Chapter 9 - THE HOUSE WITHOUT CAMERAS
Della agreed to leave her apartment for one reason.
Someone had been tracking her before Evan arrived.
The device contained location data going back eleven days.
Someone had known where she slept.
Where she bought groceries.
Where she attended prenatal appointments.
Where she worked.
That frightened her more than Cordelia ever had.
Luca offered a hotel suite.
Della refused.
"Too many employees."
He offered a condominium.
"No."
Finally he said, "My mother's house."
Della frowned.
"Your mother?"
"She's been dead six years."
Della immediately felt guilty.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be."
The house stood outside the city behind iron gates and old oak trees.
It was elegant but unexpectedly warm.
Family photographs lined the hallway.
Books filled the study.
There were no guards standing inside.
"No cameras?" Della asked.
"Exterior only."
"Why?"
"My mother hated them."
Luca placed her bag near the staircase.
"She said people behaved differently when they believed they were watched."
Della looked at him.
"She was probably right."
For several hours, nothing happened.
Della ate for the first time that day.
She called her doctor.
She felt the baby move.
At midnight, she finally slept.
At 2:14 a.m., an alarm sounded.
Luca was awake instantly.
Della opened her bedroom door.
"What happened?"
"Stay here."
"Absolutely not."
"Della."
"If someone came because of me, I'm not hiding upstairs."
Luca looked frustrated.
Then almost amused.
"You never became easier."
"You knew me for forty minutes eight years ago."
"It was a memorable forty minutes."
They moved downstairs.
One of the exterior doors stood open.
No window had broken.
No lock had been forced.
Whoever entered had possessed a code.
Luca's face became dangerous.
Only twelve people had that code.
His security team searched every room.
Nobody remained inside.
Nothing appeared stolen.
Then Della saw the kitchen table.
A small object lay in the center.
A watch.
Silver.
Cracked face.
She knew it immediately.
"Owen."
Her hand flew to her mouth.
She rushed forward.
Luca stopped her before she touched it.
"Wait."
Security photographed the watch.
Then one guard carefully lifted it.
Della's eyes filled.
"I gave him that."
"When?"
"Last Christmas."
A folded piece of paper lay beneath it.
Luca opened it with gloves.
The handwriting belonged to Owen.
Della recognized every curve.
DELLA.
IF YOU FIND THIS, LOOK INSIDE THE BACK PLATE.
Luca's security technician removed the back of the watch.
Hidden beneath the mechanism was something Owen had never told Della existed.
A microSD card.
Luca inserted it into an isolated laptop.
One video file appeared.
Timestamp.
Nine weeks ago.
Owen's face filled the screen.
He looked exhausted.
Terrified.
Then he spoke.
"If you're watching this, Conrad Vance knows I found the ledger."
Della stopped breathing.
May you like
Owen looked directly into the camera.
"And if I'm gone, don't believe I left you."
