Chapter 12 - The Second Secret Inside Caroline's Bear|
I had never moved so quickly through the Moretti mansion.
Luca followed me upstairs while Marco remained in contact with the investigators.
Benjamin's bedroom was exactly as he'd left it.
His dinosaur books were stacked beside the bed.
His school sweater lay folded on the chair.
And the brown stuffed bear rested near his pillow.
For a terrible moment, I imagined Benjamin coming home and finding us standing in his room.
I imagined him asking whether he had done something wrong.
Whether Vanessa was angry.
Whether he would still be allowed to eat dinner.
The thought made my throat tighten.
"Claire?"
Luca's voice pulled me back.
I picked up the bear.
"Caroline hid the notebook information inside this."
He nodded.
"But the message says there are two secrets."
I examined the toy carefully.
The opening we'd found earlier had already been documented and repaired.
Then I noticed something beneath its left paw.
A tiny stitched heart.
It looked decorative.
But the stitching was different from the rest.
"Here."
Luca leaned closer.
"What?"
I showed him.
He immediately called Marco and the investigators.
After the toy was photographed, a specialist carefully examined the stitching.
Inside the paw was another small waterproof compartment.
My heart began pounding.
A folded paper emerged.
Then a narrow brass key.
Luca stared.
"That's my mother's handwriting."
I looked at him.
"Your mother?"
He nodded slowly.
"She used to write little notes on blue stationery."
The paper was pale blue.
Luca unfolded it.
A short message appeared.
For the person who loves Benjamin enough to listen.
His eyes filled.
He continued reading.
Caroline trusted the wrong people because she believed our family could still be repaired.
The original records are not in the notebook.
They are in the place where Benjamin first learned to say Mommy.
Luca stopped breathing.
I looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
He lowered the letter.
"The old lake house."
My stomach tightened.
"The property Victor wants you to visit?"
He nodded.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then I remembered something Mrs. Carter once told me.
Caroline spent Benjamin's first summer at the lake house.
She had been recovering from a difficult pregnancy.
Luca had been traveling frequently.
And his mother had visited almost every weekend.
I looked at him.
"Maybe Caroline hid the records there."
Luca nodded slowly.
"But Victor thinks I already have them."
"Or he wants you to find them for him."
His expression changed.
"That's possible."
Marco entered.
"Boss, the police located Mrs. Carter's daughter."
Relief rushed through me.
"Is she safe?"
He nodded.
"She's being cared for at another facility. The transfer appears to have been arranged using false authorization."
Luca exhaled.
"And Mrs. Carter?"
"Still missing with Benjamin."
His face tightened again.
I looked down at the brass key.
The lake house.
The boy.
The notebook.
All of it connected.
Then Luca's phone rang.
This time, it wasn't Victor.
The screen displayed an unfamiliar number.
Luca answered.
"Hello?"
A woman's voice spoke.
"Luca."
He went completely still.
"Caroline?"
My heart stopped.
For several seconds, he couldn't answer.
Then whispered:
"Where are you?"
"With Thomas."
Luca closed his eyes.
His wife.
The woman he'd buried three years earlier.
The woman whose photograph still stood beside Benjamin's bed.
Alive.
"Caroline," he whispered, "Benjamin has been taken."
A sharp gasp came through the phone.
"What?"
"Victor has him."
I watched Luca's face.
It seemed as though Caroline was fighting to remain calm.
Then she spoke.
"Listen to me carefully."
Luca straightened.
"I'm listening."
"Don't give Victor anything."
"He's holding our son."
"I know."
Her voice broke.
"But the records are the only thing he can't control."
Luca stared.
"What records?"
"The original ownership documents."
My stomach tightened.
Caroline continued.
"Victor has spent decades using Richard Bellini and Michael to move money through companies that were supposed to belong to your family."
Luca looked toward the window.
"And Benjamin?"
A pause.
Then Caroline whispered:
"Benjamin is connected to the original inheritance."
Luca closed his eyes.
"Explain."
Caroline took a shaky breath.
"Your grandfather established a trust for his descendants."
"I know."
"But Victor altered the ownership records after your grandfather died."
Luca frowned.
"Why?"
"Because your grandfather discovered what Victor had been doing."
Silence.
Then Caroline continued.
"He planned to remove Victor from the family businesses."
Luca felt cold.
"And?"
"Before he could, the documents disappeared."
I looked at the brass key.
"Caroline," I said carefully, "we found another message inside Benjamin's bear."
The phone went silent.
Then she whispered:
"Claire?"
My heart jumped.
"Yes."
"My husband told me about you."
I swallowed.
"I've been helping Benjamin."
Her voice broke.
"Thank you."
Two words.
Simple.
But they nearly made me cry.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Caroline asked:
"Did you find the key?"
I stared at Luca.
"Yes."
She exhaled shakily.
"Good."
"Where does it go?"
A pause.
Then Caroline whispered:
"The small wooden music box in the lake house nursery."
Luca frowned.
"Benjamin's old nursery?"
"Yes."
I remembered Mrs. Carter describing that room.
A white rocking chair.
Yellow curtains.
A shelf filled with tiny stuffed animals.
And a music box Caroline used to play every night.
"What's inside?" Luca asked.
Caroline hesitated.
"Something Victor has spent thirty years trying to find."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"Caroline, I need the truth."
Her voice trembled.
"I know."
Then she said something unexpected.
"Before I tell you, you need to understand why Thomas helped me."
My heart stopped.
My father.
She continued.
"Thomas was the accountant who discovered the missing money."
I gripped the phone.
"And?"
"He tried to expose Victor years ago."
Luca closed his eyes.
"Was that why he disappeared?"
"Yes."
My throat tightened.
Caroline continued.
"Michael helped him escape at first."
Luca froze.
"Michael?"
"Yes."
"But then Michael betrayed him."
The room went silent.
I looked at Luca.
His expression hardened.
"Why?"
Caroline hesitated.
"Because Victor offered Michael control of the family businesses."
I swallowed.
Then she whispered:
"And Luca, there's something else."
"What?"
"Your father didn't die believing Michael was his only problem."
Luca stared.
"What does that mean?"
Caroline's voice broke.
"He left a confession."
The room seemed to tilt.
"A confession?"
"Yes."
"About what?"
A long silence followed.
May you like
Then Caroline whispered:
"About the night Victor Moretti murdered your grandfather."
