Chapter 1 - THE VOICE IN THE ROOM
“Tell him the west entrance is clear.”
The voice came from the transmitter on the table.
Every guest went still.
It was a man's voice, low and unfamiliar, followed by a burst of static. Then another voice answered through the tiny speaker.
“Not yet. Moretti is still inside.”
Luca did not move. He stared at the red light as if the device had become a living thing.
Vanessa's champagne glass slipped from her fingers and shattered against the floor.
“Luca, I swear I have no idea what that is.”
He looked at her. “Then you won't mind staying while we find out.”
His head of security, Matteo, crossed the room and closed the double doors. Two guards moved to the windows. Another approached the table but stopped when Luca raised one hand.
“Don't touch it.”
I stood beside the empty chair, suddenly aware that thirty people were watching me. A moment earlier, I had been the foolish maid who had interrupted an engagement dinner. Now I was the only person in the room who had noticed the device before Luca sat down.
“Grace,” Luca said without looking away from Vanessa, “did you see anyone else near this chair?”
I forced myself to remember. “No, sir. Miss Bellini brought it in herself. She told me to replace your usual chair. Then she came back while I was getting candles.”
Vanessa gave a sharp laugh. “You are going to believe a housekeeper over me?”
“I believe what I can verify,” Luca replied.
He nodded toward Matteo. “Secure the device. Find out where it was transmitting. Nobody leaves until we know whether the conversation was being recorded.”
A guest near the far end of the table stood. “Luca, this is an engagement dinner. Surely we can handle this privately.”
Luca turned his head. “Someone placed an unauthorized transmitter beneath my chair during a private gathering in my home. This became private the moment it happened.”
The guest sat down.
Matteo placed a small evidence pouch on the table. Another guard brought a tablet. He connected it to a portable receiver and studied the display.
“It's sending a live signal to a receiver outside the estate,” he said. “The receiver is moving.”
“Where?”
“North driveway. Possibly a vehicle.”
Vanessa stepped toward Luca. “Darling, please. I wanted extra security because of the threats you've been receiving. I didn't tell you because I wanted tonight to be perfect.”
Luca's expression remained unreadable. “You thought a secret recording device would make tonight perfect?”
“I didn't know it was recording.”
“Then tell me who installed it.”
She glanced at the guests. Her eyes settled briefly on a silver-haired man seated beside the fireplace.
I noticed it because I had been watching her hands. They had stopped trembling.
The silver-haired man rose. “Perhaps we should all calm down. Vanessa has been under considerable pressure planning this event.”
Luca recognized him. “Richard.”
“Luca.”
“Did you arrange the chair?”
Richard's mouth tightened. “I helped coordinate the vendors.”
“That's not what I asked.”
Before he could answer, the transmitter crackled again.
“Vehicle is leaving. We have the package. Repeat, we have the package.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Luca looked at Matteo. “What package?”
Matteo's face hardened. “We don't know, sir.”
Vanessa shook her head. “This is absurd. You're frightening everyone over a little microphone.”
Luca finally looked directly at her. “You keep calling it little. I keep asking why it was hidden beneath my chair.”
He turned to the guests. “Dinner is over. My staff will escort you out in groups. Nobody discusses what happened tonight until my security team has spoken to them.”
A murmur rose.
Then Luca pointed to me. “Grace stays.”
Vanessa's eyes flashed. “Why?”
“Because she saw you place the device.”
“I did no such thing!”
“You said you had it installed.”
“I meant security cameras!”
“Then you should have no trouble explaining the difference to my people.”
As the guests began filing out, I heard Richard whisper into his phone near the doorway.
“It's gone wrong. The girl saw it.”
He noticed me looking and slipped the phone into his pocket.
I wanted to tell Luca immediately. But before I could open my mouth, Matteo touched my elbow and guided me toward the service corridor.
Behind us, Vanessa's voice rose.
“You're making a terrible mistake, Luca.”
May you like
His answer followed us into the hall.
“No, Vanessa. I think I finally noticed one.”
