Chapter 7 - THE FILE MARKED DECEASED“They didn't just steal twenty-two years from Isabella. They stole her name.”
Attorney David Whitman placed the birth certificate on the conference table.
Luca stared at it.
The document had been issued in Chicago thirty-eight years earlier.
Two children had been born at 4:12 and 4:19 in the morning.
Luca Antonio Moretti.
Isabella Lucia Moretti.
But the second record had been altered.
A court notation indicated that Isabella had been legally declared dead in 2004.
The supposed death had occurred at a private medical facility.
No public funeral records existed.
No independent autopsy.
And the physician who signed the certificate had died four years later.
Luca's expression turned cold.
“Who approved it?”
David checked his notes.
“A judge named Robert Halden.”
“Is he still alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
“Retired. Living outside Chicago.”
Luca immediately reached for his phone.
David caught his wrist.
“Don't.”
Luca looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because this needs to be handled through investigators.”
“He helped erase my sister.”
“We believe he did. But we need to prove it.”
Luca leaned back.
For a moment, his old instincts fought with the man he was trying to become.
Years ago, he would have sent someone to bring Halden to him.
There would have been threats.
Answers.
Maybe blood.
But he looked through the glass wall at Isabella sitting with Dr. Carter.
His sister had already suffered because powerful people believed rules didn't apply to them.
He wouldn't continue that pattern.
“Give the file to Detective Mercer.”
David nodded.
“Already done.”
The meeting took place in a private room at the hospital.
It was early morning.
Luca hadn't slept.
Neither had I.
Marco stood outside with two hospital security officers, while police maintained a presence near Isabella's room.
Investigators had secured St. Catherine's and begun reviewing its records.
Dr. Warren Pike had been detained for questioning.
Several employees were cooperating.
Others had suddenly become impossible to locate.
And Vanessa Bellini had disappeared from the Moretti mansion before officers could interview her.
That worried Luca more than anything.
Because Vanessa knew too much.
And someone had helped her leave.
David opened a second folder.
“There's another problem.”
Luca gave a humorless smile.
“Of course there is.”
“The money.”
“What about it?”
“St. Catherine's received regular payments through shell companies, but the origin of those funds is more complicated than we expected.”
David placed several bank statements on the table.
“Some transfers came from Bellini Health Services. Others came from Meridian Holdings.”
Luca studied the figures.
Then stopped.
“What's that?”
He pointed to a recurring monthly amount.
Twenty-five thousand dollars.
David looked at the page.
“Patient maintenance allocation.”
“Every month?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
David hesitated.
“Twenty-two years.”
Luca stared at him.
He didn't need a calculator to understand the scale of the money involved.
Hundreds of payments.
Millions of dollars.
All directed toward keeping one woman hidden.
“Who authorized them?”
David looked uncomfortable.
“Your father's office.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“That's not what I asked.”
David took a breath.
“The most recent payments were authorized by Salvatore.”
Luca slowly closed the folder.
His uncle.
His adviser.
The man who had stood beside him at his mother's funeral.
The man who had taught him to recognize betrayal.
For years, Salvatore had looked him in the eye while signing checks that kept his sister imprisoned.
Luca stood.
“I want to speak to him.”
David nodded.
“Through counsel. With investigators present.”
“I know.”
The restraint in Luca's voice surprised both of us.
Then he turned toward the window.
“There's something else.”
“What?”
“The recorder.”
I looked up.
Lucia's old cassette machine sat inside an evidence bag on the table.
Investigators had examined it.
The battery compartment was empty.
The tape mechanism was damaged.
But the internal components were more complicated than they appeared.
A small modern playback module had been installed beneath the original casing.
Someone had modified the recorder.
Someone had wanted it to play when the box opened.
I remembered hearing the strange click.
Now it made sense.
But the discovery raised another question.
Who had modified it?
And when?
David glanced at the device.
“The forensic technician believes it was altered within the last year.”
Luca frowned.
“My mother disappeared twenty-two years ago.”
“Exactly.”
A long silence followed.
Then I spoke.
“Maybe someone at St. Catherine's had access to the original tapes.”
David looked at me.
“That's possible.”
“Maybe they wanted the box to be found.”
Luca stared at the recorder.
“Someone knew.”
He slowly repeated the thought.
“Someone knew what was happening, and they tried to help us.”
David nodded.
“That's what we're trying to determine.”
Then Luca's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No one spoke.
Only breathing.
“Hello?”
A woman's voice came through.
“Luca?”
He went still.
The voice was older than he remembered.
Weak.
But familiar in a way that made his entire body tense.
“Who is this?”
A pause.
Then:
“My sweet boy.”
His face drained of color.
He stood so suddenly that the chair rolled backward.
“Mom?”
The woman began crying.
“I'm sorry.”
Luca gripped the phone.
“Where are you?”
“I don't have much time.”
“Mom, tell me where you are.”
She coughed.
Then whispered:
“Your father knows Isabella is free.”
“I know.”
“He'll never let us tell you what happened.”
Luca's eyes filled.
“Mom, listen to me. We found Bella. She's alive. She's safe.”
The woman sobbed.
“My little girl.”
Luca swallowed.
“Where are you?”
A muffled sound came through the line.
Footsteps.
A door opening.
Then the woman whispered:
“Don't trust the man standing beside you.”
Luca froze.
He looked at David.
Then toward Marco in the hallway.
“What man?”
The voice became urgent.
“He was there the night they took us.”
“Who?”
Static crackled.
Then Lucia said a name.
“Marco.”
The call ended.
Luca slowly lowered his phone.
Outside the glass conference room, Marco was standing beside Isabella's door.
May you like
And he was speaking quietly to someone on a second phone.
END OF CHAPTER 7
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