Chapter 11 - The Voice Behind the WallThe hidden microphone was found inside Maya’s tutoring room.
It had been placed behind an electrical outlet.
Marco found two more before midnight.
One in Elena’s bedroom.
One beneath Luca’s desk.
The devices transmitted to a receiver somewhere on the estate.
Security searched every building.
Nothing.
Then Maya made another observation.
“Why don’t you check the old wine room?”
Luca looked at her.
“What old wine room?”
“The one under the kitchen.”
Marco frowned.
“There’s one cellar.”
“No.”
Maya shook her head.
“There are two.”
Everyone stared at her.
She explained that Tommy had once dropped a baseball through a broken ventilation opening behind the pantry.
When they tried to retrieve it, Maya heard voices beneath the floor.
Marco pulled the original architectural plans.
There was no second room.
Then he found renovations made thirteen years earlier.
One section of the basement had been removed from every later blueprint.
The sealed wall was hidden behind wine shelving.
Marco broke through it.
Behind the wall was a corridor.
At the end stood a steel door.
Luca entered first.
The room beyond contained medical equipment.
Old.
Dusty.
But unmistakable.
A treatment table.
Locked cabinets.
Refrigeration units.
Boxes of archived files.
Elena felt sick.
“This was inside your house?”
Luca stared around the room.
“I didn’t know.”
Marco opened a cabinet.
Inside were empty pharmaceutical containers.
Rachel examined one.
Her face hardened.
“This compound matches the family of chemicals found in Luca’s blood.”
Luca felt the room tilt around him.
This was not merely evidence.
This was the place where part of his life had been stolen.
A camera sat on a shelf.
Its storage drive still worked.
Marco connected it to a laptop.
The earliest recording was dated eleven years ago.
Luca appeared on-screen.
Younger.
Thinner.
Terrified.
Two attendants supported him between parallel bars.
His right leg moved.
Then his left.
Elena looked at the real Luca.
“You were walking.”
“Almost.”
On the recording, Dr. Vale entered.
Vittorio followed.
Vale injected medication into an IV line.
Minutes later, Luca’s legs weakened.
He collapsed into the attendants.
Luca watched without blinking.
Another video appeared.
Five years later.
Again, Luca showed improvement.
Again, medication was administered.
Again, he deteriorated.
Maya quietly took Luca’s hand.
The final recording was recent.
Four months ago.
Vittorio stood inside the hidden room with Damian Russo.
Their voices were clear.
“The girl is confirmed.”
Damian nodded.
“And Elena?”
“Useful until the trust recognizes Maya.”
Luca’s blood went cold.
Damian asked another question.
“What happens after that?”
Vittorio turned toward the camera.
“We remove unnecessary complications.”
Elena stopped breathing.
Luca paused the recording.
Nobody needed to explain what Vittorio meant.
Marco immediately ordered additional protection around Elena.
Then the laptop made a sound.
A new file had appeared.
Not archived.
Live.
Someone had remotely connected to the system.
Text appeared across the screen.
YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE OPENED THAT ROOM.
Then every light in the basement went out.
A mechanical lock slammed behind them.
Maya gasped.
Marco grabbed his flashlight.
The ventilation system stopped.
Luca looked toward the sealed steel door.
May you like
Someone had trapped all of them underground.
And whoever controlled the room knew exactly who was inside.
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