Chapter 2 – THE EMPTY SEWING ROOM

The drive to our small suburban house took thirty minutes, but it felt like three hours.

Matteo sat in the driver’s seat of the armored SUV, his eyes constantly scanning the mirrors. He didn’t speak. My mother clutched her purse to her chest, her knuckles white.

“Who would take her, Rachel?” my mother whispered in the dark backseat.

“I don’t know, Mom,” I replied, trying to keep my voice steady. But my mind was racing. Vanessa came from a wealthy, connected family. You didn’t just kidnap a woman like that off the streets of Chicago without starting a war.

When Matteo pulled into our driveway, he didn’t just drop us off. He escorted us to the front door, checked the perimeter of the house, and stood on the porch until he heard the deadbolt click into place.

I locked every window. I drew all the curtains.

My mother sat at the small kitchen table, staring blankly at the wall. The twenty-thousand-dollar check sat between us, a fortune that suddenly felt like a heavy anchor.

“You should go to sleep, Mom,” I said gently, touching her shoulder. “You’ve been up since 4 AM.”

She nodded slowly, looking exhausted. “You’re right, sweetheart. I just… I need to put the dress away first.”

She picked up the red silk gown from the chair. It looked tragic now, a beautiful thing tainted by the cruelty of the woman who had demanded it.

I watched my mother carry the dress into her small sewing room off the kitchen.

I stayed at the table, rubbing my temples. My phone sat silently on the wood. Luca hadn’t called. I didn’t expect him to. He was a mafia boss dealing with a kidnapped fiancé. A maid’s safety was likely low on his priority list now that we were home.

Ten minutes passed.

“Mom?” I called out. “Are you okay in there?”

There was no answer.

Only the soft hum of the refrigerator.

“Mom?”

I stood up and walked toward the sewing room. The door was slightly ajar.

I pushed it open.

The room was empty.

My mother’s ancient sewing machine sat on the desk. The red dress was draped carefully over a dress form in the corner.

But my mother wasn’t there.

“Mom?!” I shouted, panic instantly flooding my veins.

I ran to the back door, located just past the sewing room.

The heavy deadbolt I had just locked was thrown open. The door was cracked open, a cold night breeze blowing into the kitchen.

I pushed the door wide.

“MOM!” I screamed into the dark backyard.

Nothing.

I scrambled back inside, grabbing my phone with trembling hands. I dialed Matteo’s number. It rang three times before he answered.

“Matteo, she’s gone!” I cried hysterically. “My mother is gone! The back door is open!”

“Rachel, calm down,” Matteo’s deep voice ordered. “Are you inside the house?”

“Yes! I’m in the kitchen!”

“Lock the back door immediately. I am five minutes away. Do not go outside.”

I slammed the door shut and threw the deadbolt, sobbing.

Who would take my mother? She was a sixty-nine-year-old seamstress. She had no money, no enemies.

Unless… unless this wasn’t about her.

I backed away from the door, my eyes landing on my mother’s sewing desk.

Something was wrong.

The small, wooden jewelry box my mother kept next to her sewing machine—the one holding my father’s wedding ring—was overturned.

But that wasn’t what caught my eye.

Tucked under the heavy base of the sewing machine was a folded piece of thick, cream-colored paper.

I hadn’t seen it there before.

I pulled it out with shaking fingers and unfolded it.

It wasn’t a ransom note. It was a receipt.

An old, yellowed receipt from a private courier service, dated exactly six weeks ago. The exact day Vanessa had first come to our house to order the dress.

I stared at the name printed on the Sender line.

It didn’t say Vanessa Bellini.

It said Carmela Moretti.

Luca’s aunt.

The woman who had smiled when the wedding was canceled.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my hand.

It was an unknown number.

I answered it, my heart pounding in my ears.

“Hello?” I whispered.

“Rachel,” Vanessa’s voice sobbed through the speaker.

I froze. “Vanessa? Where are you? Where is my mother?!”

“I didn’t want to do it, Rachel!” Vanessa cried hysterically, the sound of rushing wind roaring in the background. “They made me order the dress! They made me bring it to your house!”

“Who made you?!”

“Carmela!” Vanessa screamed. “She needed a reason to get inside your mother’s sewing room! The dress was just a distraction!”

“A distraction for what?!”

“The lining, Rachel! Tear open the lining of the red dress!”

The line went dead.