Chapter 5 - The Search for the Truth
"This is ridiculous," Dante spat, his voice rising an octave as he tried to laugh off the accusation. "You are going to take the babbling imagination of a five-year-old child over the word of your second-in-command? Lorenzo, the girl is traumatized because her mother was caught red-handed! She is making up stories to save her from jail!"
I did not look at Dante. I turned to Silvio, my senior tactical commander, who had been standing silently by the doors with his hand resting on the grip of his Sig Sauer.
"Lock down the perimeter," I ordered coldly. "No one enters, no one leaves. Cut the hardlines and jam every cellular frequency within a five-mile radius. If any man attempts to make a phone call or step off this estate, shoot him in the knees."
Silvio nodded once and spoke rapidly into his encrypted radio. Within seconds, the electronic hum of our signal jammers vibrated through the manor's walls, isolating us from the rest of the world.
I looked back at Elena, who was weeping quietly into my overcoat. "Elena. Look at me."
She raised her tear-stained face, her body trembling with exhaustion and fear.
"What did you find in the library ventilation shaft?" I asked gently.
Elena swallowed hard, her eyes darting terrified toward Dante before locking onto mine. "I was... I was using the long vacuum attachment to clear the dust grids behind the main bookshelves, Signor D’Angelo. The metal grate was loose. When I opened it to screw the hinge back in, I found a black fireproof briefcase shoved deep inside the ductwork."
"And then?" I prompted.
"Before I could even touch it, Signor Dante came into the library," she whispered, her voice breaking. "He went pale as a ghost when he saw the grate open. He dragged me by my hair into the hallway, locked me in the kitchen pantry for three hours, and when he let me out, he had his guards hold the emerald necklace and told them I was a thief. He said if I ever breathed a word about the briefcase, he would have my daughter thrown into the sea."
Dante took a sudden, aggressive step toward Elena, his face twisting with rage. "You lying, wretched bitch—"
In a fraction of a second, my Sig Sauer was out of its holster and pressed firmly against the center of Dante’s forehead. The metallic click of the safety disengaging echoed sharply in the grand foyer.
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Dante froze instantly, his eyes crossing slightly as he stared at the steel barrel between his eyes. He raised his hands slowly in the air, his breathing becoming shallow and ragged.
"Matteo," I said without breaking eye contact with the traitor in front of me. "Take two men. Go to the library. Tear open the ventilation shaft behind the primary bookshelves and bring me whatever is inside that wall."
