Chapter 3 - The Doctor Who Knew Too Much
Cassie did not sleep.
By eight the next morning, she was sitting across from Dr. Samuel Keane while Max completed dialysis two floors below.
Keane was fifty-eight, silver-haired, soft-spoken, and so reassuring that Cassie had trusted him from Max’s first hospitalization.
Now she placed the photocopied debt transfer on his desk.
“Explain your name.”
Keane glanced at it.
Only once.
But Cassie saw the fear.
“I have no idea what this is.”
“You signed it.”
“That could be forged.”
“Was it?”
His silence lasted half a second too long.
Cassie stood.
“I’m taking Max somewhere else.”
“Cassie.”
Keane moved around the desk.
“You need to be careful.”
“Is that medical advice?”
His pleasant expression disappeared.
“You don't understand the people you're dealing with.”
“Then explain them.”
“I can't.”
“Won't.”
Keane lowered his voice.
“Your father made choices. Those choices had consequences.”
Cassie felt cold.
“My father is dead.”
“And some debts outlive the people who create them.”
There it was.
Not a denial.
A warning.
Cassie backed toward the door.
Keane grabbed her elbow.
The door opened instantly.
Luca stood there.
Behind him were Nico and a hospital administrator whose face had gone pale.
Keane released Cassie.
Luca’s gaze went first to the doctor’s hand.
Then to Cassie.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
Keane swallowed.
“Mr. Moretti, this is a private medical—”
“Touch her again and privacy will be the least of your concerns.”
Cassie stepped between them.
“Luca.”
One word.
He stopped.
That frightened Keane more than the threat.
Cassie noticed.
Luca Moretti listened to her.
“Outside,” she told him.
His jaw tightened, but he obeyed.
In the corridor, Cassie rounded on him.
“Are you following me?”
“Yes.”
“You promised to stay out of my life.”
“I promised not to pay your bills.”
“That is an absurd technicality.”
“I know.”
Despite everything, she almost laughed.
Almost.
Then Luca gave her a folder.
Inside were financial records connecting Keane to a shell company controlled by Vincent Salerno, a Moretti rival.
Cassie stared at the pages.
“What does this have to do with Max?”
“We don't know yet.”
“We?”
“Nico found irregular payments.”
Her fear sharpened.
“Is Max in danger?”
“I don't know.”
“Don't say that.”
“I won't lie to you.”
Cassie looked through the glass toward the dialysis ward.
Max was reading a comic book, unaware.
“What do I do?”
It was the first time she had asked Luca for help.
He recognized it.
He did not smile.
“Transfer Max today.”
“To where?”
“St. Catherine’s.”
“I can't afford—”
“They have a charitable renal program that existed long before I met you.”
Cassie gave him a suspicious look.
“It does,” he said.
She checked.
It did.
By afternoon, Max was transferred.
Dr. Keane protested.
Then vanished.
At 6:00, police arrived at his office with a warrant related to insurance fraud.
The office was empty.
His computer had been wiped.
That night Cassie returned home to find her apartment door open.
She stopped in the hallway.
Luca had insisted she call if anything felt wrong.
She had refused his number.
Nico had written it on the back of her diner receipt anyway.
Cassie dialed.
Luca answered before the second ring.
“Cassie?”
“My door is open.”
“Don't go inside.”
A floorboard creaked behind her.
Cassie turned.
Rey stood at the end of the hallway.
His face was bruised.
“You ruined everything.”
Cassie backed away.
“Stay away from me.”
“You think Moretti cares about you?”
He laughed bitterly.
“He doesn't even know why you're important.”
Cassie stopped.
“What does that mean?”
Rey reached inside his jacket.
She flinched.
But he pulled out a photograph.
Old.
Creased.
Her father stood outside a warehouse beside another man.
A much younger man.
Luca’s father.
Vittorio Moretti.
Cassie stared.
“What is this?”
“Ask your boyfriend.”
Footsteps thundered up the stairwell.
Nico appeared first.
Luca was directly behind him.
Rey bolted.
Nico chased him.
Luca went to Cassie.
She held the photograph between them.
“You knew my father.”
Luca looked at it.
His expression changed.
“No.”
“Your family did.”
“Yes.”
“You've been sitting in my diner for three weeks because of this?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Luca hesitated.
Cassie laughed without humor.
“Finally. Something Luca Moretti doesn't want to answer.”
“I went to the diner because someone told me Miguel Moreno’s daughter worked there.”
Her stomach dropped.
“So you did know.”
“I knew his name.”
“And you watched me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your father died after stealing something from mine.”
The hallway seemed to tilt.
“My father was a drunk.”
“He was also an accountant.”
“I know.”
“For the Moretti organization.”
Cassie shook her head.
“No.”
“He discovered money disappearing from several businesses. Millions. Before he could identify who was responsible, he died.”
“My father died in a car accident.”
“So did my mother.”
Something in Luca’s voice changed.
Cassie looked at him.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying both accidents happened on the same night.”
The apartment behind Cassie suddenly felt less like home and more like a crime scene.
Luca continued.
“Your father left something behind. Everyone assumed it disappeared with him.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
Cassie stared.
“And you think I have it?”
“I thought you might.”
“That's why you came to the diner.”
“At first.”
Her eyes filled with anger.
“At first?”
Luca looked directly at her.
“Then I kept coming because you were there.”
The confession was quiet.
No charm.
No practiced smile.
Cassie wanted to hate it.
Instead, her heartbeat betrayed her.
From downstairs came the slam of a door.
Nico returned alone.
“Rey got out through the back.”
Luca cursed.
Nico looked toward the open apartment.
“Boss, we've got another problem.”
Inside, Cassie’s belongings had been ripped apart.
Mattress cut.
Drawers emptied.
Photographs scattered.
But nothing valuable had been taken.
Someone had been searching.
Cassie stepped over a broken frame containing a photograph of Max and their father.
Then Max’s old childhood teddy bear caught her attention.
Its stomach had been sliced open.
Something metallic gleamed inside the stuffing.
Cassie reached down.
Luca said her name.
Too late.
She pulled out a small brass key.
Stamped into it were three numbers.
Nico stared.
Luca went completely still.
Cassie looked between them.
“What?”
May you like
Luca answered.
“Grand Central Station.”
