Chapter 11 - The Letter Beneath the FloorThree years had passed since the night Ravenwood stopped being a house of secrets.
Lorenzo had learned that peace was not something a person simply received after surviving a war.
It was something you practiced.
Every morning.
Every decision.
Every time you chose not to become the man your father had been.
Ravenwood no longer felt like a fortress.
The east wing had become a library.
The old chapel was open to the public twice a month.
The private safe was gone.
The basement had been emptied.
And Lorenzo's study door remained open.
Almost always.
Emma was eight now.
She had grown taller, louder, and considerably more curious.
Her stuffed rabbit had finally been retired to a shelf in her bedroom, although she still insisted it was "watching the house."
Lorenzo never argued.
One rainy Saturday afternoon, Emma came running into the library.
"Uncle Lorenzo!"
He looked up from a stack of documents.
"What happened?"
"I found something."
He smiled.
"That sentence has never meant anything good."
Emma ignored him.
She placed an old brass key on the table.
Lorenzo's smile disappeared.
"Where did you get that?"
"Under the floor."
"Which floor?"
"The east wing."
His chair scraped backward.
"Show me."
Emma led him to the old corridor.
The library had been renovated, but one section of the original floor remained untouched because his mother had insisted they preserve it.
Emma pointed to a loose wooden panel.
"I heard something underneath."
Lorenzo knelt.
He removed the panel.
Beneath it was a narrow cavity.
Inside sat a metal tube.
Old.
Rust-stained.
Sealed with wax.
Lorenzo stared at it.
His mother's handwriting was visible across the wax.
TO LORENZO.
ONLY AFTER VICTOR IS GONE.
His breathing changed.
He broke the seal.
Inside was a letter.
He read the first line.
If you are reading this, then the Circle is not dead.
Lorenzo stopped.
Emma watched his face.
"Is it bad?"
He folded the paper.
"I don't know."
He read on.
The Circle was never a single organization.
Victor was only one branch.
The people who survived are not looking for revenge.
They are looking for inheritance.
Lorenzo's eyes narrowed.
Then came the final sentence.
Your father left one thing behind that even I could never find.
A name.
Not a person.
A place.
The letter contained an address.
Lorenzo recognized it immediately.
A property his father had owned for twenty-six years.
A property Lorenzo had never visited.
The old Duca estate in Pennsylvania.
He looked at Emma.
"Don't tell anyone about this."
Emma frowned.
"Not even Mom?"
Lorenzo hesitated.
Then he shook his head.
"Especially not yet."
Emma nodded.
But before they left, she looked back at the loose floorboard.
"Uncle Lorenzo?"
"Yes?"
"There was something else."
She pointed beneath the floor.
A second envelope was still hidden in the darkness.
This one had no name.
May you like
Only one sentence.
WE KNOW YOU FOUND IT.
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