Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN BEHIND THE LOCKED DOOR
The first thing Luca Moretti heard when he called St. Catherine's Hospital was a woman screaming.
Not over the phone.
From inside his own dining room.
“YOU CAN'T GO THERE!”
Vanessa Sterling lunged toward him, reaching for the phone.
Luca caught her wrist.
“Give me one reason.”
Vanessa's eyes darted toward the suitcase.
“Because you'll destroy everything.”
Luca released her.
“Then maybe everything deserves to be destroyed.”
He turned to his security chief, Caleb Ross.
“Have the car brought around. Find out who's responsible for Room 214.”
Caleb nodded.
Then Emily made a small, frightened sound.
Luca turned immediately.
She was gripping the edge of her chair, her face drained of color.
“Emily?”
“My stomach.”
Her voice trembled.
“It's getting worse.”
Within minutes, the ambulance Luca had requested arrived.
Vanessa stood motionless as paramedics examined the pregnant maid.
One of them looked at Luca.
“We need to get her evaluated immediately.”
“Take her to the best maternity unit available.”
Emily caught his sleeve.
“Mr. Moretti, please.”
“Don't worry about the suitcase.”
“That's not what I'm worried about.”
She swallowed.
“The woman at the hospital told me something else.”
Luca leaned closer.
“She said if you came looking for Isabella, you shouldn't trust the first person who offered to help.”
“Why?”
Emily glanced toward Vanessa.
“Because that's how they caught her the first time.”
The paramedics wheeled Emily away.
Luca watched until the ambulance doors closed.
Then he turned.
Vanessa had disappeared.
Caleb approached.
“Her car just left through the south gate.”
“Follow her. Don't stop her yet.”
“You think she's going to the hospital?”
“I think she's going wherever she believes the evidence is.”
Twenty-five minutes later, Luca entered St. Catherine's.
The hospital occupied a sprawling redbrick complex outside New York City. Its oldest wing had once served as a private psychiatric facility before being converted into medical offices.
Luca had donated money to the hospital years earlier.
He had never visited the second floor.
A night supervisor named Helen Price met him near the elevators.
“Mr. Moretti, I understand you're looking for someone.”
“Margaret Ellis.”
Helen's expression tightened.
“I'm sorry. Mrs. Ellis is no longer employed here.”
“Since when?”
“Yesterday.”
Luca stared at her.
“Yesterday?”
“She submitted her resignation.”
“Where is Room 214?”
Helen hesitated.
“That room isn't currently assigned to a patient.”
“I didn't ask who was assigned to it.”
She led him through a dim hallway.
At the far end stood a heavy wooden door.
214\.
Luca stopped.
Three years.
Three years of waking up beside an empty pillow.
Three years of wondering whether Isabella had left him because she was afraid of the life he led.
Three years of believing the woman he loved had chosen someone else.
Now her handwriting had brought him here.
“Open it,” he said.
Helen unlocked the door.
Inside stood a hospital bed, a narrow wardrobe, and a desk beneath a window overlooking the parking lot.
Nothing unusual.
Until Luca noticed the wall.
Someone had recently removed a framed picture.
The paint beneath it was darker than the surrounding surface.
He crossed the room.
“What was hanging here?”
Helen shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Luca examined the exposed wall.
There were scratches around one of the mounting screws.
He pulled gently.
A narrow metal panel shifted.
Behind it was a recessed compartment.
Empty.
Almost.
A torn piece of paper lay in the corner.
Luca unfolded it.
It contained five handwritten words.
He is not your enemy.
Underneath was Isabella's signature.
Luca's chest tightened.
“Who used this room?”
Helen stared at the paper.
“I can't discuss patient records without authorization.”
Luca looked at her.
“My wife disappeared three years ago. I have a photograph showing her outside this building four months ago. Someone threatened a pregnant employee in my home to stop me from seeing it.”
Helen's expression changed.
“Your wife?”
“Isabella Moretti.”
The supervisor slowly lowered herself into a chair.
“Oh, God.”
Luca stepped closer.
“You recognize the name.”
Helen pressed a hand against her mouth.
“I was told she died.”
The room went still.
“Who told you?”
“A woman who came here with legal documents. She said she represented the family.”
“Describe her.”
“Dark hair. Very well dressed. A diamond engagement ring.”
Luca felt something cold settle in his stomach.
Vanessa.
“When?”
“Four months ago.”
The same month Isabella's photograph had been taken.
Luca forced himself to remain calm.
“Was my wife a patient?”
Helen looked toward the hallway.
“Not officially.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means her name never appeared on the normal admission system.”
Luca stared.
“How is that possible?”
“Some patients were handled through a private arrangement. I questioned it once. The administrator told me to stay out of it.”
“Who was the administrator?”
“Dr. Adrian Keller.”
Luca recognized the name.
Keller had treated his father, Antonio Moretti, shortly before Antonio died.
A man Luca had trusted.
A man Vanessa had recommended.
His phone vibrated.
Caleb.
“Boss, we followed Vanessa.”
“Where is she?”
“Not at the hospital.”
“Then where?”
Caleb hesitated.
“She went to the old Moretti family estate.”
Luca frowned.
The estate had been empty since his father's death.
“Why would she go there?”
“She's meeting someone.”
“Who?”
“We couldn't get close enough to see his face.”
A pause.
“Boss, there's something else.”
“What?”
“He arrived in your father's old car.”
Luca went cold.
Antonio's black Cadillac had been locked in storage for two years.
Only three people had access to that garage.
Luca.
Caleb.
And his younger brother, Matteo.
Matteo Moretti had died in a warehouse fire six years earlier.
Luca gripped the phone.
“Get me a photograph.”
Before Caleb could answer, Helen whispered behind him.
“Mr. Moretti?”
Luca turned.
She was staring at the open doorway.
A man in a white coat stood there.
Tall.
Gray-haired.
Expressionless.
Helen rose so quickly her chair scraped against the floor.
“Dr. Keller.”
The doctor looked directly at Luca.
“I understand you're asking questions about Isabella.”
Luca slipped the torn note into his pocket.
“Where is my wife?”
Keller's expression did not change.
“Before I answer that, Mr. Moretti, there's something you should understand.”
“What?”
“Your wife didn't disappear because she was afraid of Vanessa Sterling.”
Luca took a step forward.
“Then who was she afraid of?”
Keller looked at the photograph in Luca's hand.
“Someone she recognized the night your brother died.”
Luca's phone buzzed again.
A photograph appeared.
Vanessa stood beside the black Cadillac.
A man was climbing out.
The image was blurred, but Luca could see the man's face.
The same scar above his left eyebrow.
The same dark eyes.
The same unmistakable profile.
Matteo Moretti.
His dead brother.
Alive.
May you like
And standing beside his fiancée.
Continue to Chapter 3: Why was Matteo alive—and what did Isabella witness six years ago?
