Chapter 3 - the girl behind the wall
Sophie did not cry.
That frightened Mara more than tears would have.
The child picked up Luna, ran to the pantry, and slipped through the narrow service door. Mara closed it behind her and slid a storage shelf into place.
“Do not come out,” she whispered through the wood. “No matter what you hear.”
The front door shook beneath another impact.
Mara placed the small recorder inside a bowl on top of the refrigerator and pressed the button.
Then she took the encrypted documents from the table and carried them into the living room.
The door opened before she reached the fireplace.
The lock broke away from the frame.
Two men entered.
The first had a pale scar running from his left ear to his jaw. The second wore a high collar that failed to conceal the spider tattoo on his neck.
The scarred man closed the door behind them.
“Where is the drive?” he asked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He studied her.
“Julian warned us you were intelligent.”
Mara’s heart pounded, but she kept her voice steady.
“Did Julian Cross send you?”
The tattooed man glanced toward his partner.
It was enough.
Mara continued.
“He’ll sacrifice both of you the moment this becomes public.”
The scarred man stepped closer.
“You’re coming with us.”
“My daughter will be home soon.”
“No, she won’t.”
Mara allowed fear to cross her face. She needed them to believe Sophie was somewhere else.
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing yet.”
The tattooed man began searching the apartment.
He opened closets, pulled cushions from the sofa, and emptied drawers onto the floor.
Mara moved deliberately toward the kitchen, drawing their attention away from the pantry.
“The records were already copied,” she said.
The scarred man followed her.
“To whom?”
“To several people.”
“You had less than an hour.”
“I work with numbers. I move quickly.”
He looked at the papers in her hands.
Mara threw them into the fireplace and touched a match to the corner.
The scarred man lunged forward to grab them.
Mara shoved the metal screen into his path and ran for the back door.
The tattooed man caught her before she reached it.
The struggle lasted only seconds. Mara was overpowered without visible injury, her hands secured as the scarred man extinguished the papers.
“Copies,” he demanded. “Where are they?”
Mara refused to answer.
From behind the pantry wall, Sophie covered her mouth with both hands.
She could see the room through a crack beside the shelf.
The tattooed man turned toward the kitchen.
For one terrible moment, his eyes rested directly on the pantry.
Then a phone rang.
The scarred man answered.
“We have her,” he said.
He listened.
“No sign of the girl.”
A voice responded through the speaker, too distorted for Sophie to recognize.
The scarred man lowered his voice.
“Yes, sir. We’ll take Reyes beneath the restaurant.”
Sophie felt the silver bell against her chest.
Beneath the restaurant.
The man ended the call.
The tattooed man looked toward the burning papers.
“What about the apartment?”
“Make it look like she ran.”
“And the child?”
“The order said both.”
Mara suddenly kicked the metal bowl from the counter.
It crashed against the floor.
“Run, Sophie!” she shouted.
The tattooed man turned toward the pantry.
Sophie pushed open the hidden rear panel and crawled into the maintenance passage.
Behind her, the shelf scraped across the floor.
“She’s in the wall!”
Sophie ran through darkness.
Pipes rattled above her head. Dust filled the narrow space. She clutched Luna under one arm and the silver bell beneath her dress with the other hand.
A panel opened behind her.
The tattooed man called her name.
“Sophie, your mother wants you to come back.”
She knew it was a lie.
At the end of the passage, she kicked open the laundry hatch and fell into a basket of clean towels.
Mrs. Bell was entering the room with a bag of clothes.
“Sophie?”
The child climbed out.
“They took Mama.”
Mrs. Bell reached for her phone.
Before she could call for help, Sophie saw the dark sedan parked outside the window.
The scarred man stepped into the building lobby.
“Mama said Bellavista,” Sophie whispered.
Mrs. Bell understood immediately.
She pulled off her red coat, wrapped it around Sophie, and pointed toward the rear exit.
“I’ll keep them here.”
“They’ll hurt you.”
“They won’t find you. That is what matters.”
Sophie hugged her quickly.
Then she ran into the rain.
May you like
Bellavista was eleven blocks away.
She did not stop once.
