Chapter 18 - The Garage Restored
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The walk back to the garage was entirely silent. Matteo walked between us, sensing the heavy, dark tension radiating from his father.
When Bruno unlocked the heavy padlock on the garage doors and pushed them open, the smell of motor oil, old pine, and dust washed over us. It was exactly as I remembered it.
The two dented metal toolboxes sat triumphantly on the floor next to Antonio’s old wooden workbench.
Matteo immediately ran over to the bench. He ran his hand over the rough wood, stopping at the corner where the loose board used to be—the board he had used to make the box.
“It’s all here, Dad,” Matteo said, a huge smile breaking across his face.
Luca walked into the dimly lit space, looking around as if seeing it for the very first time. He ran his fingers over the rusty wrenches hanging on the pegboard. This room was a shrine to his father, a place of peace in a violent world.
And now, according to Vanessa, it was hiding a bomb that could destroy everything.
“Let’s get to work,” Luca said, taking off his jacket and grabbing a crowbar from the toolbox.
“Are we fixing the bench?” Matteo asked, confused by the heavy iron tool in his father’s hand.
“No, buddy,” Luca said softly. “We’re fixing the floor.”
I stood by the doorway, watching as Luca crouched down near the center of the garage. He examined the old, oil-stained floorboards. They looked completely ordinary, but as he dragged the flat end of the crowbar along the seams, he stopped.
“There’s no nails here,” Luca muttered, mostly to himself.
He wedged the crowbar into a small, almost invisible gap between two wide oak planks. He grunted, using his massive shoulder strength to pry the heavy wood upward.
The old iron nails groaned and shrieked in protest, fighting the movement.
“Stand back, Matteo,” I said instinctively, pulling the boy slightly behind me.
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With one final, violent heave, Luca snapped the heavy oak plank backward. A cloud of thick, gray dust plumed into the air, making us all cough.
Luca dropped the crowbar. He dropped to his knees, peering into the dark, hollow cavity beneath the garage floor.
