Chapter 7 - THE NAME INSIDE THE LOCKET
“Emma!”
Sophia ran upstairs.
Damiano was faster.
He reached the child's room first.
The window was open.
The curtains moved in the cold air.
Sophia stopped in the doorway.
“No.”
Damiano searched the room.
“Don't panic.”
“She was right beside me.”
“I know.”
“She was right there.”
“I know.”
Security flooded the hallway.
Vincent arrived seconds later.
“Find her.”
Damiano looked at the floor.
There were no footprints.
No broken lock.
No blood.
Nothing.
Then he noticed Emma's drawing on the bed.
A little house.
A little girl.
And a red circle around the kitchen.
Damiano picked it up.
“She's leaving us a map.”
Sophia stared.
“What?”
“She draws what she sees.”
Damiano followed the lines.
The kitchen.
The refrigerator.
A bracelet.
A clock.
And a small black square.
“What is that?”
Sophia suddenly remembered.
“The old pantry camera.”
Damiano turned.
“There's a camera?”
“An old one. It hasn't worked in years.”
They ran downstairs.
The pantry door was open.
Inside, the refrigerator stood slightly away from the wall.
Behind it was a narrow service passage.
Damiano looked at Sophia.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
She stepped forward.
“My daughter is in there.”
Damiano nodded.
“Then stay behind me.”
They entered.
The passage led toward the old servant quarters.
At the end, a small door stood open.
Inside was a room no one had used in decades.
Emma sat on a chair.
A man stood beside her.
He was holding a gun.
Sophia screamed her daughter's name.
Emma looked up.
“Mommy!”
The man pressed the weapon against the wall instead of Emma.
“Don't come closer.”
Damiano stepped forward.
“You're Daniel Hayes.”
Sophia froze.
The man lowered his hood.
Her husband's face stared back at her.
Older.
Thinner.
Alive.
Sophia could barely breathe.
“You're dead.”
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
“You let me bury you.”
“I never wanted you to.”
“You let Emma grow up without you.”
“I was trying to keep her alive.”
Sophia slapped him.
The sound echoed through the room.
Daniel didn't defend himself.
“You don't get to say that.”
“I know.”
Damiano kept his weapon raised.
“Why did you take Emma?”
“I didn't.”
“Then why is she here?”
“Because she followed me.”
Emma raised her hand.
“I wanted to find Daddy.”
Sophia's heart broke.
She looked at Daniel.
“Did you know she was here?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you come to us?”
“Because Rafael found me.”
Damiano's face hardened.
“Where is he?”
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
“Closer than you think.”
Suddenly, the lights went out.
Daniel grabbed Emma.
Sophia screamed.
A shot rang out.
Damiano fired toward the doorway.
When the emergency lights returned, Daniel was gone.
Emma was still there.
She was holding something.
A silver locket.
“Daddy gave me this.”
Sophia took it.
Inside was a photograph.
Not Daniel.
A young girl.
Isabella.
And beside her was Elena.
On the back was written:
For the daughter I couldn't protect.
Isabella entered the room.
She saw the photograph.
Her face collapsed.
“My mother.”
Damiano looked at her.
“You knew Daniel?”
Isabella nodded.
“He helped me escape.”
“When?”
“Twenty years ago.”
Sophia looked at her.
“You've known him all this time?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because he made me promise.”
Damiano opened the locket.
There was another compartment.
Inside was a tiny brass key.
He looked at Margaret.
She immediately understood.
“The key from Elena's rosary.”
Two keys.
One lock.
They had been carrying half the answer.
Damiano looked at the old watch.
Then at the photograph.
Then at Sophia.
“Your mother said Emma was the key to the last door.”
Sophia shook her head.
“What door?”
A voice came from behind them.
“Mine.”
They turned.
Rafael Moretti stood in the doorway.
Older than Damiano remembered.
Alive.
Calm.
Holding the missing brown leather watch.
Vincent raised his gun.
Rafael smiled.
“Put it down.”
Damiano stepped forward.
“You killed my father.”
Rafael shook his head.
“No.”
“You ordered his death.”
“No.”
“Then why did you disappear?”
Rafael looked at Sophia.
“Because your husband was the only man who knew what really happened.”
Sophia's voice shook.
“What happened?”
Rafael looked at Emma.
“Your daughter wasn't supposed to survive her birth.”
Damiano's eyes hardened.
“Explain.”
Rafael slowly removed the back of the brown watch.
Inside was a tiny piece of paper.
He unfolded it.
A name was written there.
Sophia Bennett.
Sophia stared.
“That isn't my name.”
May you like
Rafael looked at her.
“Exactly.”
