Chapter 3 - THE RECORDING
Nobody spoke for nearly a minute.
Then Luca said, “Play it.”
Mara looked at him.
“You're dying.”
“I know.”
“If this recording is connected to why you're sick—”
“Play it.”
His voice was firm.
Mara placed the cassette into the old recorder.
Static filled the room.
Then a woman's voice.
Mara stopped breathing.
“Luca, if you're hearing this, Evelyn failed to protect you.”
Her knees nearly gave out.
It was her mother.
Older than Mara remembered.
Tired.
Afraid.
But unmistakably alive in the recording.
“I need you to listen carefully.”
Static.
“The person who poisoned your father did not stop with him.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“He wanted the Varelli empire.”
A pause.
“And he needed Luca to disappear.”
Mara looked at Luca.
The recording continued.
“Your father discovered that someone in the family had been moving money through shell companies. When he confronted him, he was told Luca would die next.”
A click.
Mara's eyes filled with tears.
“Evelyn was ordered to take Luca and run.”
Another pause.
“She couldn't.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“Because someone reached her first.”
Mara whispered, “What happened to her?”
The recording answered.
“I was captured.”
Mara covered her mouth.
“They told me if I didn't cooperate, Luca would die.”
Luca's hand tightened around the blanket.
“I was forced to disappear.”
The tape crackled.
“But I left one thing behind.”
A long silence.
“The truth.”
The recording continued.
“Luca, your illness isn't natural.”
His eyes opened.
Mara stared at him.
“Your blood work has been altered.”
Luca whispered, “What?”
“They've been giving you something slowly.”
Mara felt cold.
“Not enough to kill you immediately.”
The recording continued.
“Enough to make doctors believe your body is failing on its own.”
Luca's breathing became ragged.
“How?”
“It's in the diffuser.”
Mara immediately looked toward the fireplace.
The cedar diffuser.
The room went silent.
Luca whispered, “No.”
His physician had insisted on it.
Every night.
For months.
Mara crossed the room and unplugged it.
She removed the cartridge.
A strange chemical smell emerged.
Luca stared.
“Send that to a laboratory.”
Mara looked at him.
“Not yours.”
He nodded.
“Not anyone connected to me.”
The bedroom door suddenly slammed shut.
The lights went out.
Someone screamed in the hallway.
Then came the sound of breaking glass.
Luca tried to stand.
Mara pushed him back.
“Stay here.”
“I can help.”
“You can barely breathe.”
He looked offended.
She almost smiled.
“I'm not insulting you.”
A gunshot echoed downstairs.
Luca's expression changed.
“Mara.”
“What?”
“Get under the bed.”
“No.”
“Mara!”
Another gunshot.
She grabbed the recorder.
“We need to leave.”
The bedroom door opened.
Rafe appeared.
“Sir!”
Luca stared at him.
“What's happening?”
“Someone cut the security system.”
“Who?”
Rafe looked toward Mara.
“Mrs. Vale.”
Mara froze.
“She escaped?”
Rafe shook his head.
“No.”
His expression was grim.
“She was found dead in the kitchen.”
Silence.
Then the mansion speakers came alive.
A man's voice filled every room.
“Luca Varelli.”
Luca stared toward the ceiling.
“You have forty minutes.”
The voice continued.
“Then the second dose will be delivered.”
Mara looked at the diffuser.
Luca whispered, “Second dose?”
May you like
The voice laughed.
“And this time, your maid won't be able to save you.”
