Chapter 5 - VANESSA’S LAST SONG
Beatrice Gambino refused to explain herself.
She sat in Simon’s library beneath a portrait of his late father and looked at her son without blinking.
“Yes, I was here.”
“You told police you were in Connecticut.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“To protect Vanessa.”
Simon’s fist tightened.
“She's dead.”
“I know.”
“Then start talking.”
Beatrice looked toward Natasha.
“Not in front of staff.”
Natasha rose.
Simon stopped her.
“She stays.”
Something passed across Beatrice's face.
Understanding, perhaps.
“Then you already trust her more than you realize.”
Simon ignored the observation.
Beatrice finally spoke.
Vanessa had discovered irregularities inside Gambino Health Holdings months before her death.
Children from vulnerable families had been enrolled in questionable private treatment programs. Insurance claims were inflated. Medical records were altered.
Vanessa suspected Leonard Vale.
She had secretly gathered evidence.
“Why didn't she tell me?” Simon demanded.
“She tried.”
The answer hit him.
Beatrice continued.
“You were at war with the Bellucci organization. You believed every warning was an attempt to manipulate you.”
Simon lowered his eyes.
Natasha saw regret cross his face.
Beatrice opened her handbag.
“I kept this because Vanessa told me to.”
She produced a small silver music box.
Natasha recognized the melody immediately.
Three-quarter time.
Three repeating beats.
The same rhythmic structure that calmed the twins.
“Vanessa used this during pregnancy,” Beatrice said. “She said the boys responded to it.”
Natasha's chest tightened.
That explained why the triplet rhythm had worked so quickly in the restaurant.
The babies had heard that pattern before birth.
They remembered their mother.
Beatrice handed Natasha the music box.
Inside was a tiny digital storage card.
Marcus retrieved a laptop.
The card contained documents, recordings and photographs.
Then a video appeared.
Vanessa sat in the same nursery Natasha now used.
She looked exhausted.
Pregnant.
Terrified.
“If Simon is watching this, then I probably failed.”
Simon stopped breathing.
Vanessa continued.
“Leonard Vale is using Anthony's company without Anthony knowing. But Vale isn't the top of it. Someone inside our family is protecting him.”
She looked off-camera.
“There are children involved. Families who can't fight back.”
Then she said something that made Natasha grip the table.
“I don't think the babies' withdrawal symptoms are what everyone thinks they are.”
Simon leaned forward.
Vanessa explained that Vale had prescribed her supplements during pregnancy. She later discovered undeclared compounds in them.
She stopped taking everything.
But the twins had already been exposed.
“They may have neurological symptoms after birth,” Vanessa said. “If they do, please don't let anyone call them damaged.”
Simon closed his eyes.
The video ended.
For a long time, nobody spoke.
Then Natasha heard something.
A tiny click.
She looked toward the music box.
Three notes played.
Pause.
Three notes.
Pause.
Then two.
It wasn't simply a melody.
It was a pattern.
“Marcus.”
Natasha turned the music box over.
A sequence of numbers had been engraved beneath it.
3-3-2.
Marcus entered the numbers into the encrypted folder.
It opened.
Inside was a ledger.
Payments.
Patient names.
Medical facilities.
Political donations.
And one name appearing repeatedly beside Leonard Vale's.
Anthony Gambino.
Simon stared.
Anthony had claimed ignorance.
But his digital signature appeared on dozens of transfers.
“Bring him here,” Simon said.
Marcus did not move.
“Boss…”
“What?”
“Anthony disappeared twenty minutes ago.”
Simon rose.
“Find him.”
Then Natasha noticed another file.
One created only three days before Vanessa died.
A photograph.
It showed Anthony and Leonard Vale meeting in a parking garage.
But Anthony wasn't accepting money.
Vale had a gun pressed against his ribs.
Someone had been blackmailing Simon's brother.
And in the corner of the image stood a third man.
Natasha zoomed in.
Marcus went pale.
Simon stared at the screen.
The third man was wearing the uniform of Simon's own security team.
May you like
And Natasha had seen him less than an hour earlier.
Standing outside the twins’ nursery.
