Chapter 6 - The Decoy
"Stay here," I whispered to Emma, tucking her behind a heavy velvet drapery that fell beside a tall antique clock. "Do not move, do not make a sound, and keep your rabbit quiet. Understand?"
She nodded solemnly, clutching the stuffed toy to her chest with both arms.
I turned to Lorenzo, who was leaning heavily against the wall, his breathing ragged. "Do you have a master override card for this floor?"
"In my breast pocket," he muttered, gesturing vaguely to the ruined remnants of his jacket.
I slipped my hand into his pocket, my fingers brushing against cold metal and a leather wallet before pulling out a slim, black electronic passkey embossed with the Duca family crest.
"Good," I said. "Now, here is what’s going to happen. You are going to stay right here in this alcove. I am going to walk down the hall toward those two guards."
Lorenzo’s dark eyes widened in alarm, his hand catching my wrist. "Are you out of your mind? They’ll put a bullet through you before you take three steps."
"Not if I’m crying," I replied flatly.
Before he could argue, I deliberately untied my hair, letting the dark curls tumble wildly around my shoulders. I wiped a smudge of soot and dried blood across my cheek from my apron, loosened the collar of my maid's uniform, and stepped out from the shadow of the alcove directly into the bright lights of the corridor.
"Help!" I screamed, my voice cracking with theatrical terror as I stumbled toward the two armed guards standing by the double mahogany doors. "Please, you have to help me! Someone broke into the ground-floor conservatory! There’s blood everywhere, and—and he’s wandering toward the kitchens!"
The two guards—heavy-set men in sharp black suits—whirled around, their hands instantly dropping to the holsters at their hips.
"What the hell are you doing out of quarters?" the taller guard demanded, stepping forward to block my path. "Get back downstairs before—"
"He’s bleeding!" I wailed, grabbing the taller guard by the lapel of his suit jacket and deliberately shoving him backward toward the corner. "He’s got a knife! He’s looking for Mrs. Duca!"
Both guards took the bait instantly. Believing an intruder was rampaging through the lower levels, they turned and sprinted toward the service stairs at the far end of the hall, their heavy boots thundering against the hardwood floor.
As soon as they rounded the corner, I bolted back toward the alcove, grabbed Lorenzo by the arm, and hauled him across the corridor to his office door.
I jammed the black electronic passkey into the digital slot.
Blink.
A green light flashed.
May you like
The heavy oak door clicked open.
We tumbled inside into the dark, wood-paneled sanctuary of the Duca empire’s inner sanctum just as the echoes of the guards' boots faded down the stairs.
