Chapter 5 - The empty room
Dante stared at the envelope. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the thick paper. He was a man who controlled everything in his world, a man who built an empire on information and fear, yet his own wife had orchestrated an elaborate puzzle right under his nose, and the center of it was a struggling waitress he had never met.
He handed the envelope to Maya. “Open it.”
Maya’s hands were shaking so badly she could barely break the thick wax seal on the back. She slid her finger under the flap and pulled out a stack of documents.
She looked at the top page, her eyes scanning the dense legal jargon. Her heart stopped.
“It’s a deed,” Maya breathed.
“A deed for what?” Dante asked, stepping closer to look over her shoulder.
“For this building. This bakery.” Maya flipped to the second page. “And a bank statement. An account set up in my name. It has… it has two hundred thousand dollars in it.”
Dante grabbed the papers from her, his gray eyes reading the text with terrifying speed. It was true. Clara had purchased the building under a shell company and transferred the ownership entirely to Maya Bennett.
“Why would she do this?” Maya asked, her voice cracking with confusion. “I just poured her coffee. I just talked to her about my life. Why would she give me a bakery?”
“Because she was buying your loyalty,” Dante said, his voice cold and flat.
“My loyalty for what?”
Dante looked around the dusty kitchen. “Clara knew I would search everywhere for her. She knew I would check the banks, the airports, her friends, her family. She needed a place to hide things, a place I would never think to look. And she needed someone completely disconnected from our world to hold the keys.”
Maya shook her head. “You think I’m involved in this? I just found out about this five seconds ago!”
“I know,” Dante said softly. He looked at Maya, his expression softening just a fraction. He noticed the way the sunlight caught the chestnut waves of her hair, the genuine panic in her bright, rosy face. She was innocent. Clara had used this poor girl without her knowledge.
Dante walked to the back of the kitchen, inspecting the walls and the dusty floorboards.
“If she left the deed here, she left something else,” Dante muttered. “Something she actually cares about.”
Maya put the documents back into the envelope and began to help him search. She checked the flour bins, the old wooden cabinets, and underneath the heavy metal sinks.
“Over here,” Dante called out.
Maya hurried over to where Dante was kneeling by the back exit door. He was pointing at a small, perfectly square section of the wooden floorboards that looked slightly cleaner than the rest.
Dante used his pocket knife to pry the wooden square up. Beneath it was a dark, hollow space.
He reached inside and pulled out a heavy, black metal lockbox.
Maya held her breath as Dante placed the box on the stainless-steel counter. It required a four-digit combination.
“Any ideas?” Dante asked her.
Maya thought back to the diner, to the long conversations over black coffee.
“She always came on a Tuesday. At two o’clock. The second day of the week, the second hour. Try 0202.”
Dante rolled the small dials to 0-2-0-2. The lock clicked, but the box didn't open.
“No,” Dante said. He stared at the box, his jaw tight. Then, a look of profound sadness crossed his face. He reached out and spun the dials again. 0-5-1-4.
The lock clicked loudly, and the heavy metal lid sprang open.
Maya looked at him. “What is that number?”
“May 14th,” Dante said quietly. “Sophia’s birthday.”
Inside the box lay a stack of bound leather diaries, three thick bundles of cash, and a small velvet jewelry box. Dante ignored the money and the diaries. He reached for the velvet box and opened it.
Inside was a simple silver key.
May you like
Suddenly, the heavy front door of the bakery crashed open, the sound echoing violently through the empty building. Dante instantly pushed Maya behind his broad back, his hand flashing inside his suit jacket to draw a sleek black weapon.
“Don’t move,” Dante whispered to her, his body tense and ready for war.
