Chapter 2 - The Night Everything Broke
The ambulance carried Lily away from the Rossi estate at 9:47 p.m.
Leo rode beside her.
Beatrice tried to follow.
She made it three steps across the kitchen before the room tilted.
Mateo caught her before she hit the floor.
“You’re going too.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding through your sleeve.”
“Lily needs—”
“Lily has Leo and four paramedics.”
Mateo looked toward Victoria.
Victoria stood between two security guards now.
Her wineglass was gone.
Her face had lost every trace of polished confidence.
“She is not leaving this house.”
Victoria stared at him.
“You cannot imprison me.”
Mateo’s expression did not change.
“No one said imprisoned.”
“Then move your men.”
“No.”
“You work for Leo.”
“I work for the Rossi family.”
Mateo glanced toward the driveway where the ambulance lights flashed against the trees.
“And tonight you tried to destroy part of it.”
Victoria slapped him.
The sound echoed through the hallway.
Mateo did not react.
One of the younger guards reached toward Victoria.
Mateo stopped him with a look.
“Do not touch her unless she tries to leave.”
Victoria laughed sharply.
“You people have completely lost your minds.”
Mateo crouched beside Beatrice.
“What happened?”
Beatrice pressed a towel against her cheek.
“I heard Lily crying.”
“When?”
“Maybe twenty minutes before Mr. Rossi arrived.”
“Start at the beginning.”
Beatrice closed her eyes.
She had been carrying fresh linens toward the guest wing when she heard something strike the wall downstairs.
Then Lily screamed.
Not loudly.
That made it worse.
Beatrice followed the sound toward the kitchen.
Victoria was dragging Lily by the wrist.
The child was crying and clutching her stuffed rabbit.
Victoria hissed something Beatrice could not hear.
Then the cellar door opened.
Beatrice dropped the linens.
She ran.
Victoria shoved Lily inside.
Beatrice reached the doorway before Victoria could close it.
“What are you doing?”
Victoria spun around.
“Stay out of this.”
“She cannot be down there.”
“She needs to learn consequences.”
“She has asthma.”
“She has drama.”
Beatrice grabbed the door.
Victoria grabbed Beatrice.
The first blow came so quickly Beatrice barely understood what had happened.
Victoria struck her across the face with the heavy brass key ring.
Beatrice stumbled.
Victoria slammed the door.
The deadbolt turned.
Lily screamed from the other side.
“Bee!”
Beatrice lunged for Victoria.
They fell against the kitchen island.
Victoria clawed at Beatrice’s face.
Beatrice grabbed the key ring.
Victoria bit her hand.
Then one of the keys snapped loose and skittered beneath the refrigerator.
Victoria kicked Beatrice in the ribs.
By the time Beatrice regained her balance, Victoria had the remaining keys.
She locked the cellar again.
Then she put the key ring into her pocket.
Beatrice tried to reach the security panel.
Victoria smashed her hand against the marble counter.
That explained the swollen fingers.
Beatrice still tried again.
Victoria knocked the telephone from the wall.
Then she told Beatrice something that had turned her fear into pure terror.
“She’ll calm down eventually.”
But Lily’s screaming had already changed.
It had become coughing.
Then wheezing.
Then nothing.
Beatrice threw herself at the cellar door.
She kicked it.
Pounded it.
Screamed for the outside guards.
The kitchen walls were heavily insulated.
The doors had been closed for the evening.
No one heard.
So Beatrice used the only weapon she had left.
Her own body.
She rammed the serving cart through the glass pantry door.
That crash finally alerted the guards outside.
And seconds later, Leo’s car reached the front drive.
Mateo listened without interrupting.
When Beatrice finished, his face had become frighteningly blank.
“Did anyone else see this?”
“I don’t know.”
Mateo looked toward the ceiling.
“There are cameras.”
Victoria answered before Beatrice could.
“No.”
Mateo slowly turned.
Victoria realized her mistake.
Mateo stood.
“You seem very sure.”
Victoria folded her arms.
“I know Leo values privacy.”
Mateo walked toward the security room.
May you like
Five minutes later, he discovered every kitchen camera had been disabled at 9:08 p.m.
The person who disabled them had used Leo Rossi’s private security code.
