Chapter 5 - The Nurse Who Never Forgot
Lydia grabbed the wheelchair and shoved it against the door.
“Mateo, eyes on me.”
A shadow stopped outside.
Then moved away.
Backup power flickered on.
Lydia opened the door only after Lorenzo arrived with armed guards.
The corridor was empty.
The photograph remained in her hand.
Lorenzo read the message.
“Someone inside this house delivered this.”
“Yes.”
He looked furious.
Lydia looked tired.
“There are still people loyal to Vincent.”
“Not for long.”
“Don't start executing staff because someone owns a red marker.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
“You made a face.”
“What face?”
“The organized-crime face.”
Despite everything, Mateo's mouth twitched.
Lorenzo noticed.
“You two enjoy this too much.”
The communication tablet rebooted.
Mateo finished his message.
LEDGER.
HOSPITAL.
Lydia frowned.
“Saint Catherine?”
Yes.
WHERE?
Mateo typed:
ROOM 614.
Lydia's blood chilled.
Daniel Mercer had been treated in Room 614.
She remembered every detail.
The monitors.
The window.
The cabinet.
The frightened accountant begging her not to alter his chart.
And the wall clock that never worked.
Her father had visited the hospital that night.
She remembered now.
He brought coffee.
He'd claimed he was nearby.
Maybe he hadn't come to see her.
Maybe he'd come to hide something.
Saint Catherine had renovated twice since then.
But Room 614 still existed.
Lorenzo refused to send Lydia alone.
She refused to stay behind.
By midnight they entered through a service corridor with credentials provided by one of Lorenzo's legitimate security companies.
Room 614 was empty.
Lydia stood where Mercer's bed had been.
Memory flooded back.
Blood.
Alarms.
Dr. Cole.
Alderman Vane.
Her father's coffee.
“Clock,” she whispered.
“What?”
“The clock was broken.”
The current clock was new.
Lydia removed it.
Behind it was ordinary drywall.
Her heart sank.
Then Lorenzo noticed a section patched differently.
He cut carefully around it.
Inside the wall sat a waterproof envelope.
Lydia pulled it free.
Not a ledger.
A flash drive.
And a handwritten note.
Lydia—
If you found this, you finally know I lied to protect you.
Forgive me.
Dad.
Her vision blurred.
Lorenzo touched her shoulder.
This time she let him.
A voice came from the doorway.
“I wouldn't plug that into anything.”
Dr. Adrian Cole stood there.
Older.
Grayer.
Still immaculate.
Lydia's body remembered him before her mind did.
The man who had looked her in the eyes while her career burned.
“Dr. Cole.”
“Lydia.”
Lorenzo stepped between them.
Cole raised his hands.
“If I wanted you dead, security would already be here.”
“You destroyed my career,” Lydia said.
Cole's expression tightened.
“I signed paperwork.”
“You knew it was false.”
“Yes.”
The admission hurt more than denial.
“Why?”
“Because Blackwood had my daughter.”
Silence.
Cole sat heavily.
“She was nineteen. Addicted. He controlled her supply. I did what he demanded.”
“You framed me.”
“I did.”
“My father died.”
“I know.”
“And Mateo?”
Cole looked at Lorenzo.
“I altered records after the ambush.”
Lorenzo's voice became quiet.
“What records?”
“The scans.”
Lydia stepped forward.
“What did you change?”
Cole looked toward the floor.
“Mateo's spinal injury was severe. But not necessarily permanent.”
Lorenzo stopped breathing.
Lydia felt the world tilt.
“What are you saying?”
“I'm saying he may have had a surgical window.”
“And you hid it?”
“Blackwood ordered me to.”
“Why?”
“Because a silent Mateo was useful.”
Lorenzo seized Cole by the jacket.
Lydia grabbed Lorenzo's wrist.
“Don't.”
“He left my brother trapped for two years.”
“And killing him won't give those years back.”
Lorenzo's breathing was ragged.
Eventually he released Cole.
Lydia took the flash drive.
“What is on this?”
Cole stared at it.
“The reason Blackwood was willing to destroy all of you.”
They returned to the estate.
Lorenzo's technicians isolated the drive.
Encrypted folders appeared.
Financial records.
Payments.
Police names.
Judges.
Doctors.
Security officers.
Then a folder labeled M.M.
Mateo Moretti.
Lydia opened it.
Medical scans appeared.
She studied them.
Then sat closer.
“No.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“What?”
“These aren't the scans in Mateo's current file.”
“Meaning?”
“The damage is different.”
She compared dates.
“These show compression that might have been surgically addressed.”
Lorenzo's face went pale.
“Can he recover?”
“I don't know. After two years, nobody can promise anything.”
“But possibility?”
“Yes.”
A sound came from the doorway.
Mateo was there in his wheelchair.
A guard had brought him.
His eyes were fixed on the scans.
Lydia crouched beside him.
“Mateo, listen to me. This isn't a promise.”
He blinked.
“I won't lie to you.”
Another blink.
“But I think someone stole a chance from you.”
Mateo closed his eyes.
One tear slipped down his cheek.
Lorenzo knelt beside his brother.
“I'll find the best surgeon alive.”
Mateo opened his eyes.
His tablet spoke mechanically.
NO.
Lorenzo frowned.
Mateo typed again.
FIRST.
FINISH.
THIS.
Then the estate alarm screamed.
A monitor lit up.
Someone had breached the old garage.
Lydia stared at the camera feed.
A lone figure stood inside beside Lorenzo's car.
He removed his hood.
May you like
Vincent Rizzo looked directly into the camera.
Then he held up Lydia's father's missing ledger.
