Chapter 12 - The Room Beneath the HouseMarco tried the door.
Locked.
His radio produced only static.
The hidden room had been designed to block signals.
Luca looked toward the ventilation shaft.
No air moved.
Elena pulled Maya close.
“How long?”
Marco understood the question.
“With five people?”
He did not finish.
He did not need to.
Rachel searched the walls.
“There has to be a manual ventilation system.”
Maya pointed toward the old treatment table.
“There.”
A narrow pipe ran behind it.
Marco pulled the table away.
A maintenance panel appeared.
The screws required a tool they did not have.
Luca removed the metal support from his wheelchair footrest.
“Use this.”
Marco forced the panel open.
Behind it were electrical controls.
Most wires were unlabeled.
Rachel warned him not to cut anything randomly.
Marco stared.
Then Maya crouched beside him.
“That one looks newer.”
A single black cable had been installed years after the others.
Marco disconnected it.
The ventilation fans restarted.
Everyone breathed.
The door remained locked.
Luca looked toward the camera.
Whoever controlled it was watching.
He rolled directly beneath it.
“You failed.”
No answer.
He continued.
“And now you’re scared.”
A speaker crackled.
Vittorio’s voice filled the room.
“Still arrogant.”
Elena went rigid.
Maya stared upward.
Luca remained calm.
“You brought Maya here.”
“I brought Elena here.”
“Same result.”
“No.”
Vittorio’s voice became colder.
“I expected Elena to remain grateful for employment.”
Luca almost laughed.
“You never understood her.”
“I understood enough.”
“You understood nothing.”
Silence.
Then Vittorio spoke again.
“You think those recordings give you victory?”
“They give me proof.”
“They give you scandal.”
Luca’s expression hardened.
Vittorio continued.
“If those files become public, your father becomes part of the story.”
“He deserves to be.”
“You would destroy his name?”
“Yes.”
The answer came so quickly that Elena looked at Luca.
Vittorio had expected hesitation.
Instead, Luca gave him none.
“My father helped poison me.”
Luca looked directly into the camera.
“His name can survive the truth or die beneath it.”
Vittorio’s breathing was audible through the speaker.
Then the system disconnected.
Marco smiled.
“He’s losing control.”
A loud impact echoed beyond the steel door.
Then another.
Security teams had reached the basement.
Minutes later, the door opened.
Fresh air flooded inside.
Maya hugged Elena.
Marco immediately traced the remote connection.
It originated from a Costello office downtown.
By the time security arrived, the office was empty.
But one man had been caught leaving through the parking garage.
Damian Russo.
He did not resist.
He asked for an attorney.
Luca had him brought to a secure interview room.
Damian sat across from him.
For the first time in fourteen years, he looked like a stranger.
“Why?”
Damian stared at the table.
“Money at first.”
“And later?”
“Fear.”
“Of Vittorio?”
Damian laughed bitterly.
“Of everyone.”
Luca slid a photograph of Maya across the table.
“You marked her birthday.”
Damian finally looked up.
“That wasn’t an abduction date.”
“What was it?”
“A deadline.”
“For what?”
Damian swallowed.
“Vittorio planned to have you declared incompetent the week before her birthday.”
Luca went still.
“Why then?”
“Because the trust review happens automatically when a verified heir turns nine.”
Damian leaned forward.
“And Luca…”
His voice dropped.
“Vittorio doesn’t plan to wait anymore.”
May you like
“Wait for what?”
“For you to die naturally.”
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