Chapter 7 - Sophia Counts the Turns
Alessio said the first ring required five turns.
Sophia had watched him rotate it three times before the panel opened.
“He is changing the number,” she said.
Alessio’s jaw tightened.
“That was the outer lock.”
“The inner mechanism is different.”
Sophia looked at Renzo.
Her father gave the smallest shake of his head.
Vittorio removed his hand from the ring.
“What is the real sequence?”
Alessio sighed.
“Three turns.”
“Then why say five?”
“To test whether Renzo remembered.”
Vittorio pointed his pistol at his brother.
“You are running out of explanations.”
Renzo spoke from the chair.
“Three turns opens the ledger compartment.”
“Five opens the lower chamber.”
“What is in the lower chamber?”
Renzo looked toward Alessio.
“Your father’s confession.”
The room became silent.
Vittorio’s father, Salvatore Morelli, had ruled Naples for thirty years.
He died in his bed after a short illness.
Vittorio believed the family had no secrets left worth uncovering.
Alessio wanted the lower chamber because it contained evidence about the warehouse fire, the Serra alliance, and an event from their childhood.
“What event?” Vittorio asked.
Alessio stepped away from the wall.
“Open it.”
“Then you will know.”
Vittorio turned the ring three times.
Alessio matched him.
The vault door moved inward.
At the same moment, the pressure device beneath Renzo’s chair clicked.
The bomb specialist shouted.
“No one move.”
A red number appeared on the wall.
Thirty seconds.
The second trigger had activated despite the correct sequence.
Alessio ran toward the open vault.
Vittorio caught him.
“You knew.”
“No.”
Sophia crawled beneath the chair before anyone could stop her.
She saw two wires crossing the metal base.
One was red.
One was yellow.
Her father had taught her never to touch electrical lines.
But he had also taught her to watch what men watched when they lied.
Marco had looked at the yellow wire before leaving.
Sophia pulled it.
The timer stopped at four seconds.
Renzo began crying.
Vittorio lifted Sophia away from the chair.
“You do not do that again.”
She looked at him seriously.
“Then do not wait until four seconds.”
Inside the vault, Matteo found no ledger.
Only an empty metal case.
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On its lid, Isabella had written a message in red lipstick.
ALREADY SOLD.
