Chapter 2 - The Darkness
The heavy wooden door slammed shut, plunging the secret room into absolute darkness.
Sophie gasped, instinctively reaching out until her hands hit the rough stone wall.
She heard Luca moving beside her.
A second later, the harsh beam of his phone flashlight cut through the blackness.
He moved quickly to the door and grabbed the iron handle.
He pulled violently.
The door did not budge.
“Locked from the outside,” Luca said, his voice entirely devoid of panic.
Sophie’s breathing grew shallow.
“Who locked it?”
“Whoever followed us down here.”
Luca stepped back and shone the light around the small, windowless room.
He examined the heavy iron hinges and the solid oak panels.
“They didn't just lock it.”
“They jammed the mechanism.”
Sophie felt a cold wave of terror wash over her.
“Vanessa?” she whispered.
Luca did not answer immediately.
He walked over to the spot where the glass had shattered.
He knelt down, studying the scuff marks in the dust on the floor.
“My mother didn't leave this room willingly,” he said quietly.
“There was a struggle.”
Sophie hugged her arms around her chest.
“If Vanessa took her, why would she trap us in here?”
“To buy time.”
Luca stood up and pulled out his phone again.
He stared at the screen.
“No signal.”
“This room was built during Prohibition.”
“The walls are lined with lead and reinforced steel to prevent wiretapping.”
Sophie realized the horrifying truth.
They were buried alive inside a mansion filled with eighty guests who had no idea they were missing.
“How long until someone notices you are gone?” Sophie asked.
Luca checked his expensive gold watch.
“The gala begins in twenty minutes.”
“My men will start looking for me if I don't appear for the opening toast.”
“But they don't know about this room.”
Sophie sank onto a wooden crate in the corner.
Her shoulder throbbed with fresh pain from the sudden adrenaline drop.
“Mr. Moretti.”
“What is the Blue Door?”
Luca turned the flashlight toward her, the beam catching the dust floating in the air.
He hesitated, a rare moment of indecision crossing his features.
“The Blue Door is a shipping container,” he finally answered.
“It sits at the very end of Pier 42.”
“It’s the only container on my docks that isn't registered in the company manifest.”
Sophie frowned.
“What’s inside it?”
Luca looked away, staring into the dark corner of the room.
“Fifteen years ago, my father used that container to store leverage.”
“Financial records, blackmail material, evidence against politicians.”
“It was his insurance policy to keep the family safe.”
“When he died, I sealed it.”
“I haven't opened it since.”
Sophie processed the information, her mind racing.
“You said your mother found payments that shouldn't exist in the household accounts.”
“Could someone be using that money to buy what’s inside the container?”
Luca looked at her, clearly impressed by her deduction.
“Or someone is trying to use my mother to force me to open it.”
The sound of grinding metal suddenly echoed through the small room.
Sophie jumped to her feet.
“What was that?”
Luca aimed the flashlight at a rusted iron grate set into the ceiling.
Thick, white smoke began pouring through the vents, rapidly filling the confined space.
“Carbon monoxide,” Luca realized instantly.
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“They aren't trying to buy time.”
“They are trying to kill us.”
