Chapter 2 – THE TORN PHOTOGRAPH

“Mr. Moretti, wait!” I chased him out into the rain. “Why are we going to my apartment?”

Luca laid Bruno gently in the backseat of the SUV. The old dog whimpered, resting his head on the blue blanket.

“Because Vanessa didn’t just steal the microfilm hidden inside my father’s watch,” Luca said, slamming the door. “She swapped it.”

I froze in the downpour. “Swapped it?”

“The casing was empty, Emma. But there was a trace of fresh adhesive. She planted something in my vault, and whatever it is, it’s meant to ruin me.” He opened the passenger door for me. “And she only did it today because she knew the kennel incident would keep everyone distracted.”

My mind raced. “But what does that have to do with my son?”

“Because,” Luca said, starting the engine, “the security footage I just pulled up on my phone shows Vanessa’s driver—the one who took Bruno—pulling up to your apartment building twenty minutes ago.”

Panic, pure and absolute, seized my chest.

“Leo,” I choked out.

I fumbled for my phone and dialed my mother.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

No answer.

“Drive,” I begged. “Please, drive!”

The tires spun on the wet asphalt as Luca floored it. The city blurred past us. I couldn’t breathe. My mother was frail, just out of the hospital. Leo was just a little boy.

If Vanessa’s men were there…

We arrived at my building in less than eight minutes. Luca didn’t wait for me. He drew a dark handgun from beneath his jacket, his entire demeanor shifting from a businessman to the ruthless head of the Moretti family.

We sprinted up three flights of stairs.

The door to apartment 3B was wide open.

The lock was shattered.

“Mom!” I screamed, rushing past Luca.

The living room was destroyed. Couch cushions were slashed. Drawers were dumped on the floor.

My mother lay on the rug, groaning, holding a bruised arm.

“Mom!” I dropped to my knees, tears streaming down my face. “Where’s Leo? Where is he?”

“Emma,” she sobbed, clutching my hands. “They tried to take him. A man in a black suit. But Leo… he ran.”

“Where?” Luca demanded, his gun lowered but his eyes scanning the shadows.

“The fire escape,” she wept. “He climbed out.”

I scrambled to the window. The rain was pouring down. The rusted iron fire escape was slippery and dark.

“Leo!” I screamed into the alley.

Nothing.

“Leo, it’s Mommy! Please, baby!”

A tiny whimper came from the landing above.

I didn’t think. I climbed out into the storm, slipping on the wet metal, until I reached the roof access.

Tucked behind an old AC unit was a small, shivering figure in dinosaur pajamas.

“Leo!”

I grabbed him, pulling his freezing body into my arms. He buried his face in my neck, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Mommy,” he cried. “The bad man dropped something.”

Luca stepped out onto the fire escape behind me, his broad shoulders shielding us from the wind.

Leo opened his tiny, shaking fist.

Crumbled in his palm was an old, faded Polaroid photograph.

I took it, wiping the rain from the glossy surface.

My blood ran cold.

It was a picture of me. I was eighteen, smiling in front of my high school.

But I wasn’t the focus of the photo.

Standing in the background, watching me from across the street, was Vanessa Bellini. Ten years ago.

Luca stared at the photo over my shoulder.

“She didn’t just meet you when you started working for me, Emma,” Luca said quietly. “She’s been watching you for a decade. Why?”

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