Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Lorenzo watched the footage repeatedly.
Daniel Cross had disappeared after a warehouse explosion in Brooklyn. His body had never been recovered, but the authorities had eventually declared him dead.
Vivian had attended the memorial service.
She had cried in front of the entire family.
Now Daniel was standing outside the Chatsworth, carrying a bundle that contained Lorenzo's daughter.
"Find him," Lorenzo told Victor.
"We're already looking."
"No. I want every address, every account, every person he's contacted. If he's alive, someone has been helping him."
Victor nodded.
Lorenzo looked toward Elena.
"You recognized him?"
"I recognized his face from the news."
"Did you see him the night you found Sophia?"
"No. I only heard her crying."
He believed her.
What frightened him was the possibility that Daniel had been acting under someone else's orders.
***
That night, Elena woke to the sound of Sophia crying.
She hurried into the nursery.
The baby was awake, gripping the edge of her blanket. Elena checked the monitor and called the nurse, who confirmed that Sophia was physically comfortable.
Still, the child refused to settle.
Elena sat beside her and began humming a melody she remembered from childhood.
It was a simple song her foster mother had once sung during thunderstorms.
Sophia's crying gradually eased.
Lorenzo appeared in the doorway.
"How do you do that?"
Elena looked up.
"Do what?"
"Make her feel safe."
"I don't know. I just stay with her."
He watched Sophia close her eyes.
"Isabella used to sing to her before she was born."
Elena continued humming.
"Maybe she remembers the sound."
Lorenzo sat beside her.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then he said, "I owe you an apology."
Elena stopped humming.
"For what?"
"For accusing you of keeping Sophia for money. For treating you like a suspect before I knew anything about you."
She looked at him carefully.
"You're used to people wanting something from you."
"That doesn't excuse it."
"No," she agreed. "It doesn't."
He accepted the answer without argument.
That surprised her more than the apology.
"Do you hate me?" he asked.
Elena almost smiled.
"I barely know you."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only honest one I have."
He nodded.
"Fair enough."
For the first time, they shared a quiet moment without suspicion between them.
Then the nursery door opened.
Vivian stood in the doorway.
"Lorenzo, we need to talk."
"Not now."
"It concerns Isabella."
He rose immediately.
"What about her?"
Vivian glanced at Elena.
"Privately."
Lorenzo followed her into the hall.
Elena stayed with Sophia, but she could hear their voices through the partially closed door.
"I didn't want to tell you this," Vivian whispered. "I thought it would destroy you."
"Tell me what?"
"Isabella was seeing someone before she died."
Lorenzo went still.
"What are you talking about?"
"I found messages on her phone. She was meeting a man behind your back."
"Who?"
"I don't know his name."
"Then how do you know anything?"
"Because I saw them together."
Lorenzo's voice turned dangerous.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you were already grieving. And because I thought perhaps she had made a mistake she regretted."
A long silence followed.
Then Lorenzo said, "Get out."
Vivian's voice broke.
"I'm trying to help you."
"Get out of my house."
She left.
When Lorenzo returned to the nursery, Elena saw that something had changed.
"What happened?" she asked.
He shook his head.
"Nothing you need to worry about."
But she could see the pain in his face.
"Vivian said Isabella was seeing someone."
Lorenzo looked at her sharply.
"You heard?"
"Enough."
He turned away.
"I spent six months wondering whether I could have saved her. Now I'm being told she might have betrayed me."
"Have you seen the messages?"
"No."
"Then you don't know whether they're real."
He looked at her.
"You think Vivian is lying?"
"I think she's frightened. And frightened people sometimes say whatever they believe will protect them."
Lorenzo considered that.
Then his phone rang.
Victor's voice came through immediately.
"Boss, we've found Daniel Cross."
"Where?"
"An apartment in Brooklyn. He was seen leaving twenty minutes ago."
"Bring him in."
Victor hesitated.
"There's a problem."
"What?"
"He's not alone."
Lorenzo gripped the phone.
"Who is with him?"
Victor's answer came quietly.
"Adrian."
***
The warehouse where Daniel was hiding stood beside an abandoned rail yard.
Lorenzo arrived with Victor and two trusted men.
Adrian was waiting inside.
He looked furious.
"You shouldn't have come here."
Lorenzo stared at him.
"Why are you helping a dead man?"
Adrian's face tightened.
"I can explain."
"Then start."
Daniel emerged from the shadows.
He was thinner than in the footage, with a scar running from his temple to his jaw.
He looked at Lorenzo and smiled.
"You've grown paranoid, old friend."
Lorenzo's hand moved toward his weapon.
"Where was my daughter going when you took her?"
Daniel's smile disappeared.
"I didn't take her."
"You carried her out of a car."
"I was following orders."
"Whose?"
Daniel looked at Adrian.
Adrian shook his head.
"Don't."
Lorenzo's voice became a whisper.
"Tell me whose orders."
Daniel swallowed.
Then he said the name.
"Isabella."
The world seemed to stop.
Lorenzo stared at him.
"That's impossible."
"She was alive when I last saw her," Daniel said. "And she told me exactly where to leave the baby."
Lorenzo raised his weapon.
"You're lying."
Daniel's expression hardened.
May you like
"Then explain why the woman who supposedly died six months ago called me yesterday."
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