Chapter 2 – THE TRUCK WITH NO NAME

Vanessa stared at the watch in Luca’s hand.

All the color drained from her face.

“That’s… that’s impossible,” she whispered.

Luca didn’t yell. He didn’t raise his voice.

He simply flipped the watch open with his thumb and held it inches from her face.

There, scratched roughly into the silver metal, were the letters V.B.

“You took this from her,” Luca said, his voice entirely devoid of emotion. “You took it from her the night she died, and you claimed it for yourself. But you couldn’t wear it. So you buried it.”

“No!” Vanessa cried, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Luca, please! I found it! I found it in her room after she passed away! I was jealous, I admit it! But I didn’t take it from her that night!”

Emma began to cry softly, pulling the kitten closer to her chest.

I stepped forward and placed my hands gently over Emma’s ears, trying to shield her from the nightmare unfolding in her home.

Luca saw me do it.

He gave me a brief, sharp nod of gratitude.

Then he turned back to the grounds manager.

“Daniel,” Luca said. “You said Vanessa arranged for the kittens to be taken by an animal transport company.”

“Yes, sir,” Daniel answered.

“What was the name of the company on the side of their van?”

Daniel frowned, thinking hard.

“There wasn’t one, sir. It was just a plain white cargo van. The driver didn’t even have a uniform.”

My blood ran cold.

“Mr. Moretti,” I whispered, stepping forward.

Luca turned to me.

“I saw that white van this morning,” I said, my voice shaking. “It was parked near the service entrance. The driver was smoking. I saw his face.”

Vanessa’s eyes widened in sheer panic.

“Rachel, shut your mouth!” she shrieked.

“Keep speaking, Rachel,” Luca commanded.

I swallowed hard.

“It wasn’t an animal rescue worker, sir. It was Marco. Vanessa’s personal driver.”

The silence in the dining room was deafening.

Luca slowly turned his head back to his fiancée.

“You didn’t send those kittens to a rescue,” Luca realized, the truth hitting him like a physical blow. “You told your driver to get rid of them.”

Vanessa broke down sobbing.

“They were dirty animals, Luca! They were ruining the garden!”

“You put three helpless kittens in a van to be killed,” Luca said quietly.

He pulled his cell phone from his tailored suit pocket.

He dialed a number and put it on speaker.

The head of his private security answered immediately.

“Yes, Boss?”

“Lock the estate gates,” Luca ordered. “Nobody leaves. And find Marco. Right now.”

“Sir,” the security chief hesitated. “Marco left the estate ten minutes ago. He took the white van.”

Luca’s jaw tightened.

“Where did he go?”

“He said Miss Bellini gave him an urgent errand at the warehouse on the South Side.”

Emma let out a heartbroken sob.

“They’re going to hurt them,” she cried. “My babies.”

Luca hung up the phone.

He looked at his crying daughter, and then he looked at me.

“Rachel,” he said. “Take Emma upstairs. Lock the bedroom door. Do not open it for anyone but me.”

I nodded immediately.

“Come on, sweetie,” I whispered, holding Emma’s hand as she clutched Pip to her chest.

We hurried out of the dining room.

But as we reached the top of the grand staircase, I saw something that made my heart stop.

The door to Emma’s bedroom was already wide open. And standing inside the dark room was a man I had never seen before.