Chapter 6: The White Rose
The note slipped from Beatrice's trembling fingers.
Only five words.
I came back for Lily.
Leo snatched it from the floor before the wind could carry it away.
His eyes swept across the handwriting.
His expression darkened immediately.
"It isn't Victoria's."
Detective Sarah Collins stepped beside him.
"You recognize it?"
Leo nodded slowly.
"I've seen these letters before."
"When?"
"Two years ago."
He looked toward the rain-soaked window.
"The week before Sofia died."
A chill spread through the room.
Sarah carefully placed the note into an evidence bag.
"No fingerprints."
"The paper was wiped clean."
Beatrice knelt beside Lily.
The little girl had not taken her eyes off the white rose.
"Sweetheart."
Lily swallowed.
"It wasn't here."
"I know."
"I looked out the window."
"There was nobody."
Beatrice gently brushed damp hair away from Lily's forehead.
"Did you hear anything?"
Lily hesitated.
Then she nodded.
"A whistle."
"What kind of whistle?"
"The same one Mommy used."
The room fell silent.
Leo stared at his daughter.
"Sofia whistled to you?"
"Every night."
"If I couldn't sleep."
"She always whistled the same song."
Leo slowly closed his eyes.
Very few people knew that melody.
It had been their private routine since Lily was born.
He had never mentioned it outside the family.
Not even Mateo.
Someone else knew.
Someone who had been close to Sofia.
The estate went into full lockdown.
Security teams searched every corridor.
Every balcony.
Every guest room.
The gardens were flooded with flashlights.
Search dogs found nothing.
No footprints.
No fibers.
No abandoned vehicle.
It was as though the person had stepped into the mansion...
...and vanished into thin air.
Sarah gathered everyone in the library.
"We're treating this as an active threat."
She spread the estate blueprint across the table.
"There are only three possibilities."
"They're still inside."
"They escaped before the lockdown."
"Or they had help."
Mateo folded his arms.
"My security staff has worked here for years."
Sarah looked directly at him.
"So did the people who helped Victoria."
Nobody argued.
Leo's voice remained calm.
"From this moment forward, nobody enters or leaves the estate without my approval."
Every employee nodded.
Every employee...
Except one.
The elderly groundskeeper, Harold Jenkins.
He stood near the fireplace, avoiding eye contact.
Beatrice noticed.
She had worked beside Harold for almost two years.
He was quiet.
Reliable.
The kind of man nobody remembered seeing.
Tonight...
He looked terrified.
Later that evening...
Lily finally fell asleep in Leo's bedroom.
She refused to stay anywhere else.
Beatrice sat beside the bed until the child's breathing became steady.
Leo stood at the window.
The rain had finally stopped.
"I owe you an apology."
Beatrice looked up.
"For what?"
"For believing you hid the truth from me."
She shook her head.
"I did hide it."
"Because Sofia asked."
"I still should have trusted you."
Leo turned toward her.
"No."
"You kept your promise."
"I failed mine."
Beatrice frowned.
"What promise?"
Leo looked at the sleeping child.
"The day Lily was born..."
"I promised Sofia I'd protect both of them."
His voice broke for the first time.
"I lost one."
"I'm close to losing the other."
Beatrice stood.
"You haven't lost her."
He looked at her.
"She still believes you're her safe place."
Leo gave a sad smile.
"No."
"She believes you are."
Neither of them noticed the bedroom door standing slightly open.
Outside...
Someone quietly walked away before either of them could hear.
Midnight.
Sarah reviewed the estate's security recordings.
One camera caught her attention.
It overlooked the east garden.
At 8:47 p.m., the image flickered.
Only for one second.
When the picture stabilized...
A white rose was already lying beneath Lily's window.
No person appeared.
No shadow.
Nothing.
Sarah replayed the footage.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Then she froze.
"There."
A reflection.
Barely visible in the glass of the greenhouse.
A figure dressed in dark clothing.
Standing perfectly still.
Watching the mansion.
She immediately enlarged the frame.
The image blurred.
But one detail remained unmistakable.
The person wore a silver ring engraved with the shape of a falcon.
Sarah grabbed her phone.
"Leo."
"I found something."
At the same moment...
Harold Jenkins quietly entered the old tool shed behind the greenhouse.
He looked over both shoulders before locking the door.
From inside his boot, he removed a small satellite phone.
His hands were shaking.
The call connected after one ring.
"It's me."
A distorted male voice answered.
"Report."
"They found the letter."
A brief silence followed.
"And the child?"
"Still inside the house."
The voice grew colder.
"You had one job."
Harold closed his eyes.
"There are too many police."
"You'll have another chance."
"When?"
"Soon."
Harold hesitated.
"I don't want to hurt the little girl."
"You don't have a choice."
The line went dead.
Harold lowered the phone.
A tear rolled down his weathered face.
"I never wanted this."
Suddenly...
The shed door burst open.
"Don't move!"
Harold spun around.
Mateo stood in the doorway.
Two officers raised their weapons behind him.
The satellite phone slipped from Harold's hand and landed on the dirt floor.
Mateo slowly picked it up.
His face hardened.
"So..."
"It was you."
Harold's shoulders slumped.
"No."
"It wasn't."
"I only delivered messages."
"For whom?" Mateo demanded.
Harold looked toward the mansion.
Toward the room where Lily slept.
Then he whispered three words.
"The Falcon Circle."
Mateo's heartbeat quickened.
"What is that?"
Harold's lips trembled.
"You think Victoria was dangerous."
"You haven't met the people she answers to."
Before anyone could ask another question...
A sharp crack echoed through the shed.
Harold jerked backward.
A dark stain spread across his shirt.
A sniper's bullet had pierced the wooden wall.
The old man collapsed into Mateo's arms.
Blood filled his mouth.
He struggled to breathe.
Mateo leaned closer.
"Stay with me."
"Who are they?"
Harold used the last of his strength to grip Mateo's sleeve.
"They..."
"...already..."
"...have someone..."
"...inside..."
His hand fell away.
Outside the shed...
Every officer instinctively looked toward the dark forest beyond the estate walls.
They could not see the sniper.
But someone was still watching.
May you like
And somewhere inside the Rossi mansion...
Someone else was waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
