“Do not open the door.”
Adrian’s voice was quiet enough that Elena understood how serious the danger was.
Another knock came through the phone.
“Elena,” Salvatore called. “Vivienne asked me to check on you.”
Sofia whimpered.
Adrian was already running toward the car.
“Push furniture against the door.”
Marco jumped into the passenger seat.
Adrian drove.
Long Island had never seemed so far away.
Marco called the estate security desk.
A guard answered.
“Mr. Bellini?”
“How did Salvatore Romano get inside?”
Pause.
“Miss Romano cleared him.”
Adrian heard every word.
Marco looked at him.
Adrian said nothing.
“Lock down the east wing,” Marco ordered. “Do not let Romano leave.”
“He already left the main hall.”
“Find him.”
Adrian called Vivienne.
She answered immediately.
“Adrian?”
“Why is your father in my house?”
Silence.
“He said you requested him.”
“No.”
“Oh God.”
“Where are you?”
“My room.”
“Lock the door.”
“What about my father?”
“If he reaches Sofia, he is no longer your biggest concern.”
Vivienne understood.
“You think he’s going to hurt her?”
“I think your father stopped being the man you believe he is a long time ago.”
Adrian disconnected.
When they reached the estate twenty-eight minutes later, the front gates were open.
A guard lay unconscious inside the booth.
Adrian drove straight across the lawn.
He entered through the west doors.
A security alarm blared.
“Adrian!”
Vivienne came running down the stairs.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stay behind me.”
They moved toward Elena’s corridor.
Two guards were on the floor.
Alive.
Drugged.
Not shot.
Salvatore wanted access without attracting police.
Adrian reached Elena’s door.
“Elena.”
No answer.
His heart stopped.
Then furniture scraped.
“Mr. Moretti?”
“Yes.”
The door opened.
Elena stood holding Sofia.
Both were safe.
Adrian exhaled.
Sofia reached for him immediately.
He took her.
“He tried the window,” Elena said.
Adrian looked toward the balcony doors.
Unlocked.
Curtain moving.
He ran outside.
Footprints crossed the snow toward the garden wall.
Salvatore was gone.
Vivienne stood in the doorway.
Her face had lost all color.
“My father did this.”
Adrian returned inside.
“Yes.”
She sank into a chair.
“No. You don’t understand. He raised me. He—”
“He used you.”
Vivienne looked up.
The words hurt her.
But she knew they were true.
Adrian handed Sofia back to Elena.
“We’re moving you.”
“Where?” Elena asked.
“Somewhere no one in this house knows.”
Vivienne stood.
“I can help.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Please.”
“You helped enough.”
Her face crumpled.
Sofia looked between them.
Then she reached into the pocket of her cardigan.
“Mr. Adrian?”
“Yes?”
She held out something small.
A metal button.
“Dog man dropped.”
Adrian took it.
Black enamel.
Gold edge.
Stamped on the back were two letters.
S.F.
Saint Francis.
His eyes sharpened.
“Where did you get this?”
“By gate.”
“When?”
“When Bruno sleep.”
Marco took the button.
“Uniform button.”
Adrian nodded.
Someone from Saint Francis Veterinary Hospital had come to the estate that night.
Which meant Damian’s story was true.
Bruno had been transported there first.
Maybe he was still there.
By three in the morning Adrian had a location.
Saint Francis Animal Hospital had closed eighteen months earlier after bankruptcy. The building sat near a wooded service road outside Glen Cove.
No active electricity account.
No registered staff.
But a utility monitor showed unusual generator use.
Someone was inside.
Adrian did not bring an army.
Too many vehicles would warn them.
He took Marco and two men.
Before leaving, he told Vivienne to stay.
She followed him anyway.
He found her beside the garage.
“No.”
“My father may be there.”
“That is exactly why you are not coming.”
“I know how he thinks.”
“Apparently neither of us did.”
She flinched.
But she opened the passenger door.
“If Bruno dies because I sit safely in this house, I will never forgive myself.”
Adrian looked at her for a long moment.
Then he said, “Get in Marco’s car.”
Saint Francis looked abandoned.
Broken windows.
Rusting sign.
Snow gathering along the roof.
But light leaked beneath a basement door.
Marco picked the lock.
Inside smelled of dust, disinfectant and animals.
Then Adrian heard it.
A low sound.
Almost too faint to recognize.
A whine.
He stopped.
“Bruno?”
Silence.
Then again.
One deep, trembling whimper.
Adrian ran.
He found Bruno inside an examination room.
The mastiff lay chained to a metal radiator.
His eyes were open but unfocused.
An IV line ran into one foreleg.
He was thinner.
Dehydrated.
But alive.
Adrian dropped beside him.
“Hey, boy.”
Bruno lifted his head.
For the first time in years, Adrian Moretti felt his composure break.
The dog tried to stand.
Couldn’t.
Adrian pressed his forehead against Bruno’s massive skull.
“I’m here.”
Bruno’s tail struck the floor once.
Then twice.
Behind him Vivienne began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
Bruno looked at her.
Then toward the hallway.
His body stiffened.
Adrian noticed immediately.
Footsteps.
Salvatore Romano appeared holding a pistol.
His face looked twenty years older than it had at Thanksgiving dinner.
“Step away from the dog.”
Vivienne whispered, “Dad.”
Salvatore’s eyes moved to her.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
“You threatened a child.”
“I was cleaning up your mistake.”
“My mistake?”
“You told her everything.”
Vivienne stared at him.
“You told me no one would get hurt.”
“That was before Moretti started digging.”
Adrian slowly stood.
“Put the gun down.”
Salvatore laughed.
“You always did think everyone feared you.”
“No.”
Adrian stepped between him and Bruno.
“Just the people who know me.”
Salvatore raised the weapon.
Vivienne moved.
“Dad, don’t.”
“Get out of the way.”
“No.”
“Vivienne.”
She shook her head.
“You used me.”
“I saved our family.”
“You destroyed it.”
Salvatore’s hand trembled.
Then Bruno growled.
Weak.
But unmistakable.
Salvatore glanced toward the dog.
That was enough.
Marco struck him from the side.
The pistol fired into the ceiling.
Adrian tackled Salvatore.
Seconds later it was over.
Salvatore lay facedown on the floor, hands restrained.
Vivienne stood against the wall, shaking.
Adrian immediately returned to Bruno.
Marco checked the IV.
“We need a vet.”
Adrian lifted the dog.
All one hundred and forty pounds.
Bruno rested his head against Adrian’s shoulder.
As they reached the hallway, Salvatore laughed from the floor.
“You think this is finished?”
Adrian stopped.
Salvatore smiled.
“Sayegh has the girl’s picture.”
Adrian slowly turned.
“He knows where her grandmother lives.”
Elena’s mother.
The safe house Adrian had planned to use.
Salvatore’s smile widened.
“You found your dog.”
Then his eyes turned toward Vivienne.
“But now you’re going to lose something else.”
---