Chapter 6 - THE BABY WHO RECOGNIZED HER VOICE
Three days later, Leo laughed.
It was not a full laugh.
More of a tiny, breathless squeak.
But it was enough to make Hunter drop the stuffed rabbit she had been holding.
"Oh!"
She leaned closer.
"Did you just laugh at me?"
Leo kicked his legs.
Hunter smiled.
"You little troublemaker."
From the doorway, Lorenzo watched.
He had come upstairs to tell her the police wanted another statement.
Instead, he stood motionless.
His son was laughing.
The sound seemed impossible.
For weeks, Leo had existed in a world of pain, needles, and exhaustion.
Now he was looking at Hunter as though she had personally invented happiness.
Lorenzo entered quietly.
"Do it again."
Hunter turned.
"What?"
"Make him laugh."
She grinned.
"He's not a machine."
"I know."
"Then come here."
Lorenzo approached cautiously.
Hunter handed him the stuffed rabbit.
"Move it slowly."
He obeyed.
Leo stared.
Nothing happened.
Lorenzo frowned.
Hunter covered her mouth.
"You're holding it like a weapon."
"It's a rabbit."
"Then stop threatening him with it."
Lorenzo looked offended.
Hunter laughed.
And Leo squeaked again.
Lorenzo stared at his son.
Then at Hunter.
"So he thinks you're funny."
"Someone in this house should."
For the first time in months, Lorenzo smiled without forcing himself.
The moment ended when Marco appeared.
"Boss. We found the blue folder."
Lorenzo's smile vanished.
He followed Marco downstairs.
Inside Sophia's old dressing room, a hidden compartment had been discovered behind a vanity mirror.
The compartment contained financial records, medical correspondence, and a small silver flash drive.
There was also a handwritten letter.
Lorenzo recognized Sophia's handwriting immediately.
My love,
If you find this, please understand that I was trying to protect Leo.
Adrian Mercer is not the man you believe him to be.
He has been moving money through the fertility foundation for years. Some of the accounts belong to families who never knew their medical information was being sold.
When I discovered it, he threatened to expose things about your organization.
He said our son would pay for your sins.
I thought he was bluffing.
I was wrong.
Lorenzo lowered the letter.
Marco remained silent.
There was another page.
Julian knows. He helped falsify the records. But he isn't the person giving the orders.
And Lorenzo, there's something else.
Something about Leo's birth that I couldn't tell you.
The sentence ended there.
The remaining portion of the page had been torn away.
Lorenzo stared at the ragged edge.
"Where is the rest?"
Marco shook his head.
"We haven't found it."
Lorenzo closed his eyes.
Sophia had been keeping secrets.
Not because she didn't trust him.
Because she feared what he would do if he knew.
Upstairs, Hunter was putting Leo to sleep when she heard footsteps.
Lorenzo entered.
His face looked drained.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
He sat beside the crib.
"Sophia knew who was threatening us."
Hunter waited.
"She tried to protect Leo."
"Then she was a good mother."
Lorenzo looked at the baby.
"I should have protected her."
Hunter sat beside him.
"Maybe she didn't need you to be a perfect protector."
He looked at her.
"Maybe she needed you to listen."
The words struck him harder than any accusation.
Because he remembered Sophia trying to speak to him in the weeks before the explosion.
He remembered dismissing her fears.
Telling her his security was enough.
Promising that no one could touch them.
He had been wrong.
Lorenzo lowered his head.
Hunter placed a hand over his.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Leo stirred.
Hunter began humming her lullaby.
Lorenzo froze.
"What song is that?"
Hunter looked up.
"My mother used to sing it."
"Where did she learn it?"
"I don't know."
Lorenzo stood.
His expression had changed completely.
"Sophia sang that song."
Hunter blinked.
"Lots of people know lullabies."
"Not this one."
He approached the crib.
"She told me it came from a woman who worked at the fertility clinic."
Hunter's stomach tightened.
"What woman?"
Lorenzo looked directly at her.
"She never told me her name."
Hunter suddenly remembered something.
During her pregnancy, she had volunteered for a maternal-health research program that offered free prenatal care.
The clinic had been funded by a charitable foundation.
She had signed paperwork.
Given blood samples.
Attended several appointments.
Then the program abruptly closed.
Her breath caught.
"Lorenzo."
"What?"
"Was Sophia's clinic called the Mercer Family Center?"
His face went pale.
"Yes."
Hunter stepped backward.
"I was a patient there."
Lorenzo stared at her.
May you like
Then he asked the question neither of them wanted to hear.
"Hunter, what exactly did that clinic do to you?"
