Chapter 2 - The Stuffed Rabbit in the Floorboards and the Hidden Micro-Cassette
Dominic did not sleep that night. The silence in the mansion was not peaceful;
it was deafening. Every ticking second of the grandfather clock in the foyer
sounded like a hammer against stone.
At 2:00 a.m., Dominic walked down the servants’ corridor. He opened the door to
Clara’s former room. The smell of lavender and baby powder still lingered
faintly in the air. He stepped toward the small white bed where Sophie used to
sleep.
A loose floorboard near the radiator caught his eye. It was raised by barely a
millimeter.
Dominic knelt down, his tailored trousers pressing into the hardwood. He wedged
his pocket knife into the groove and lifted the board.
There, tucked deep beneath the subfloor, was not garbage or dust. It was
Sophie’s favorite stuffed rabbit—the one with the missing button eye. But it had
not been forgotten. It had been intentionally hidden.
Dominic pulled the toy out. It felt unnaturally heavy. He turned it over and saw
coarse, rushed stitching across the rabbit’s belly, done with black thread that
didn't match the pink fabric.
He slit the stitches with his blade.
Inside the cotton stuffing lay a tiny digital audio recorder and a brass key
stamped with the number 402.
His pulse accelerated. Dominic pressed Play.
Clara’s voice filled the dark room, breathless, trembling, and choked with
suppressed sobs.
“If you’re listening to this, Mr. Valente... it means I managed to get Sophie
out alive. I’m so sorry. I didn’t run because I stole from you. I ran because I
overheard Sal Moretti talking to your cousin Lorenzo in the garden two nights
ago. Lorenzo gave them the blueprints to your security grid. They know Sophie is
in the house. Moretti said they were going to slaughter you on Friday night and
take Sophie as leverage. I couldn't let them hurt you, but I couldn't risk my
baby either. I led their tail toward the interstate to draw them away from the
estate. If I don't survive... please, Dominic... don't let them take Sophie. The
brass key opens a locker at Trenton Station. There is a ledger inside. Lorenzo
has been selling your shipments for eight months. God forgive me. Goodbye.”
The recording clicked off.
May you like
Dominic stood motionless in the dark, his blood turning to pure ice. Clara
hadn’t abandoned him. She had deliberately made herself bait to save his life.
