Chapter 6: The Call From the Dead
Luca stared at the screen.
The phone continued ringing.
Victoria whispered, “Don't answer.””
Luca pressed the button.
“Adrian?””
Static.
Then breathing.
Slow.
Uneven.
Alive.
Luca gripped the phone.
“Where are you?””
A pause.
Then his brother spoke.
“Not where you think.””
Luca closed his eyes.
“Are you really alive?””
“Yes.””
The answer nearly broke something inside him.
“Why did you let me believe you were dead?””
“I didn't.””
Luca opened his eyes.
“What?””
“I tried to come home.””
“When?””
“Fifteen years ago.””
Victoria turned away.
Luca noticed.
“Victoria knows.””
Adrian went silent.
Luca looked at her.
“You knew he was alive.””
Victoria whispered, “Yes.””
“How long?””
“I told you. Eight years.””
“You've known for eight years.””
“Yes.””
“And you never told me.””
“No.””
“Why?””
Adrian's voice came through the phone.
“Because I asked her not to.””
Luca stared at the phone.
“You asked her?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because Dad was listening.””
Luca looked around the hidden room.
“Listening to what?””
“Everything.””
Luca's gaze moved to the photographs.
Adrian continued.
“Your office. Your house. Your car.
This mansion. He had people everywhere.””
Luca swallowed.
“Is he alive?””
Silence.
Then Adrian said, “Yes.””
Victoria began crying.
Luca turned toward her.
“Where is he?””
“I don't know.””
“Adrian.””
“He doesn't stay in one place.””
“You said he was here.””
“He was.””
“When?””
“Tonight.””
Luca looked toward the staircase.
“Where did he go?””
“I don't know.””
A sharp sound came through the phone.
Like a door slamming.
Adrian's breathing changed.
“Luca, listen carefully.””
“I'm listening.””
“Do not trust Victoria.””
Victoria looked up.
“Adrian, please.””
He continued.
“She didn't tell you everything.””
Luca's eyes hardened.
“What didn't she tell me?””
“She wasn't the one who put Elena downstairs.””
Elena froze.
Luca turned toward her.
“Who did?””
Adrian's voice dropped.
“Dad.””
Elena shook her head.
“No.””
Adrian continued.
“He needed someone to find the key.””
Luca frowned.
“What key?””
“The first one.””
Luca looked down at the silver key in his hand.
“This?””
“No.””
He glanced at the second key.
“This?””
“No.””
“Then which key?””
Adrian breathed heavily.
“The one Elena was supposed to find.””
Elena's face went pale.
“I don't understand.””
Adrian said, “You were never supposed to escape that basement.””
Luca stared at her.
Victoria suddenly stepped forward.
“Luca…”
He raised a hand.
“Don't.””
She stopped.
He looked at Elena.
“Why you?””
“I don't know.””
“Your father worked for my family.””
Elena nodded.
“Before I was born.””
“What did he do?””
“He was a driver.””
Victoria whispered, “He was more than that.””
Elena turned toward her.
“What do you mean?””
Victoria looked at Luca.
“He helped Adrian.””
Luca's eyes narrowed.
“Helping him do what?””
“Get evidence.””
Adrian's voice suddenly crackled through the phone.
“Luca, stop.””
“Why?””
“Because you're asking the wrong question.””
“What question should I ask?””
A long silence followed.
Then Adrian said:
“Ask why Dad needed you to find out about me tonight.””
Luca's chest tightened.
“What?””
“You think this dinner was about your engagement.””
Victoria lowered her head.
“It wasn't.””
Luca looked around the room.
The photographs.
The keys.
The hidden door.
His brother alive.
His father alive.
None of it made sense.
“What was tonight about?””
Adrian whispered:
“Your inheritance.””
Luca stared at Victoria.
She slowly shook her head.
“Luca, I didn't know.””
“You knew enough.””
“I swear I didn't.””
The phone crackled again.
Adrian's voice became urgent.
“Listen to me. You have less than ten minutes.””
“Until what?””
“Until he comes back.””
Luca's grip tightened around the phone.
“Where?””
“I don't know.””
“Adrian!””
The line went silent.
Luca looked at the screen.
“Adrian?””
Nothing.
“Adrian!””
A message appeared.
*COME ALONE.*
Then another.
*BRING THE KEY.*
Luca stared at the screen.
Victoria stepped closer.
“Don't go.””
He looked at her.
“Why?””
“Because it's a trap.””
“Probably.””
“Then why are you considering it?””
“Because he's my brother.””
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“And I'm your fiancée.””
Luca looked at her for a long moment.
Then he said quietly, “I'm not sure what you are anymore.””
Victoria flinched.
Elena stepped between them.
“Mr. Luca.””
He looked at her.
She pointed toward the black box.
“The envelope.””
Luca looked down.
He had forgotten about it.
He opened the envelope.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
Only one sentence had been written.
*THE PERSON YOU TRUST MOST IS THE ONE WHO OPENED THE BASEMENT DOOR.*
Luca slowly raised his eyes.
Victoria was staring at the paper.
Elena was staring at Victoria.
And from somewhere above them came the unmistakable sound of the mansion's front door opening.
Someone had entered.
Then a man's voice echoed through the house.
“Luca?””
His brother's voice.
May you like
But this time, it wasn't coming through the phone.
It was coming from upstairs.
