Lucy dies.*
Vittorio stared at the message.
Then he turned toward Rafael.
“Get the cars ready.””
“Sir, we can't let you go alone.””
“I'm not asking permission.””
“This could be a trap.””
“It is a trap.””
Rafael stepped closer.
“Then let us plan for it.””
Vittorio looked at the bracelet in his hand.
“I have spent years building a life where nobody could reach my daughter. Tonight, someone walked into her bedroom and convinced her to leave with him.””
His voice broke slightly.
“I won't spend another minute standing here while she thinks nobody is coming.””
Rafael's expression softened.
“Then we'll make sure you get her back.””
Vittorio nodded once.
He turned toward the house.
“Claudia, you're coming with me.””
She looked startled.
“Why?””
“Because you know the old estate. And because if Gabriel wants the key, he wants something else from you.””
Claudia slowly nodded.
Vittorio reached the front steps just as Bianca appeared in the doorway, flanked by two security officers.
Her eyes went immediately to the bracelet.
“Is Lucy—”
“Don't.””
She stopped.
“Vittorio, please. Let me help.””
He looked at her.
“You've helped enough.””
“I know where Gabriel keeps his safe house.””
The words halted him.
Bianca swallowed.
“He has a property near the old estate. A hunting lodge your father used years ago.””
Vittorio stared at her.
“Why didn't you tell me earlier?””
“Because I was afraid.””
“Of Gabriel?””
“Of what he'd do if I betrayed him.””
Vittorio stepped closer.
“Where is the lodge?””
She gave him the location.
Rafael entered it into his phone.
Then Bianca reached into her pocket and removed a small brass key.
“This opens the back entrance.””
Vittorio took it.
For the first time that night, Bianca looked directly into his eyes.
“Bring Lucy home.””
He held her gaze.
“If I find out you've lied to me again, you will never see her without a court order.””
She nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks.
Vittorio turned away.
Within twenty minutes, three black vehicles left the property.
The drive to the old estate took forty minutes through winding country roads. Rain hammered the windshield, and the headlights illuminated abandoned fields and crooked trees.
Claudia sat in the back seat, holding the folder against her chest.
Rafael drove.
Vittorio sat beside him, studying the map on his phone.
The old estate appeared at the end of a narrow lane.
Its stone walls were covered in ivy. Several windows had been boarded shut, and the iron gates hung crookedly from their hinges.
Vittorio stepped out into the rain.
He had not returned since his father's funeral.
The house looked smaller than he remembered.
But the nursery wing was still visible on the eastern side, its green shutters hanging open.
He walked toward the front entrance.
The brass key Bianca had given him fit the lock.
Inside, the air smelled of damp wood and dust.
His footsteps echoed through the empty hallway.
Claudia pointed toward the staircase.
“The nursery is upstairs.””
Vittorio climbed.
At the top, he found a small room with faded yellow wallpaper and a narrow bed beneath the window.
On the wall hung a faded drawing of a girl holding a star.
Lucy had drawn something similar when she was five.
Vittorio crossed the room.
Beneath the bed, he found a wooden box.
Inside lay a children's book.
The Little Girl Who Followed the Stars.
He opened it.
The pages were filled with handwritten notes in Elena's handwriting.
The first clue pointed toward the old fountain.
The second toward a stone beneath the nursery window.
The third toward a room hidden behind the kitchen wall.
Vittorio followed the instructions downstairs.
Behind a loose panel, he found a narrow staircase leading into the basement.
At the bottom stood an iron door.
A small brass lock sat in the center.
Vittorio took the key from his pocket.
It fit perfectly.
He turned it.
The door opened with a low groan.
Inside was a small room containing a metal cabinet, several sealed boxes, and a photograph of Elena holding Lucy.
Beneath the photograph lay a handwritten note.
Vittorio picked it up.
If you found this, then our daughter is in danger.
The ledger is here. But it is not the most important thing I left behind.
Look inside the wall.
Vittorio turned toward the far side of the room.
A section of stonework had been recently disturbed.
He pulled at the loose stones.
Behind them was a small metal compartment.
Inside lay a leather-bound ledger and a second envelope.
The envelope bore his name.
He opened it.
A single photograph slid onto the floor.
It showed Elena standing outside the old estate.
Beside her was Gabriel Shaw.
And behind them, one hand resting on Elena's shoulder, stood Vittorio's father.
The photograph had been taken two years before Elena's supposed death.
On the back, Elena had written:
*Gabriel wasn't the man who arranged my disappearance. He was the man who helped me escape.*
Vittorio stared at the words.
Then he heard a sound behind him.
A slow clap.
He turned.
Anthony Moretti stood in the doorway, alive and smiling without warmth.
“I'm glad you found it,” Anthony said.
Vittorio raised the ledger.
“Where is my daughter?””
Anthony's smile vanished.
“That's the problem, Vittorio.””
He stepped into the room.
“She's not with Gabriel anymore.””
Vittorio's heart slammed against his ribs.
“Where is she?””
Anthony looked at the open compartment.
Then at the photograph.
“She's with the one person your father was terrified of.””
He paused.
“Your mother.””
Vittorio went completely still.
His mother had been dead for twenty-five years.
Anthony reached into his coat and placed a second photograph on the table.
It showed an elderly woman standing beside Lucy outside a stone building.
The child was holding the woman's hand.
Beneath the photograph was a date from that very evening.
Vittorio stared at the image.
Then he looked up at Anthony.
“Tell me who that woman is.””
Anthony's face hardened.
“Her name is Isabella DeLuca.””
May you like
He took a slow breath.
“And she's the reason Elena had to disappear.””
