Chapter 4 - The Snake in the Glass
The silence in the master bedroom turned lethal in less than a second.
Stefano didn't remove his hand from Alice’s waist immediately. He let it rest there for three long, deliberate seconds, establishing his absolute dominance over the room, before slowly releasing her and leaning back against the wooden headboard.
"Danny handles the transport manifests," Stefano said, his voice colder than the northern wind coming off the ocean outside. "Why are you bringing this to me, Carmine?"
Carmine stepped into the room, his dark eyes darting nervously toward Nero, who had instantly risen from the floor, his ears pinned back, a low, continuous vibration rattling in his massive chest.
"Danny was the one who had the floor plans, Stefano," Carmine stated, crossing his arms over his chest. "He was the only one who had the master security keycard the night the house burned. I ran his encrypted phone logs twenty minutes ago. He made six calls to an unregistered landline in Boston right before the incendiary charges went off."
Alice stood beside the bed, her surgical gloves still stained with Stefano’s fluid, watching Carmine’s face.
He’s lying, she thought instantly.
In the ER, Alice had spent five years reading human body language under pressure. She knew what a man looked like when he was delivering bad news, and she knew what a man looked like when he was executing a pre-planned script. Carmine’s shoulders were raised too high, his breathing was short and shallow, and his fingers kept twitching against the seam of his coat.
"Danny Falcone has been with me for twelve years," Stefano said softly. "He took a bullet for my father in Brooklyn."
"And people change when the federal prosecutors offer them immunity," Carmine pushed, taking a step closer to the bed. "Stefano, look at the timeline! The fire happened forty minutes after Danny left for Providence. He wasn't in the house when the shooter walked in. He came back after the dog had dragged you out, pretending to be the savior!"
"Where is Danny now?" Stefano asked.
"I had my men secure him in the downstairs holding room," Carmine said, a faint, ugly spark of victory lighting up his eyes. "I brought the Boston line records up on the terminal downstairs. Come look at them yourself."
Stefano stared at Carmine for five long seconds. The air in the room felt heavy enough to suffocate a fire.
"Alice," Stefano said quietly, his voice dangerously even. "Finish the dressing."
"Stefano, this can't wait—" Carmine started.
"Out," Stefano commanded, turning a glare onto Carmine that made the older lieutenant step back a full foot. "I said finish the dressing. I don't make decisions about my family while my blood is wet."
Carmine gritted his teeth, his jaw working furiously, before he turned on his heel and walked out, his two guards closing the double doors behind them.
The moment the doors clicked shut, Alice moved.
"He’s lying," Alice said, her voice fast and low as she grabbed a fresh roll of sterile gauze and wrapped it tightly around Stefano’s ribs.
Stefano looked up at her, his dark brows raised slightly. "You know my lieutenants now, Nurse Brennan?"
"I know human physiology, Mr. Marquetti," Alice snapped, securing the tape with a sharp tug. "Carmine’s physiological stress markers were off the charts. His blink rate tripled when he mentioned the Boston phone logs, and he wouldn't look at Nero once. Danny Falcone looked that dog in the eyes the night of the fire; Carmine won't even look at the floor the dog stands on."
Stefano watched her hands move over his chest. A subtle, dangerous shift occurred in his eyes—not of fear, but of absolute, calculating intelligence.
"Nero," Stefano called softly.
The mastiff walked to the side of the bed. Stefano reached down, touching a small, heavy silver collar around the dog’s neck. He didn't unbuckle it; instead, he pressed a concealed pressure point behind the dog’s left ear.
A tiny, micro-sized SD card clicked out from a hidden waterproof compartment built directly into the leather of Nero’s collar.
Alice stared in utter shock. "What is that?"
"Nero doesn't just protect my body," Stefano said, his fingers holding the microscopic piece of plastic. "His collar carries an encrypted, continuous audio loop recorded from the mansion’s internal security network. It syncs automatically whenever he is within fifty feet of the master wing."
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Stefano handed the tiny card to Alice.
"There is a reader in my laptop on the desk," Stefano said, his voice dropping into a register that sent shiver down her neck. "Plug it in, Alice. Let’s see who really ordered the fire."
