Chapter 11 - THE LAKE HOUSE
"He killed himself," Leo said, staring at the phone screen in shock. "Arthur took poison rather than face trial."
"No," Luca said, his voice hard as iron. "Arthur Bellini was a survivor. He wouldn't kill himself. Someone silenced him. Someone who didn't want him talking to the FBI."
"Vanessa?" I asked.
"Vanessa is in protective custody," Luca replied. "It's the board of directors. The ones I fired. They know if Arthur talks, they all go to prison."
Luca grabbed his coat from the foyer stand.
"The contingency plan is active," Luca said, pulling his keys from his pocket. "With Arthur dead, his loyalists will burn the lake house tonight to destroy the bonds and the blueprints. If we lose those, the fired board members can seize the company."
Answer one: The true threat wasn't just Arthur, but the corrupt syndicate he had built within the company.
Open two: Could we reach a remote house in Wisconsin before Arthur's men burned it to the ground?
"I'm coming with you," Leo said, grabbing his jacket.
"No," Luca said sharply. "You stay here. Keep Maria and Sarah safe. Lock the gates."
"Luca, he's my grandfather too," Leo argued. "Those are my family's blueprints."
Luca looked at his brother. He saw the fierce determination in Leo's eyes—the same determination that mirrored his own.
"Fine," Luca relented. "Emma, stay here."
"Not a chance," I said, already sliding my arms into my coat. "I drive faster than both of you."
Ten minutes later, the three of us were in the Porsche, tearing up I-94 toward the Wisconsin border.
The rain had intensified into a torrential downpour, the wipers violently slapping back and forth across the windshield.
"How far is it?" I asked, my foot heavy on the gas pedal.
"Two hours," Luca said, checking the GPS on his phone. "It's isolated. On a cliff overlooking Lake Geneva."
We drove in tense silence. My mind raced. Everything had escalated so quickly. A month ago, I was serving appetizers. Now, I was racing to save a billionaire's hidden legacy from a syndicate of corrupt executives.
An hour and forty-five minutes later, we turned off the highway onto a winding, unpaved road surrounded by dense pine forests.
"Kill the headlights," Luca ordered.
I switched off the lights, navigating purely by the faint glow of the moon breaking through the storm clouds.
We crested a hill.
In the distance, perched on the edge of a dark cliff, was a massive, gothic-style stone mansion. The lake house.
And parked in the gravel driveway were three black SUVs.
"We're too late," Leo whispered.
Flickering orange light danced inside the ground-floor windows. They had already started the fire.
"Pull up to the tree line," Luca said, pulling the heavy pistol from his waistband.
I parked the car in the shadows.
"The blueprints and bonds are in the walls of the master study," Luca said, his eyes fixed on the burning house. "Second floor. East wing."
"They have men guarding the doors," Leo pointed out. Four armed men were pacing the perimeter, waiting for the fire to consume the structure.
"I'll draw them off," Luca said.
"Are you crazy?" I hissed. "They'll kill you."
"I'm the only one they recognize. Once they chase me into the woods, you two slip through the side terrace. Get to the study. Find the false wall behind the fireplace."
Before I could stop him, Luca slipped out of the car and disappeared into the trees.
A minute later, two gunshots rang out in the woods.
The four guards shouted, raising their weapons and running toward the sound of the gunfire, abandoning the front of the house.
"Now!" Leo urged.
We sprinted across the wet gravel, rushing through the heavy oak front doors.
The heat inside was immediate and suffocating. The grand staircase was already catching fire, smoke billowing against the vaulted ceilings.
"Upstairs! Go!" I coughed, pulling my shirt over my mouth.
We raced up the burning stairs, the wood groaning under our weight.
We reached the second floor and sprinted down the east corridor.
We burst into the master study. It was untouched by the flames, but smoke was seeping under the door.
"The fireplace," Leo coughed, running toward the massive stone hearth.
We felt along the stone masonry.
"Here!" Leo shouted. One of the stones was loose.
He pulled it out. Behind it was a heavy iron lever.
Leo pulled the lever down.
With a grinding scrape, the entire back wall of the fireplace slid open, revealing a hidden, fireproof safe.
Leo yanked the safe door open.
Inside were metal lockboxes containing the bearer bonds, and a thick leather tube holding the blueprints.
"Got it," Leo said, grabbing the tube and the boxes.
We turned to run.
But standing in the doorway of the study, blocking our exit, was Vanessa Bellini.
She wasn't in protective custody.
May you like
She was holding a gun, and she was pointing it directly at Leo.
"Put it back," Vanessa said, her voice shaking with desperate rage.
