Chapter 6 – The Enemy Inside

The tiny flame from the match illuminated Vanessa’s face. She was no longer wearing the elegant red gown. She wore a dark coat, her makeup smeared, her eyes burning with manic desperation.

“How did you get in here?” I gasped, backing away until my shoulders hit the cold steel door.

Vanessa smiled, a thin, cruel line. She shook the match out, plunging us back into the dim glow of her cell phone screen.

“I used to live in this house, Emily. You think I didn’t memorize the master codes?”

She pulled something from her coat pocket.

It was a small, pearl-handled revolver. She pointed it directly at Isabella.

“Don’t touch her!” I screamed, throwing myself in front of the little girl.

“Shut up,” Vanessa hissed. “If you scream again, I’ll shoot you both.”

My mind raced. The room was soundproof. Luca was already gone, racing to the shipyard. We were completely trapped.

“Why are you doing this?” I pleaded. “Your father already has Elena and Teresa.”

Vanessa let out a bitter, cracking laugh. “My father doesn’t give a damn about me. He never did. He just wanted Luca’s empire. He left me here as a distraction so Luca would leave the house.”

She walked closer, the gun unwavering.

“But I’m not leaving empty-handed. Luca embarrassed me. He chose a dead woman and a maid over me.”

Vanessa reached out and grabbed Isabella by the arm, yanking her out from behind me.

Isabella shrieked, struggling against Vanessa’s grip.

“Lasciami! Cattiva!” Isabella cried. Let me go! Bad woman!

“Speak English, you little brat!” Vanessa yelled, raising her hand to strike the child.

“Stop!” I lunged forward and grabbed Vanessa’s wrist.

We crashed onto the floor. The gun clattered away, sliding under the small cot in the corner.

Vanessa was stronger than she looked. She punched me hard in the jaw. Pain exploded across my face, and my vision blurred.

“You ruined everything!” Vanessa screamed, wrapping her hands around my throat. “If you hadn’t translated for her, none of this would have happened!”

I gasped for air, clawing at her fingers. My lungs burned. The edges of my vision started to turn black.

Suddenly, a heavy thud echoed through the small room.

Vanessa’s grip loosened. Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed to the side.

I scrambled backward, coughing violently, sucking in desperately needed air.

I looked up.

Isabella stood there, shaking like a leaf. In her tiny hands, she held the heavy brass fire extinguisher she had pulled from the wall bracket.

She had hit Vanessa perfectly on the back of the head.

“Non fare del male a Emily,” the nine-year-old whispered, her chest heaving. Don’t hurt Emily.

I pulled her into my arms, sobbing into her dark hair. “You saved me, Bella. You saved me.”

I quickly found the revolver under the cot and shoved it into my apron. I grabbed Vanessa’s phone from the floor.

I dialed Luca’s number. It went straight to voicemail.

“He’s not answering,” I panicked.

I looked at the phone screen again. A notification popped up from Arthur Bellini’s contact.

I clicked it. It was a message sent to Vanessa ten minutes ago.

The shipyard is a decoy. I’m moving the women to the old train station on 5th Street. Meet me there.

My blood ran cold. Luca was walking into a trap.

I grabbed Isabella’s hand.

“We have to go, Bella. We have to warn Daddy.”

I hit the emergency release on the steel door. It hissed open.

As we ran down the empty hallway, Isabella stopped. She pointed at a framed painting on the wall.

Tucked behind the frame was a small, folded train ticket.

I pulled it out. The destination was stamped in bold ink: CANADA. DEPARTURE: 11:30 PM.

I checked the grandfather clock in the hall.

It was 10:45 PM.

“Elena wasn’t kidnapped today,” I whispered to myself, realizing the truth. “She was trying to escape.”

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