Chapter 7 - SIX SECONDS
I remember six seconds clearly.
The rest became noise.
Second one.
Maya screamed.
Second two.
I saw a black shape beyond the balcony doors.
Second three.
I forgot fear.
Second four.
I put Luca into Alessandro's arms.
Second five.
I ran barefoot across the room.
Second six.
I launched myself through the curtains.
The man carrying Maya had reached the balcony railing.
He turned when he heard me.
His face was covered.
One arm held my daughter against his chest.
The other reached toward his waistband.
I did not think.
I grabbed the heavy ceramic planter beside the door and swung it.
The pot struck his shoulder.
He cursed.
Maya slipped.
I caught her.
The man staggered backward.
Then Alessandro appeared.
The look on his face stopped me.
Not because he was afraid.
Because he wasn't.
He handed Luca to Enzo.
Then crossed the balcony.
The intruder raised a knife.
Alessandro moved once.
Fast.
Controlled.
The knife clattered away.
Enzo and another guard tackled the man before Alessandro could reach him again.
I pulled Maya against me.
She was sobbing.
“Mommy.”
“I have you.”
“I have you.”
“I have you.”
Alessandro turned.
His breathing was heavy.
His right hand was bleeding where the blade had cut him.
“Is she hurt?”
I checked Maya desperately.
Her arms.
Her legs.
Her head.
“No.”
Maya stared at the blood.
“Mr. Alessandro is hurt.”
“I’m fine.”
He covered his hand.
Too late.
Maya had seen it.
I looked at him.
“You promised.”
His expression changed.
“I know.”
“Guns.”
“Men.”
“My daughter being carried off a balcony.”
“I know.”
“You said she would be safe.”
“I was wrong.”
The answer took the fight out of me.
He did not excuse it.
He did not blame anyone.
He simply admitted failure.
Maya wrapped both arms around my neck.
“I want to go home.”
There was nowhere to go.
I pressed my face into her hair.
“So do I.”
Downstairs, the intruder was restrained in a service room.
I did not want to see him.
Alessandro insisted I identify him from a photograph.
The man was perhaps thirty.
Dark hair.
Broken nose.
I had never seen him before.
Then Maya looked at the image.
Her body stiffened.
“Baby?”
I crouched.
“You know him?”
She pointed.
“That man was with Uncle Ryan.”
Every adult in the room froze.
“Where?”
“At the airport.”
I looked toward Bellini, who had arrived with officers after the alarm.
“Maya, are you sure?”
She nodded.
“He gave Uncle Ryan coffee.”
Inspector Bellini knelt.
“What did the cup look like?”
Maya looked uncertain.
I touched her hand.
“You don't have to answer.”
“It was green.”
Bellini nodded.
“Thank you.”
She stood.
“We'll handle any formal statement later with a child specialist.”
I appreciated that.
Alessandro looked at Enzo.
“So Ryan Bennett met Vittorio's people before we left the airport.”
Bellini shook her head.
“We do not yet know the intruder works for Vittorio.”
Maya spoke again.
“He has the same bird.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What bird?”
She pointed toward the photograph.
The intruder's sleeve had ridden upward.
A small black tattoo marked his wrist.
A falcon.
Alessandro's face hardened.
“Vittorio.”
Bellini sighed.
“That still isn't proof.”
“It is for me.”
“Which is precisely why you are not going anywhere.”
She stepped closer to him.
“Your people will not retaliate.”
Alessandro's eyes were cold.
“My daughter was almost taken.”
I looked sharply at him.
Maya noticed too.
“She’s not your daughter.”
Alessandro closed his eyes briefly.
“No.”
He looked at Maya.
“I’m sorry.”
Maya considered him.
“It's okay.”
Children forgave far too easily.
That frightened me.
Bellini took the intruder into custody.
Before leaving, she pulled me aside.
“Ms. Bennett.”
“Yes?”
“You need to understand something.”
“What?”
“Alessandro Moretti may be helping you.”
“He may even care about your daughter.”
“But he is not an ordinary businessman.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Bellini lowered her voice.
“You know newspaper headlines.”
“I know case files.”
My skin chilled.
“Has he killed people?”
“I cannot discuss investigations.”
“That sounds like yes.”
“It means you should remember that a dangerous man can be gentle with a baby and remain dangerous.”
I looked toward the living room.
Alessandro sat on the edge of a sofa while Dr. Ricci stitched his hand.
Luca slept in a bassinet beside him.
Maya had fallen asleep against Enzo's enormous shoulder.
The scene looked absurdly domestic.
“I haven't forgotten.”
Bellini nodded.
“Good.”
She left.
At dawn, Alessandro had every exterior window inspected.
One camera had been disabled.
One guard had vanished.
The missing guard was named Paolo.
He had worked for Alessandro for eight years.
Enzo looked devastated.
“He knew every security procedure.”
“Family?” Alessandro asked.
“Wife.”
“Two daughters.”
“Find them before Vittorio does.”
That order surprised me.
Not kill him.
Not find Paolo.
Find his family.
Enzo nodded.
I watched Alessandro.
“You think he was forced.”
“I hope.”
“Why?”
“Because betrayal hurts less if someone had a reason.”
I understood that too well.
My phone rang.
This time the caller ID showed an American number I recognized.
St. Agnes Medical Center.
My pulse jumped.
I answered.
“Hello?”
A woman's voice responded.
“Is this Claire Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Caroline Keene.”
The room disappeared.
I had not heard that name spoken directly to me in six years.
My knees weakened.
“How did you get my number?”
“I've been trying to find you.”
“Why?”
“Because your husband came to see me.”
I gripped the phone.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“What did Derek want?”
Caroline began crying.
“He asked me to tell police you hurt my son.”
I closed my eyes.
“What did you say?”
“I told him to get out of my house.”
I opened my eyes.
Across the room, Marco was watching.
Caroline continued.
“I know what happened that night.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“I know you were the nurse who kept calling for the doctor.”
“I know you saved Jacob.”
I could not speak.
“Claire, the hospital lied.”
“Yes.”
“I found something.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“What?”
“My husband died last year.”
“I finally went through his old files.”
“He had kept a flash drive from our lawsuit.”
“There are internal hospital emails on it.”
I forgot to breathe.
“What do they say?”
“That the records were changed.”
The room tilted.
“And Claire?”
“Yes?”
“One of the emails mentions Judge Warren Bennett.”
Derek's father.
“What does it say?”
Caroline inhaled shakily.
“It says, ‘Bennett has agreed the nurse will be contained.’”
My blood went cold.
Contained.
Six years ago.
Before Derek and I were even married.
“Caroline.”
“Yes?”
“Why did Derek come to you yesterday?”
“He wanted the flash drive.”
My heart started pounding.
“Did you give it to him?”
“No.”
“Where is it?”
Silence.
“Caroline?”
Her voice dropped.
“I mailed it.”
“To whom?”
“You.”
I nearly dropped the phone.
“What address?”
“The Rome address.”
“What Rome address?”
“The one your husband gave me.”
Every hair on my arms lifted.
“Caroline.”
“I never gave Derek an address in Rome.”
She went silent.
A knock sounded at the front door.
Three slow knocks.
Enzo looked toward the security monitor.
A courier stood outside holding a small package.
My name was printed across the front.
Claire Bennett.
Rome, Italy.
No street address.
No postal code.
Nothing.
May you like
Yet somehow the package had found me.
And somewhere in America, my husband had known exactly where I would be before even I knew it.
