Chapter 5 – THE MESSAGE IN THE OUTBOX

My hands shook as I looked at the glowing screen.

Luca hadn’t alerted Vanessa. He had unlocked her phone for me. He suspected her, too.

I opened the messaging app. There was only one deleted thread recently recovered in the trash folder, sent to an unsaved number just twenty minutes ago.

“The police bought the car seat decoy. Is the package secure?”

The reply, received two minutes later:

“She’s bleeding bad. We’re at the warehouse on 4th. Bring the money, or I leave her here.”

I felt the air leave my lungs.

“She’s alive,” I whispered, looking at Luca. “Sofia is alive.”

Luca’s face went completely blank, but the muscles in his jaw flexed so hard I thought they might snap. He took the phone from my hands, read the messages, and slowly stood up.

At that exact moment, Vanessa walked out of the bathroom in a silk robe, drying her hair with a towel.

She stopped dead when she saw us.

“Luca?” she said, her voice dropping. “Why is the maid in our bedroom?”

Luca didn’t scream. He didn’t throw the phone. He simply walked over to his closet, pulled a heavy black handgun from the top shelf, and tucked it into the waistband of his trousers.

Vanessa’s towel fell to the floor. “Luca, what are you doing?”

“I’m going to get my sister,” he said, walking past her.

Vanessa lunged for his arm. “You can’t! Vincent’s men will kill you!”

Luca stopped. He turned his head slowly, locking eyes with the woman he was supposed to marry.

“How do you know Vincent’s men have her, Vanessa? I never said that.”

Vanessa froze. The color drained from her perfectly made-up face.

Luca shrugged her hand off his arm. “Hannah. Come with me.”

I didn’t hesitate. I followed him out the door, down the stairs, and into the freezing Chicago night.

We took my beat-up Honda instead of his conspicuous luxury cars. I drove while Luca loaded a spare magazine in the passenger seat.

“Why would she do it?” I asked, my voice trembling as we sped toward the warehouse district. “Why would Vanessa help Vincent take Sofia?”

Luca stared out the window into the dark. “Because Vincent promised Vanessa something I refused to give her.”

I glanced at him. “What?”

“The family trust,” Luca said bitterly. “If Sofia and her child are out of the picture, Vanessa’s future children inherit everything.”

We pulled up to the abandoned warehouse on 4th Street. The rain had started, turning the gravel driveway into mud.

A black SUV was parked near the loading dock. Marcus’s car.

Luca kicked the side door open, his gun raised. I followed closely behind, terrified but unable to stay in the car.

The warehouse was dark and smelled of oil and damp concrete.

“Sofia!” Luca shouted.

A heavy groan echoed from the far corner.

We ran toward the sound.

Tied to a metal chair, bruised and bleeding from a cut on her forehead, was Sofia.

Luca dropped his gun and fell to his knees, frantically untying the ropes. “I’ve got you. You’re safe. I’ve got you.”

Sofia collapsed into her brother’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Luca,” she gasped, clutching his shirt. “Luca, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he smoothed her hair. “The baby is safe. She’s at the house with Mom.”

Sofia stopped crying.

She pulled back, looking at Luca with wide, terrified eyes.

“What are you talking about?” Sofia whispered.

Luca frowned. “The baby. Hannah found her hidden in the coat closet at the house.”

Sofia shook her head frantically. “No, Luca. You don’t understand.”

She pointed a trembling finger toward the shadows behind us.

“I didn’t bring my baby to the house tonight. I left her at the hospital.”

I felt my heart stop.

If Sofia’s baby was at the hospital…

Whose baby was I holding in the coat closet?

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