Chapter 2 - The Blue Bird Key)
Rosa stepped between Marcus and Ruby.
"You have no business in this room."
Marcus closed the door behind him.
"I practically live here."
"No. Your sister practically lives here. You merely arrive whenever Mr. Moretti leaves town."
Marcus's smile sharpened.
"You should be careful, Rosa."
"I've been careful around men like you for sixty two years."
Marcus's attention remained on Ruby.
"Come here, sweetheart."
Ruby moved backward until her shoulders touched the cedar chest.
"No."
Marcus sighed.
"Give me the key."
"No."
"It doesn't belong to you."
"Mommy gave it to me."
Marcus's eyes flickered.
Rosa noticed.
"So you did know about it," she said.
Marcus looked at her.
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
"I know you're asking a five year old for something her dead mother gave her."
Marcus took another step.
Rosa blocked him.
His voice dropped.
"Move."
"No."
Marcus grabbed her arm.
Ruby screamed.
Marcus immediately released Rosa when he heard footsteps in the corridor.
A maid appeared at the open doorway.
Marcus transformed instantly.
He smiled.
"Everything's fine. Ruby got frightened."
The maid looked uncertain.
Rosa stared at Marcus.
"Leave."
Marcus straightened his cuffs.
"Of course."
He crouched briefly to Ruby's height.
"Keep your little key."
Ruby's fingers tightened around it.
Marcus smiled again.
"For now."
He left.
That afternoon Rosa called Domenico.
He did not answer.
She called twice more.
At 4:17 p.m., Domenico returned the call from a conference room in Chicago.
"Rosa?"
"You need to come home."
Domenico heard something in her voice.
"What happened?"
"Not over the telephone."
"Is Ruby safe?"
Rosa hesitated.
That hesitation changed everything.
Domenico stood.
"Rosa."
"She is with me."
"Did someone touch her?"
"No."
The answer came too fast.
Domenico moved away from the meeting table.
"Tell me exactly what's happening."
Rosa looked across the garden where Ruby was feeding crumbs to birds.
"I found something Lucia left behind."
Silence.
When Domenico finally spoke, his voice had changed.
"What?"
"A key."
"What key?"
"It has a blue bird engraved on it."
For several seconds, Domenico said nothing.
Rosa heard his breathing.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
"Where did it come from?"
"Ruby says Lucia gave it to her."
Domenico closed his eyes.
Only you can hear the blue bird.
The forgotten sentence returned so clearly that for a moment he could see Lucia standing in their first apartment, laughing beside a music box.
"Don't tell anyone," he said.
"Marcus saw it."
Domenico's eyes opened.
"What was Marcus doing in Lucia's room?"
"Trying to take it."
Domenico looked through the conference room glass at twelve executives waiting for him.
The acquisition they had spent nine months preparing suddenly became irrelevant.
"I'm coming home."
"Valentina thinks you're staying until Friday."
"Let her."
Domenico ended the call.
He instructed his pilot to prepare the company jet immediately.
He told no one at the mansion.
At home, Valentina learned about Rosa's telephone call another way.
Marcus had placed a small wireless microphone beneath the desk in Lucia's dressing room two weeks earlier.
At 5:02 p.m., he played the recording for his sister.
Valentina stood beside the bedroom window listening to Rosa say the words blue bird.
When the recording ended, she stared into the garden.
Ruby was laughing at something Rosa had said.
Valentina's mouth tightened.
"I told you the child remembered more than we thought."
Marcus poured himself whiskey.
"She was two."
"She was observant."
"She's five now. Nobody will believe her."
"That isn't the problem."
Valentina turned.
"The key is real."
Marcus stopped drinking.
"If the key is real, the deposit box might be real."
"Lucia was paranoid."
"Lucia was right."
Marcus's jaw tightened.
Valentina continued.
"If she copied the records before the crash, everything could be in that box."
Marcus stared into his glass.
"Then we take the key."
"And if Ruby screams?"
"She's a child."
"She's Domenico's child."
Marcus understood.
Domenico forgave business betrayal if it made financial sense.
He forgave arrogance when it was useful.
He forgave almost anything that did not involve Ruby.
They needed the key without leaving evidence of how they obtained it.
Valentina looked toward the garden again.
"There's another possibility."
Marcus waited.
"Domenico returns Friday evening."
"So?"
"The documents from Dr. Keller are ready Thursday."
Marcus smiled slowly.
The plan they had discussed for months no longer seemed theoretical.
Valentina had arranged evaluations describing Ruby as emotionally unstable.
Tantrums that had never happened were recorded.
Night terrors were exaggerated.
Normal childhood fears became symptoms.
Forged notes from a pediatric specialist suggested Ruby needed temporary residential treatment.
The facility was owned through a chain of shell companies Marcus controlled.
Once Ruby was inside, access would be restricted.
Domenico would be told she needed time away from stressful family contact.
During those weeks, Valentina would continue preparing the trust amendments she had pressured Domenico to consider.
If something happened to Domenico, Ruby's inheritance would remain controlled by a guardian.
Valentina intended to become that guardian.
But the key changed the timetable.
"We move Thursday morning," Marcus said.
Valentina shook her head.
"Tomorrow."
"Without Domenico's signature?"
"We have his signature."
Marcus looked at her.
She opened a desk drawer.
Inside was a document bearing Domenico's name.
Marcus picked it up.
Even he had difficulty spotting the forgery.
"You finally used the old contracts."
Valentina smiled.
"People leave pieces of themselves everywhere."
Marcus looked again toward the garden.
"And Rosa?"
"Rosa becomes a problem only if she stays."
That evening Ruby ate dinner alone.
Valentina told her Rosa had gone to visit a sick cousin.
Ruby knew it was a lie.
Rosa never left without saying goodbye.
At 8:40 p.m., Ruby slipped from her bedroom and walked toward the servants' wing.
Rosa's door was open.
The room was empty.
The drawers had been pulled out.
A broken picture frame lay on the floor.
Ruby stepped inside.
"Rosa?"
No answer.
Then she heard a faint vibration.
It came from beneath the bed.
Ruby crouched.
Rosa's cellphone was hidden underneath.
The screen showed twelve missed calls.
One name appeared again and again.
Domenico Moretti.
Daddy.
Ruby reached for the phone.
A shadow filled the doorway behind her.
May you like
Valentina said, "What are you doing out of bed?"
Ruby froze.
