Chapter 3 - THE CHILD IN THE PHOTOGRAPHThe gunshot had come from the far end of the courtyard.
David shoved Lorenzo behind the SUV while another bullet struck the stone wall above them.
"Get down!"
Lorenzo covered Meline with his body.
For three years, he had imagined finding the people responsible for her disappearance. He had imagined interrogations, revenge, and watching every person involved beg for mercy.
He had never imagined holding his wife while she trembled beneath a barrage of bullets.
David returned fire.
"Two shooters on the balcony! We need another exit!"
Lorenzo opened the rear passenger door.
"Maddie, get inside."
She stared at him.
"Where's the baby?"
He stopped.
"What?"
"You asked about our son. You need to know where he is."
"Tell me."
"Not here!"
Another shot cracked against the SUV.
Lorenzo pulled her into the vehicle and climbed in after her. David took the wheel, accelerating through the narrow service road as bullets struck the rear window.
They escaped through the estate's eastern gate.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Lorenzo sat beside Meline, his hands clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
Finally, she reached into the pocket of her uniform.
She withdrew a photograph.
It showed a little boy, perhaps three years old, sitting on a wooden bench beside a Christmas tree.
He had dark brown hair and bright gray eyes.
Lorenzo stared at the picture.
The boy had his eyes.
More than that, he had the tiny crescent-shaped birthmark beneath his right ear. Lorenzo had the same mark, inherited from his father.
On the back, someone had written:
NICHOLAS VALE — PROPERTY OF THE MORETTI FAMILY.
"His name is Nicholas," Meline whispered.
Lorenzo couldn't breathe.
"Where is he?"
"At the Croft estate. Mateo keeps him in the east wing."
"He's three?"
"Three years and two months."
Lorenzo looked at her.
Their wedding anniversary had been three years and seven months ago.
The dates fit.
He pressed the photograph against his chest.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Meline looked at him with exhausted eyes.
"I tried."
She explained that Mateo had arranged the attack shortly after Lorenzo discovered irregularities in the family's accounts. Meline had been pregnant, and Mateo knew that Lorenzo would risk everything to protect his unborn child.
So he had made Meline disappear.
The funeral was staged. The body in the coffin belonged to an unidentified woman whose dental records had been altered.
Mateo had then convinced Meline that Lorenzo was dead and that the baby would be killed if she resisted.
For months, she had been held in an isolated property.
When Nicholas was born, Mateo took him.
He told her the child would be raised as an heir, far away from the dangerous influence of his mother.
Meline was eventually transferred between several estates, always under guard, always working.
"Why the maid uniform?" Lorenzo asked.
"Because people don't notice maids."
She looked down at her hands.
"And because Mateo wanted me to remember that I was nothing."
Lorenzo's face darkened.
"What about the symbol on your arm?"
Meline pulled down her sleeve.
"That was his warning. Every time I disobeyed, he made them reopen the wound."
Lorenzo closed his eyes.
He wanted to tear the world apart.
Instead, he asked the only question that mattered.
"Does Nicholas know you're his mother?"
Meline shook her head.
"He thinks I'm a woman who cleans his room."
Lorenzo stared through the window.
His son had spent three years living in the same building as his mother without knowing who she was.
"David," he said.
"Yes, boss?"
"Take us to the safe house. Then contact every loyal man we have."
"How many?"
"All of them."
David glanced at him in the mirror.
"And the Croft estate?"
Lorenzo looked at the photograph again.
"We're going back."
Meline grabbed his hand.
"No. You can't."
"I won't leave my son there."
"Mateo is expecting you to come."
"Good."
"He has people everywhere."
Lorenzo leaned closer.
"Then we'll make him regret every person he trusted."
For the first time since finding her, Meline didn't look frightened.
She looked devastated.
"There's something else."
"What?"
She hesitated.
"Mateo didn't keep Nicholas because he wanted an heir."
Lorenzo frowned.
"Then why?"
Meline reached into the torn lining of her sleeve.
From a hidden pocket, she removed a tiny folded piece of paper.
It contained a photograph of a medical document.
Lorenzo read it once.
Then again.
The report listed Nicholas's blood type, genetic markers, and an unusual inherited condition.
At the bottom was a handwritten note.
COMPATIBLE DONOR. PRIORITY: MATERNAL CONSENT.
Lorenzo looked up.
"What does this mean?"
Meline began shaking.
"Mateo says Nicholas can save someone."
"Who?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, she pointed to the last line of the document.
The recipient's name was clearly printed.
ISABELLA MORETTI.
May you like
Lorenzo's younger sister.
The sister who had supposedly died in the same fire that killed Mateo five years earlier.
Related Stories
