Chapter 4: The Door Behind the Wall
The lock clicked once, then stopped against the dead bolt.
Vincent struck the door with his palm.
“Serena, open it.
I will not ask again.”
Dante faced his wife.
“What’s in my study?”
“A drive,” Serena said.
“Names, payments, shipping records—everything Dad and Carlo kept off their official books.”
Patricia tore the brooch from her collar and crushed it beneath her heel.
Carlo’s voice came through the door.
“That will not stop us.”
“No,” Patricia whispered.
“But this might.”
She pulled aside a curtain and pressed her hand against a narrow panel.
A section of wall opened into a dark service passage.
Serena stared at her.
“How did you know about that?”
“Your father had the penthouse plans copied before your wedding.”
Dante caught Patricia’s wrist.
“Why tell us now?”
Her eyes met his.
“Because I have spent three years obeying a man who taught my daughter to be afraid of her own mother.”
The door shook under a heavy impact.
“Go,” Patricia said.
“The passage reaches the study.”
Serena grabbed her hand.
“Come with us.”
“If all three of us disappear, Vincent will know where we went.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
Patricia touched Serena’s wet cheek.
“You already stayed behind once to protect your husband.
Let me stay behind once to protect my child.”
The dead bolt bent.
Dante guided Serena into the passage.
“Patricia, give us three minutes.”
“You have two.”
He paused.
“Then come after us.”
Patricia closed the panel between them just as the sunroom door burst inward.
Vincent’s voice carried through the wall.
“Where are they?”
Patricia answered, “Beyond your control.”
A sharp sound followed, then a chair scraped across the floor.
Serena spun back.
“Mom!”
Dante wrapped an arm around her waist before she could reopen the panel.
“She gave us time.
Don’t waste it.”
They hurried through the narrow passage.
Serena’s bare feet slipped on the metal steps, and Dante caught her against his chest.
“Where did you hide the drive?”
“In your father’s clock.”
“You went into my study?”
“Once.
The night I heard Dad confirm the South Docks plan.”
Dante stared at her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because your security chief reported to Carlo.”
“My night captain?”
“No.
The man above him.”
Dante’s hand tightened around the railing.
“Marcus Vale?”
Serena nodded.
“I saw his name on the payment list.”
A phone vibrated in Dante’s pocket.
Arthur Pendleton’s name appeared on the screen.
Dante answered quietly.
“Arthur.”
“Do not use the elevators,” Arthur said.
“Marcus has control of the building system.”
“We know.
Call the authorities.”
“I already tried.
Someone issued a false emergency cancellation using your authorization code.”
Only four people possessed that code.
Dante looked at Serena.
“Who used it?”
Arthur hesitated.
“My security badge was scanned in the lobby six minutes ago.”
“You’re at home.”
“I was,” Arthur said.
“Until two men brought me here.”
The line went silent for a moment.
Then Vincent’s voice replaced Arthur’s.
“You always trusted the wrong people, Dante.”
The call ended.
Serena covered her mouth.
“They have Arthur.”
Dante opened the final passage door.
His study stood empty, the old brass clock ticking above the fireplace.
Serena hurried toward it, but Dante caught her hand.
A thin wire ran from the clock to the underside of his desk.
“That wasn’t there this afternoon.”
The study doors opened behind them.
Carlo entered with Arthur at his side, and Arthur was holding Dante’s missing security card.
Vincent followed, smiling.
May you like
“Go on, Serena,” he said.
“Show your husband what happens when a daughter betrays her father.”
