Chapter 5 - The Boy in the Locked Room
The Federal Street warehouse looked abandoned.
Broken windows.
Rusting metal doors.
No company sign.
No guards.
Masimo's men surrounded the building.
Cora stayed beside him.
"This is too easy."
"Yes."
They entered anyway.
The first floor was empty.
The second floor was empty.
The basement was different.
New electrical wiring.
Fresh paint.
Modern locks.
Someone had been using this place.
Masimo found the first room.
Empty.
Second.
Empty.
Third.
A child's shoe.
Cora stopped.
"Milo."
She picked it up.
It was his.
Masimo's face changed.
"He's here."
They moved deeper into the warehouse.
At the end of the corridor was a steel door.
Behind it came a faint sound.
Cora's heart broke.
"Milo!"
No answer.
She hit the door.
"Open!"
Masimo kicked it.
The lock broke.
Inside was a small room.
Milo sat on a chair.
His hands weren't tied.
He wasn't crying.
He was drawing.
Cora ran to him.
"Milo!"
He hugged her.
She held him so tightly he almost disappeared against her.
"Are you hurt?"
He shook his head.
"Did they hurt you?"
Another shake.
Masimo crouched in front of him.
"Who brought you here?"
Milo pointed toward the corner.
There was an old man.
Samuel Price.
Cora stared.
"What?"
Samuel stepped forward.
"Nobody kidnapped him."
Masimo raised his gun.
"Explain."
Samuel smiled sadly.
"I moved him."
"What?"
"I moved him because the men coming for him weren't the ones you saw."
Masimo looked at Cora.
"What is he talking about?"
Samuel sighed.
"The warehouse attack was staged."
Giani's voice came through Masimo's phone.
He had regained consciousness.
"Boss."
Masimo answered.
"Where are you?"
"At the estate."
"How?"
"I woke up."
"Did anyone enter?"
"No."
Masimo looked at Samuel.
"Then who took Milo?"
Samuel replied,
"I did."
Cora stepped forward.
"You took my brother."
"To save him."
"From whom?"
Samuel pointed at the ceiling.
"From the man who has been inside your company for twenty years."
Masimo's eyes narrowed.
"Matteo."
"No."
Samuel shook his head.
"Matteo is only the visible part."
"Then who?"
Samuel looked at Masimo.
"Your father."
Silence.
"My father is dead."
"That's what everyone was told."
Masimo stared.
Cora's heart pounded.
Samuel continued.
"Enzo Orsini never died."
Masimo looked at him.
"You're lying."
"I wish I were."
He explained.
Enzo had faked his death six years earlier because the FBI was closing in on a money network.
Matteo helped him disappear.
Richard Kane helped transfer the money.
Thomas Halliday discovered the truth.
He was killed because he knew too much.
The diner fire had been arranged to erase evidence.
Cora looked at Masimo.
"He killed my father."
Samuel shook his head.
"Not exactly."
"What does that mean?"
"Thomas was supposed to disappear."
"But he didn't."
"No."
"Why?"
Samuel's eyes moved to Milo.
"Because your brother's asthma wasn't accidental."
Cora stared.
"What?"
Samuel explained that the illegal network had been testing a chemical filtration system at several properties.
The diner had been one site.
Milo had been exposed as a child.
His asthma began shortly afterward.
Cora's face went white.
"That's impossible."
"I have medical records."
"No."
"Your father found them."
Cora felt the floor move beneath her.
She had spent years believing Milo's condition was simply something he had been born with.
Her father had spent years trying to tell people otherwise.
Samuel looked at Masimo.
"Your father and Matteo used the company to move the chemicals."
Masimo's jaw clenched.
"What does Cora have to do with it?"
"Her father hid the evidence."
"Where?"
Samuel looked at Cora.
"In her mother's old sewing box."
She remembered the tin box.
The one on top of the refrigerator.
But that was at home.
She looked at Masimo.
"I need to go back."
He nodded.
They left the warehouse.
On the drive back, Cora was silent.
Then she said,
"Why did you joke about dating me?"
Masimo looked over.
"What?"
"That first day."
He smiled faintly.
"Because you were the only person in the building who didn't fear me."
"That isn't romantic."
"It wasn't supposed to be."
"Then why now?"
He looked at her.
"Because somewhere between you accusing me of murder and you dragging me into your bedroom, I started wanting you around."
Cora stared out the window.
"You don't even know me."
"I know you wake up at four forty every morning."
She looked at him.
"I know you warm medicine before giving it to your brother."
She said nothing.
"I know you count coins twice because you're afraid of running out."
Her eyes filled.
"And?"
"I know you have never asked me for anything."
He reached over.
"But you should."
She looked at his hand.
Then took it.
Neither said another word.
Behind them, another car followed.
Inside it sat Richard Kane.
He called someone.
"They found the boy."
The answer came immediately.
"And the girl?"
"She's with Orsini."
"Good."
Richard looked at the rear window.
"They're heading home."
A pause.
"Then let them."
May you like
"Why?"
"Because the thing we need is already there."
