Chapter 3 - Her Mother Never Came Back
Adrian was moving before Sofia finished screaming.
He hit the staircase at a run.
Marco shouted behind him.
“East hall!”
Emergency lights flashed red along the walls.
Another crash came from upstairs.
Adrian reached Sofia’s room.
The door was open.
Teresa stood near the bed holding a lamp like a weapon.
Sofia was crouched behind her.
The window had shattered inward.
Rain blew through the broken glass.
Adrian crossed the room.
“Are you hurt?”
Sofia shook her head.
Teresa pointed.
“Something came through the window.”
On the floor lay a brick.
A note was wrapped around it with black tape.
Marco arrived.
Adrian picked up the paper.
Three words.
RETURN THE GIRL.
His face became still.
Marco looked through the broken window.
“No movement.”
“Power?”
“Cut at the exterior junction.”
“They knew where she was.”
Victor appeared in the doorway.
His face went white when he saw the message.
Adrian turned.
“You told someone.”
“No.”
“You were the only person outside this house who knew she was here.”
“I didn’t know until dinner.”
“Someone knew before then.”
Victor stared at the note.
“They found Elena.”
Sofia heard the name.
“Mommy?”
Every adult in the room stopped.
Adrian crouched beside her.
“Sofia, did your mother ever tell you someone might come looking for you?”
She nodded slowly.
“One man.”
“What man?”
“I don’t know his name.”
“What did he look like?”
She squeezed the stuffed rabbit against her chest.
“He wore glasses.”
“That’s all?”
“And he had a burn here.”
She touched the side of her neck.
Victor gripped the doorframe.
Adrian saw it.
“You know him.”
Victor didn’t answer.
“Victor.”
“Maybe.”
“Who?”
“Samuel Bellandi.”
The name filled the room.
Adrian stood.
“I thought he was dead.”
“So did most people.”
Victor rubbed his mouth.
“He would be seventy now.”
“What does he want with a six-year-old child?”
“Leverage.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Against Luca?”
“Against all of us.”
Sofia looked between them.
“Is Mommy with the bad man?”
Adrian hated how plainly she asked.
“I don’t know.”
“But you’ll find her?”
“Yes.”
“You promised nobody would hurt me.”
“I remember.”
Sofia’s chin trembled.
“Mommy promised too.”
That landed differently.
Adrian pulled a chair closer and sat in front of her.
“When did your mother first start acting scared?”
Sofia thought.
“After the grocery store.”
“What happened there?”
“A man followed us.”
“When?”
“Monday.”
The day before Elena disappeared.
“Did your mother speak to him?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“Mommy left our groceries.”
Adrian frowned.
“She left them?”
“In the cart.”
Sofia nodded.
“We ran to the car.”
“What happened next?”
“She drove really fast. Then we packed.”
“Did she call anyone?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Sofia looked toward her purple backpack.
“I don’t know.”
Adrian followed her eyes.
“What?”
“Mommy had another phone.”
Marco stepped closer.
“Another phone?”
“A little one.”
“Where is it?”
Sofia pointed at her backpack.
“She put it in Bunny.”
Everyone looked at the stuffed rabbit.
Teresa carefully turned it over.
Along one seam was a zipper Adrian had not noticed.
She opened it.
Inside was a small prepaid phone.
Marco exhaled.
“Smart.”
Adrian powered it on.
No passcode.
One contact.
L.
Twenty-three missed calls.
Adrian stared.
The most recent had come forty minutes earlier.
The phone rang in his hand.
Everyone froze.
L.
Adrian answered.
Silence.
He lifted the phone to his ear.
“Hello?”
Nothing.
Then breathing.
Male.
Controlled.
Adrian’s chest tightened.
“Luca?”
The breathing stopped.
Sofia stood.
“Daddy?”
Adrian closed his eyes for one second.
Then a voice came through the speaker.
Older than he remembered.
Rougher.
But unmistakable.
“Adri.”
Six years disappeared.
Adrian could see two boys racing bicycles behind their childhood home.
Luca teaching him how to throw a punch.
Luca standing beside him at their mother’s funeral.
Luca laughing with a split lip after a bar fight neither of them should have survived.
Adrian gripped the phone.
“You’re alive.”
“I know what this looks like.”
“You have no idea what this looks like.”
“Is Sofia there?”
Adrian’s anger collided with relief.
“Yes.”
“Is she safe?”
“Yes.”
“Thank God.”
“Where are you?”
A pause.
“I can’t tell you yet.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“You disappear for six years, your daughter walks onto my property alone, her mother is missing, somebody throws a brick through my window, and your first move is to tell me what you can’t tell me?”
“Adrian—”
“Where are you?”
“I’m trying to get Elena back.”
Sofia covered her mouth.
Adrian lowered the phone.
“Go with Teresa.”
“No.”
“Sofia.”
“I want Daddy.”
Her voice broke.
Adrian looked at the phone.
Luca heard her.
“Peanut?”
Sofia began crying.
“Daddy!”
Adrian’s throat tightened.
Luca’s voice changed instantly.
“Hey. Hey, Peanut. I’m here.”
“Mommy didn’t come back.”
“I know.”
“She told me to find Uncle Adrian.”
“You did exactly right.”
“You said Uncle Adrian was scary.”
Everyone in the room looked at Adrian.
Luca gave a sound almost like a laugh.
“He is.”
Sofia wiped her cheeks.
“He gave me hot chocolate.”
“Then maybe he’s getting soft.”
Adrian shut his eyes.
For one impossible second, they sounded like a family again.
Then Luca became serious.
“Sofia, go with Teresa for me.”
“Are you coming?”
“I’m trying.”
“That isn’t yes.”
Luca went silent.
Sofia had inherited more than his eyes.
“I love you,” Luca said.
“I love you too.”
Teresa led Sofia away.
When the door closed, Adrian returned to the call.
“Tell me everything.”
“I don’t have time.”
“Make time.”
“Samuel Bellandi has Elena.”
“You know that?”
“I watched them take her.”
Adrian’s anger sharpened.
“Then why is he threatening us for Sofia?”
“Because Sofia’s backpack contains something he needs.”
Adrian looked toward the hallway.
“What?”
“The ledger.”
Victor inhaled sharply.
Adrian turned.
“The original?”
Luca answered.
“Yes.”
Adrian stared at Sofia’s purple backpack on the floor.
“You put the Bellandi ledger in your daughter’s backpack?”
“It was the safest place.”
“She’s six.”
“That’s why no one would expect it.”
“Someone expected it enough to attack my house.”
“That means there’s still a leak.”
Adrian’s gaze moved to Victor.
Victor’s face hardened.
Luca continued.
“Listen carefully. The ledger isn’t just about our grandfather stealing money.”
“What else?”
“It lists judges, police captains, politicians, contractors, shell companies. Some are dead. Some aren’t.”
Adrian understood.
“Blackmail.”
“Evidence.”
“Against whom?”
“People who built careers on money that should never have existed.”
“And Samuel wants it?”
“He wants to destroy it.”
“Why?”
“Because his family isn’t innocent either.”
The room went quiet.
Luca lowered his voice.
“The Bellandis weren’t robbed by saints. They were running the same games our family was. The ledger proves both families were involved.”
Adrian looked at the backpack again.
“So why hide for six years?”
“Because the person who warned Samuel about me was someone inside our family.”
“You know who?”
“I know who I suspected.”
“Name them.”
Before Luca could answer, shouting erupted on his side of the call.
Then a loud impact.
“Luca?”
“Adrian, get Sofia out of that house.”
“What?”
“Now.”
“Why?”
The line crackled.
Luca’s breathing quickened.
“Because whoever betrayed me six years ago knows exactly where you live.”
The call disconnected.
Marco grabbed the backpack.
Adrian looked toward the security screens.
One by one, three cameras went black.
Then the front gate camera.
Then the north driveway.
May you like
Someone was inside the perimeter.
And this time, they were not throwing a brick.
