Chapter 3 - Twenty-Two Days Earlier
Daniel stopped when he saw Evelyn.
For one second, fear crossed his face.
Then it disappeared.
“Matteo.”
Matteo handed Nico to Liana.
“Close the door.”
Daniel didn't.
One guard did.
“What is she doing here?”
Matteo studied his older cousin.
“You tell me.”
Daniel smiled without humor.
“I've never seen her.”
Evelyn laughed once.
“You signed twelve transfer orders.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I sign hundreds of documents.”
“For dead babies?”
The room went silent.
Matteo stepped between them.
“Twenty-two days ago. St. Catherine's. Were you there?”
“No.”
Evelyn pushed the photograph across the desk.
Daniel looked at it.
“That's not proof of a date.”
“The metadata is.”
“Images can be altered.”
Matteo watched him.
Daniel had always been good at answers.
Too good.
They had grown up together.
Shared tutors.
Shared summers.
Shared blood.
After Matteo's father died, Daniel had become the person who handled problems nobody else could.
Including Sofia's funeral.
Matteo remembered that now.
Daniel had arranged the sealed coffin.
Daniel had spoken with the hospital.
Daniel had told Matteo the injuries made identification impossible.
A memory Matteo had buried suddenly opened.
“Why did you insist I not see Sofia?”
Daniel's face tightened.
“You were warned it would traumatize you.”
“By whom?”
“The physician.”
“Name him.”
Daniel hesitated.
That hesitation changed everything.
Matteo took one step forward.
“Name him.”
“I don't remember.”
“You remember every waiter who has ever overcharged one of our restaurants.”
“This was eight months ago.”
“My wife died.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“Exactly. You weren't functioning. I handled things.”
“Maybe you handled too much.”
Nico stirred.
Liana looked down.
His hand had moved beneath her collar.
His fingers touched the small chain around her neck.
Her wedding ring hung from it.
Beside it was something else.
A tiny silver disk.
Eli's hospital identification charm.
Evelyn noticed.
Her face changed.
“Where did you get that?”
Liana covered it.
“It belonged to my son.”
“No.”
Evelyn approached.
“Let me see.”
Liana backed away.
“Don't touch it.”
“Please.”
Something in Evelyn's expression stopped her.
Liana lifted the chain.
Evelyn stared at the disk.
There was a number engraved on the reverse.
Evelyn whispered, “That's not his patient number.”
“What?”
“It was assigned after his death.”
Liana felt sick.
“Assigned to what?”
Evelyn looked at Daniel.
“A storage unit.”
Daniel moved.
Fast.
He reached for the photograph on the desk.
Matteo caught his wrist.
Daniel froze.
“Why do you care about that photograph?” Matteo asked.
“I don't.”
“You just tried to take it.”
“I was moving it.”
“To your pocket?”
Daniel pulled away.
“Think carefully about what you're doing.”
Matteo's expression hardened.
“I am.”
“You're trusting a stranger and a maid over your own family.”
Liana flinched at the word maid.
Matteo didn't.
“Right now the maid is the only person in this house who can make my son stop screaming.”
Daniel looked at Nico.
Something strange passed through his eyes.
Recognition.
Liana saw it.
“Have you seen the mark?”
Daniel looked at her.
“What mark?”
“On Nico.”
“No.”
“You looked like you knew.”
“I looked at a baby.”
Evelyn interrupted.
“Ask him about Room 0719.”
Daniel's face went pale.
Matteo released his wrist.
“What is Room 0719?”
“No idea.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“Basement level three. St. Catherine's old pathology wing.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You should have stayed gone.”
The sentence escaped him.
Everyone heard it.
Daniel realized too late.
Matteo's voice dropped.
“So you do know her.”
Daniel looked toward the guards.
Then the lights went out.
Liana gasped.
Nico began crying.
Matteo shouted her name.
A crash came from the desk.
Then footsteps.
Someone hit the door.
Emergency lights flickered red.
Daniel was gone.
So was Evelyn.
“Lock the estate!” Matteo shouted.
The guards ran.
Liana held Nico against her chest.
His cries softened.
Matteo grabbed his phone.
No signal.
The house security system had been disabled.
From inside.
Then Liana heard something.
A whisper.
Not in the room.
From Nico's clothing.
She looked down.
A tiny electronic chirp sounded beneath his shirt.
“Matteo.”
He approached.
She lifted the fabric.
Beside the three pale marks was something she had missed.
A hard ridge beneath the skin.
Matteo touched it carefully.
His face changed.
“That's not a scar.”
Liana stared at him.
“What is it?”
He looked toward the dark hallway.
“A tracker.”
Then the emergency lights died too.
Somewhere upstairs, a woman screamed.
May you like
And from the darkness came three words.
“They found Nico.”
