22. Luca
LUCA
Having Rose and Dante out of his house is both a blessing and a curse. Rose and I didn’t leave things on the best of terms, and not hearing from her last night or this morning is messing with my concentration. But I need to stay focused and take advantage of this opportunity while Dante is away.
As my small team starts on the finishing touches and changes noted by Ro during our walkthrough, I take my time to deliberately walk the interior and exterior of the property, cataloging every detail as I go.
I typically do this at the end of jobs before I sign off on my work because I am meticulous about details, which has helped me garner praise and recognition in the design and architectural community.
My attention to detail has led to my success in both of my occupations.
While Dante does have a much more sophisticated and robust level of security than most clients, I don’t find anything out of the ordinary on the exterior other than several security cameras.
The real mystery is the basement that I know exists but haven’t been able to locate.
The entrance to the basement originally drawn on the official blueprint documents is now just a blank wall.
I run my hands along the entire wall, including the baseboards, to see if I can find a seam that might indicate a hidden door, but I find nothing.
Dante must have changed the entrance location somehow, which definitely complicates things.
At this point, I’m going to have to resort to something I was hoping to avoid.
I don’t want to invade Ro’s privacy while she is working here, but I need to find the basement and how I can get in.
It’s really for her protection, which is the lie I tell myself as I place nearly invisible cameras throughout the main level.
The cameras I have placed blend into the ornate trim woodwork and should be undetectable to the untrained eye, and I will remove them as soon as Dante leads me to the door to the basement.
Ro will never have to know, and if necessary, I can keep an eye on her in the meantime.