Chapter 7 - The Boy Who Remembered the Red Car
Adriano ran.
His hand hit the elevator doors before they closed.
Carlo had already opened the maintenance hatch.
By the time Adriano forced the doors apart, the elevator was empty.
Luca sealed the hospital.
Police searched every floor.
Carlo vanished.
But he left something behind.
Theo's metal fragment.
It rested inside a specimen container on the elevator floor.
Attached was a note.
ASK MARCUS WHY HE MOVED THE BOMB.
Adriano read it twice.
Beatrice was sitting beside Theo when he brought the note.
“So Carlo says Marcus did it.”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I believe Carlo wants us to.”
Theo stirred.
His eyes opened.
“Aunt Bea?”
She leaned forward.
“I'm here.”
“Did it work?”
“The surgery went perfectly.”
“My legs?”
“We have to wait.”
Theo looked toward Adriano.
“You kept Sharky.”
Adriano realized he was still carrying the stuffed toy.
“I did.”
“Good.”
Over the next forty-eight hours, Theo recovered.
There was pain.
Fear.
And waiting.
Then, during a neurological examination, Dr. Anand touched his left foot.
“Can you feel this?”
Theo frowned.
“A little.”
Beatrice burst into tears.
Theo rolled his eyes.
“Aunt Bea.”
“I'm allowed.”
“It was just my toe.”
“It is an excellent toe.”
Even Adriano smiled.
Progress would take months.
Maybe years.
But there was hope.
Meanwhile, Theo remembered more.
The red car had been parked behind the waterfront pavilion.
Marcus drove it.
Mara had argued with him.
She handed him a bag.
Then she took it back.
Theo remembered his mother saying:
“You lied to me.”
He remembered Marcus grabbing her arm.
And another man approaching.
Carlo.
Then the explosion.
Luca found traffic-camera footage from that day.
A red sedan left the waterfront eleven minutes after the blast.
Registered owner?
Marcus Vale.
Adriano released the evidence publicly through his attorneys.
Marcus became a wanted man.
Carlo contacted Adriano that night.
“Meet me alone.”
“No.”
“Then you'll never learn where Mara went after the video ended.”
Adriano's pulse changed.
“She's dead.”
“You sure?”
The call ended.
Adriano told Beatrice.
She stared at him.
“You think Mara might still be alive?”
“I don't know.”
Hope could be crueler than grief.
Beatrice refused to accept it without proof.
Carlo requested a meeting at the abandoned waterfront pavilion.
Adriano went.
Not alone.
Luca watched from distance.
Police were informed.
Carlo appeared at midnight.
Older.
Thinner.
Limp worse.
“You've made a mess,” Carlo said.
“You made it first.”
Carlo laughed.
“Your father said the same thing.”
“You killed him?”
“No.”
“Mercer?”
“Marcus.”
Adriano studied him.
“You expect me to believe Marcus did everything?”
“No.”
Carlo smiled without humor.
“I did plenty.”
“Why help me now?”
“Because Marcus decided loose ends included me.”
“What happened to Mara?”
Carlo's expression changed.
“She survived.”
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“Lie again and—”
“You think threats still impress me?”
Carlo stepped closer.
“Marcus kept her because she had the original ledger. He believed she hid another copy.”
“She did.”
Carlo laughed.
“Smart woman.”
“Where did Marcus take her?”
“After the hospital? A private clinic in Wisconsin.”
“And then?”
“She escaped.”
Adriano stared.
“When?”
“Almost two years ago.”
“Why didn't she contact Beatrice?”
“She tried.”
Carlo pulled an old phone from his pocket.
“Marcus intercepted everything.”
Messages filled the device.
All addressed to Beatrice.
Bea, I'm alive.
Bea, don't trust anyone from Sarti.
Bea, I'm trying to get home.
The final message had been sent eighteen months ago.
I found proof about Theo. I'm coming back.
No messages afterward.
Adriano's throat tightened.
“Where was this sent?”
Carlo handed him coordinates.
“An old motel near Rockford.”
A gunshot cracked.
Carlo jerked backward.
Adriano hit the ground.
Another shot.
Luca returned fire toward a rooftop.
Carlo lay bleeding.
Adriano crawled toward him.
“Who?”
Carlo coughed.
“Marcus.”
“Where is Mara?”
Carlo grabbed Adriano's shirt.
“He knows.”
“Where?”
“Ask your father.”
“My father is dead.”
Carlo smiled weakly.
“That's what Marcus wanted you to think.”
Adriano froze.
Carlo's hand slipped away.
Sirens approached.
Adriano stared at him.
Then his phone rang.
Beatrice.
He answered.
Her voice was trembling.
“Adriano.”
“What happened?”
“Theo remembered something else.”
“What?”
“He says your father visited Mara after the explosion.”
Adriano said nothing.
Beatrice continued.
“And Adriano?”
“Yes?”
“There's a man downstairs asking to see you.”
“Who?”
May you like
Beatrice looked across the hospital lobby at the elderly man waiting beneath the fluorescent lights.
“He says his name is Lorenzo Sarti.”
