Chapter 1 - THE CLICK BEHIND THE WALL
Emma pressed the orange end of the EpiPen against Alejandro’s thigh.
The injector clicked.
She held it there the way her mother had taught her.
“One.”
“Two.”
“Three.”
Alejandro’s body jerked beneath her small hands.
A thin breath passed through his closing throat.
Then something clicked inside the wall.
A red light appeared between two carved wooden panels beside the bookshelf.
Emma stared at it.
The light moved.
A tiny lens turned toward the rug.
The hidden camera had activated.
Emma did not know that the emergency system responded to the sound of breaking glass, a heavy fall, and the sharp frequency of an injector spring.
She knew only that the wooden wall had opened an eye.
Behind her, the bookcase moved.
A narrow passage appeared.
A man stepped into the study.
Emma recognized him.
Bruno Caruso was the person who always stood closest to Mr. Moretti.
He opened doors before Alejandro touched them.
He tasted wine before formal dinners.
He carried the keys to the estate’s private gates.
The household staff said Bruno had saved Alejandro’s life three times.
Now he wore black gloves.
A silver vial rested in his right hand.
He saw the empty injector.
Then he saw Alejandro’s chest moving again.
His face changed.
“What did you do?”
Emma moved between him and Alejandro.
“He couldn’t breathe.”
Bruno placed the vial inside his coat.
“You should be downstairs.”
“My mommy said to find a grown-up if something bad happened.”
Bruno took one step forward.
“I am the grown-up.”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
The answer surprised him.
He reached toward Alejandro.
Emma threw herself over the Don’s chest.
“Don’t touch him.”
Bruno looked toward the hidden camera.
The red light reflected in his eyes.
He grabbed a brass horse from the desk and swung it into the wall.
The lens cracked.
The light remained on.
Bruno struck it again.
A section of wood broke away.
The camera continued recording through a second lens hidden deeper inside the panel.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Bruno returned to the passage.
Before closing the door, he looked directly at Emma.
“You tell anyone you saw me, and your mother will never come home.”
The bookshelf shut.
Emma remained frozen over Alejandro.
The study doors burst open.
Two guards entered with weapons raised.
Gabriel Torres came first.
He was younger than Bruno and had a scar across one eyebrow.
He lowered his gun when he saw the child.
“Where is Mr. Moretti?”
Emma pointed beneath herself.
Gabriel crossed the room.
Alejandro’s lips were still blue, but air had begun moving into his lungs.
Gabriel called for the estate physician.
More guards filled the study.
No one noticed the hidden passage.
No one noticed the broken wooden panel.
Everyone noticed the EpiPen in Emma’s hand.
“Whose medicine is that?” Gabriel asked.
“Mine.”
“Do you have another one?”
Emma looked toward her rabbit backpack.
Then she shook her head.
“That was the last one.”
Gabriel understood what the child had risked.
Alejandro’s medical team arrived.
They placed an oxygen mask over his face and lifted him onto a stretcher.
Emma followed until a nurse blocked the doorway.
“You cannot come into the clinic.”
“He needs me.”
“You already helped him.”
Emma looked at Alejandro disappearing down the hallway.
She did not feel like she had helped enough.
A woman shouted from the staircase.
“Emma!”
Mariana Carter ran into the study wearing a gray maid’s uniform beneath her winter coat.
A pharmacy bag hung from one hand.
She dropped it when she saw her daughter beside the broken glass.
Emma ran into her arms.
“I used it.”
“Used what?”
“My EpiPen.”
Mariana pulled back.
“Are you having a reaction?”
“No.”
“The quiet man couldn’t breathe.”
Mariana’s face lost all color.
She looked at the red wine.
The guards.
The open medical case.
Then the damaged wall.
“We are leaving.”
Gabriel stepped in front of the door.
“You cannot leave yet.”
Mariana held Emma tighter.
“You do not get to keep my child because she saved your employer.”
“Someone tried to kill him.”
“My daughter saw something.”
“That is exactly why we need to go.”
Emma whispered against her mother’s neck.
“The man in the wall said you would disappear.”
The room became silent.
Gabriel knelt.
“What man?”
Emma pointed toward the broken panel.
“The one Mr. Moretti trusts.”
“The one with the silver bottle.”
Gabriel slowly turned toward the wall.
May you like
Then he saw the red light still blinking.
The camera had recorded everything.
