Chapter 2 - The Mark Beneath His Shirt
Matteo moved before Liana could speak.
“Take Nico upstairs.”
“But—”
“Now.”
The command was quiet enough to frighten her more than shouting would have.
He pressed a button beneath the console.
The guards returned immediately.
“Lock the property.”
One guard looked through the windows.
“There’s a woman at the entrance.”
“I know.”
“Do you recognize her?”
Matteo didn't answer.
Liana held Nico closer.
The baby was still calm.
That fact suddenly felt more disturbing than comforting.
“Mr. Varric.”
Matteo looked at her.
“If that woman knows something about my son, I should hear it.”
“No.”
“She may know something about mine.”
That stopped him.
For the first time, Matteo seemed to understand that whatever had entered his house did not belong only to him.
Liana had buried a child.
She had questions too.
“Stay behind me,” he said.
The front doors opened.
The woman entered.
She was perhaps fifty.
Gray threaded through her dark hair.
Her hospital scrubs were hidden beneath a long coat.
She looked at Matteo.
Then at Liana.
Then Nico.
Her face crumpled.
“Oh, God.”
Matteo approached.
“Name.”
“Evelyn Shaw.”
“What do you want?”
“To keep that baby alive.”
Matteo's expression did not move.
“You have ten seconds to explain.”
Evelyn looked toward the guards.
“If I explain in front of them, you may have another funeral before morning.”
One guard reached inside his jacket.
Matteo raised a hand.
“Study.”
They moved into a private room.
Liana remained beside the door with Nico.
Evelyn stared at her.
“You're Liana Graves.”
Liana felt cold.
“How do you know my name?”
“I was there when your son died.”
“You knew him?”
“I knew what they did to him.”
Liana took one step forward.
“What did they do?”
Evelyn looked at Matteo.
“You told me ten seconds. I need ten minutes.”
“You have five.”
Evelyn opened her coat and removed a sealed plastic envelope.
Inside was a hospital chart.
She placed it on the desk.
Matteo did not touch it.
“What is that?”
“The original neonatal record for Nico Varric.”
Matteo stared at her.
“The hospital has his records.”
“No. The hospital has the records someone wanted you to have.”
Liana looked down at Nico.
Evelyn pointed toward his ribs.
“Did she find the ports?”
Matteo's head snapped toward her.
“Ports?”
“Those marks aren't birthmarks.”
Liana's stomach turned.
“What are they?”
“Needle-entry scars.”
“For what?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“Repeated blood draws.”
Matteo's voice became dangerously calm.
“Doctors don't leave three permanent marks from ordinary blood draws.”
“These weren't ordinary.”
Evelyn opened the chart.
Several pages contained numbers.
Dates.
Initials.
Then a handwritten code.
NV-09.
Liana saw another code beneath it.
LG-07.
Her breath caught.
“What is LG?”
Evelyn looked at her.
“Your son.”
Liana nearly stopped breathing.
“My son's name was Eli.”
“In the official records.”
“What does that mean?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“There was an unauthorized pediatric study operating through St. Catherine's.”
Matteo leaned over the desk.
“Who funded it?”
“I don't know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“I genuinely don't know.”
Matteo studied her.
Evelyn continued.
“They collected blood from infants with a rare hereditary marker. Most parents never knew.”
Liana looked at Nico.
“What marker?”
“A protein anomaly. Usually harmless.”
“Why my son?”
“Because he had it.”
“And Nico?”
“Yes.”
Matteo's face tightened.
“What does any of this have to do with Sofia?”
Evelyn looked at him.
Everything changed.
“She found out.”
Matteo said nothing.
“She discovered the study shortly after Nico was born. She threatened to expose everyone involved.”
“My wife died in a car accident.”
“No.”
Matteo's hands flattened on the desk.
Evelyn didn't retreat.
“The crash happened. But Sofia survived it.”
Liana stared.
Matteo's voice became almost inaudible.
“I saw her body.”
“You saw a sealed coffin after being told the injuries were too severe for viewing.”
Matteo froze.
Evelyn knew.
That alone was proof of something.
“She survived?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Where did she go?”
“I helped hide her.”
Matteo crossed the room so quickly that Liana flinched.
He stopped inches from Evelyn.
“For eight months?”
“She believed Nico would be killed if anyone discovered she was alive.”
“You let me bury an empty coffin.”
“I kept her alive.”
“Where is she?”
Evelyn's eyes filled.
“I don't know anymore.”
Matteo stepped back.
For the first time, his anger looked fragile.
Liana understood why.
Hope could hurt worse than grief.
She had learned that beside a hospital bed.
“When did you last see her?” Matteo asked.
“Twenty-two days ago.”
Liana's heart stopped.
“The night Eli died?”
Evelyn nodded.
Liana moved toward her.
“What happened to my baby?”
Evelyn looked at Nico instead.
“Your son wasn't supposed to die.”
“That's not an answer.”
“He was brought into the study because his blood profile matched Nico's.”
“Why?”
“We believed someone was trying to poison Nico slowly.”
Matteo stared at her.
“Poison?”
“Not enough to kill him immediately. Enough to create recurring pain, respiratory distress, inflammation.”
Liana remembered Nico screaming.
“For six weeks,” she whispered.
Evelyn nodded.
Matteo looked toward the door.
Everyone who had touched Nico suddenly became a suspect.
“Nannies.”
“Maybe.”
“Doctors.”
“Maybe.”
“My staff?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Evelyn's expression darkened.
“Because whoever killed Sofia—or tried to—wasn't finished.”
Liana could barely process the words.
“My son.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“Eli was used as a comparison patient.”
Liana's eyes burned.
“You experimented on him?”
“No.”
“You just said—”
“I tried to stop it.”
“Did you?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
That was enough.
Liana handed Nico toward Matteo.
He took him automatically.
Then she slapped Evelyn.
The sound cracked through the study.
Nobody moved.
“You watched my baby die.”
“Yes.”
“And you did nothing.”
“I tried.”
“You watched.”
Evelyn's cheek reddened.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Yes.”
Liana stepped backward.
Her body shook.
She wanted to scream.
Instead she asked the question that had haunted her every night.
“Was Eli's death natural?”
Evelyn looked down.
“No.”
Liana covered her mouth.
Matteo held Nico tighter.
“Who killed him?”
“I don't know.”
“Who ordered the study?”
“I don't know.”
“Who altered the records?”
“I know one name.”
Matteo waited.
Evelyn reached into her coat.
She removed a photograph.
A man stood outside St. Catherine's loading dock.
Liana recognized him.
She had seen him that morning.
Inside the Varric estate.
Matteo recognized him too.
His expression became deadly.
“That man has worked for my family for eighteen years.”
Evelyn nodded.
“He also signed the transfer order for Eli Graves the night he died.”
Footsteps sounded outside the study.
Matteo looked toward the door.
The handle slowly turned.
Evelyn whispered the man's name.
“Daniel.”
May you like
The door opened.
And Daniel Varric stepped inside.
