Chapter 2: The Secret Beneath the Piano
Emma tightened her grip on the phone.
“You knew?” she whispered.
“Yes,” her father replied. “For six months.”
A crash echoed through the mansion as another painting was ripped from the wall.
Emma pressed herself deeper beneath the piano.
“Why didn’t you stop her?”
“Because Victoria isn’t working alone.”
Emma heard footsteps approaching the music room.
Heavy footsteps.
Men searching.
Her father continued calmly.
“The camera you activated is connected to a private security network. Everything happening inside the house is being recorded and transmitted to federal investigators.”
Emma stared at the screen.
Victoria was speaking with a tall man wearing a gray suit.
Emma recognized him immediately.
Uncle Richard.
Her father’s business partner.
The man she had seen at every family holiday.
The man who always brought her expensive birthday gifts.
“No...” Emma whispered.
“Now you understand,” her father said quietly.
The mansion robbery was never about paintings or jewelry.
Someone was trying to steal control of his entire company.
Suddenly the music room door burst open.
Three men entered.
“Search everywhere!”
Emma stopped breathing.
One pair of boots moved closer and closer to the piano.
Then a voice came through her phone.
“Emma, reach behind the left piano leg.”
She obeyed.
Her fingers found a small metal button.
“Press it.”
Click.
A hidden panel beneath the floor slid open silently.
Emma gasped.
“There’s a tunnel!”
“Go now,” her father ordered.
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The last thing Emma heard before entering the passage was a thief shouting:
“She was here!”
