Chapter 13 - THE FIVE TAPS BEHIND THE WALL
At first, I thought I'd imagined the sound.
Three slow taps.
Two quick taps.
Then silence.
I stood near the kitchen entrance, my serving tray trembling in my hands.
The restaurant was filled with laughter, music, and the quiet clinking of expensive glasses.
Nobody else seemed to notice.
Then it came again.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap-tap.
My heart began pounding.
Celeste.
It had to be Celeste.
I pressed the button on my concealed radio.
“Agent Reyes?”
“I'm here, Evelyn.”
“I heard something.”
“What?”
“The tapping. The same rhythm.”
A brief silence.
“Where?”
“Behind the kitchen's north service wall. Near the old storage area.”
“Do not approach it. Stay in the dining room.”
“I understand.”
“I'm sending a team to check the adjoining corridor.”
I looked toward the kitchen.
Every instinct told me to run toward that sound.
But Agent Reyes was right.
If Victor had Celeste trapped behind the wall, charging toward her might only make things worse.
I remained in position.
Then someone spoke behind me.
“Miss Hart.”
I turned.
Victor Soren stood a few feet away.
He wore a midnight-blue tuxedo, polished black shoes, and the same heavy gold ring I'd noticed the night we discovered the cellar.
He smiled pleasantly.
“You came.”
I forced myself to remain calm.
“You invited me.”
“How brave.”
His eyes moved toward the serving tray in my hands.
“Although I suspect bravery isn't really what brought you here.”
“What do you want?”
He stepped closer.
“Your understanding.”
I stared at him.
Victor smiled.
“You see, Celeste was always a clever woman. Too clever for her own good.”
My stomach tightened.
“She discovered something that belonged to me.”
“The money?”
“Among other things.”
He glanced toward the kitchen entrance.
“And then her children suddenly started talking to you.”
I said nothing.
Victor leaned closer.
“What did they tell you?”
I swallowed.
“They said cellar.”
His smile faded.
“Don't insult my intelligence.”
“That's what they said.”
“You answered a signal Celeste taught them. Then you opened a room nobody was supposed to find.”
I felt cold.
He knew about the tapping.
He knew what had happened in the basement.
And he believed the children had given me something more.
“Where is the rest of her evidence?” he asked.
“I don't know.”
“Did she leave a key? A number? A location?”
“No.”
Victor studied my face.
Then he spoke softly.
“Those children saw more than they should have.”
I felt anger break through my fear.
“They were two years old.”
“And yet they remembered.”
“They remembered their mother,” I said. “That's not a crime.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“No. But remembering the wrong things can be dangerous.”
I looked directly at him.
“You're afraid of three little children.”
His eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“You have money, guards, businesses, and people willing to do terrible things for you.”
I took a breath.
“But you're terrified because three four-year-olds remembered what happened to their mother.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
For the first time, I saw the man beneath the expensive suit.
Not powerful.
Not confident.
Frightened.
Because the secret he'd spent two years protecting was unraveling.
“You should have kept serving dinner,” he whispered.
Before I could answer, Adrien approached.
“Step away from her, Victor.”
Victor straightened.
“Adrien. My oldest friend.”
“Where's Celeste?”
Victor gave a small laugh.
“Always so impatient.”
Adrien moved closer.
“Where is my wife?”
“That's a complicated question.”
“Then give me a complicated answer.”
Victor's eyes moved between us.
“I see the waitress has made quite an impression on you.”
Adrien didn't react.
“Celeste.”
Victor sighed.
“You really should have listened to her two years ago.”
Adrien's face tightened.
“I know.”
That answer seemed to surprise Victor.
For a moment, he lost his rehearsed expression.
Then he smiled again.
“Perhaps we can still settle this privately.”
“There won't be a private settlement.”
Victor's eyes darkened.
Adrien continued.
“The money is beyond your control. The accounts are being investigated. And I'm giving the authorities everything.”
Victor stared at him.
“You're betraying your own family.”
Adrien shook his head.
“No. I betrayed my family when I trusted you.”
The words hung between them.
Victor's face became cold.
“You have no idea what you've done.”
Adrien stepped forward.
“I know exactly what I've done. And I intend to answer for it.”
Victor glanced toward the kitchen.
Something passed across his expression.
Not fear anymore.
Calculation.
Then he said:
“Very well.”
He reached into his jacket.
Every muscle in my body tightened.
But instead of a weapon, he removed a phone.
He touched the screen.
The lights flickered.
A heavy metallic crash echoed from beneath the floor.
Then another.
My earpiece crackled.
“Evelyn, move toward the front exit,” Agent Reyes ordered.
I started walking.
Behind me, Victor spoke.
“You think the police are the first people who've tried to stop me?”
Adrien turned toward him.
“What did you do?”
Victor smiled.
“I made sure there wouldn't be anything left to find.”
At that moment, a fire alarm began ringing.
The music stopped.
Guests rose from their chairs.
An announcement instructed everyone to leave the building.
The federal agents positioned throughout the restaurant began guiding people toward the exits.
I followed their instructions.
But as I passed the kitchen entrance, I smelled something unmistakable.
Smoke.
It was faint.
Coming through the service hallway.
I pressed my radio.
“Agent Reyes, there's smoke near the kitchen.”
“We know. Fire crews are responding. Keep moving.”
I stopped beside the doorway long enough to listen.
I knew I shouldn't.
But I couldn't help it.
The tapping came again.
Faster this time.
Three slow taps.
Two quick taps.
I looked at the wall.
“Celeste,” I whispered.
I answered against the metal edge of my tray.
Three slow taps.
Two quick taps.
A reply came from inside.
My eyes filled.
She'd heard me.
After two years of imprisonment, after countless nights sending a signal into silence, somebody had finally answered her.
“Agent Reyes,” I said urgently, “she's responding. She's behind the wall. I can tell you exactly where.”
“Evelyn, leave the area. We'll find her.”
I backed toward the exit as instructed.
Then another sound came.
A heavy thud.
Followed by silence.
I waited.
No tapping.
I pressed the radio again.
“Celeste?”
Nothing.
The smoke grew thicker near the ceiling.
A fire crew rushed past me toward the service stairs.
An agent guided me into the main dining room.
I kept looking backward.
Waiting.
Listening.
Praying.
May you like
But the five taps didn't return.
And for one terrible moment, I feared that Celeste Bellandi had survived two years of captivity only to die minutes before reaching freedom.
