Chapter 3 - THE DOCTOR WHO BURIED A LIVING MAN
The death certificate was dated four years after Gabriel Moretti disappeared.
That was the first thing Luca noticed.
The second was the signature.
Dr. Elias Ward.
Ward stood in the mansion's private library, surrounded by Caleb and four armed security officers.
He was sixty-one, silver-haired, and dressed in an expensive charcoal coat.
He appeared entirely untroubled.
“Your brother died three years ago,” Ward said.
Luca threw the photograph from his phone onto the desk.
“Then explain this.”
Ward glanced at it.
“A fabrication.”
“The newspaper is six months old.”
“Digital manipulation is remarkably easy.”
Luca moved toward him.
Caleb stepped between them.
“Boss.”
Luca stopped.
Barely.
“Tell me where Gabriel is.”
Ward folded his hands.
“I came because your father's photographer has exposed information that could put several innocent people in danger.”
“Like my brother?”
“Like your household.”
Luca stared at him.
Ward looked toward the doorway.
Emma stood there carrying a tray of untouched coffee.
“You should send your staff away.”
Emma stiffened.
Luca noticed.
“Emma stays.”
Ward's eyes lingered on her.
For one strange second, he looked almost startled.
Then he turned back.
“Gabriel suffered from a serious neurological condition. His judgment deteriorated. He became paranoid.”
Luca remembered Gabriel's headaches.
But he also remembered his brother rebuilding a broken motorcycle engine two days before disappearing.
“He wasn't delusional.”
“You aren't qualified to make that assessment.”
“Neither are you qualified to declare someone dead without a body.”
Ward said nothing.
Luca tapped the certificate.
“Where was he buried?”
“Cremated.”
“Who authorized it?”
Ward hesitated.
“Your father.”
The room went silent.
Arthur Bennett stepped forward.
“That's impossible.”
Ward turned.
“Mr. Bennett.”
Arthur's voice shook.
“Antonio spent every day searching for Gabriel.”
Ward's expression hardened.
“Antonio knew far more than he told his family.”
Luca felt something cold settle in his stomach.
His father had died eighteen months earlier after a stroke.
Their last conversation had been about Gabriel.
Antonio had gripped Luca's wrist.
Don't trust the people who tell you to stop looking.
At the time, Luca assumed he meant the police.
Now he wasn't sure.
Ward opened a leather folder.
Inside was a document bearing Antonio's signature.
Authorization for cremation.
Luca recognized the handwriting.
But something was wrong.
His father had signed it with his full legal name.
Antonio Vittorio Moretti.
After his first stroke, Antonio had struggled to write more than his initials.
And the authorization was dated six months after that stroke.
Luca looked up.
“This signature was copied.”
Ward's smile disappeared.
“You're making a serious accusation.”
“You forged my father's name.”
Caleb reached for the document.
Ward closed the folder.
“This meeting is over.”
“No,” Luca said.
“You don't get to leave until I know where my brother is.”
Ward looked at Caleb.
“Mr. Ross, perhaps you should explain to your employer what happens when powerful men confuse grief with evidence.”
Caleb didn't move.
“Hand over the folder, Doctor.”
Ward slowly placed it on the desk.
Then he looked at Vanessa.
“You were warned.”
She began trembling.
Luca turned.
“Warned about what?”
Vanessa stared at Ward.
“You promised nobody would get hurt.”
Ward laughed quietly.
“That's an interesting version of events.”
“Don't.”
“You accepted the money.”
Luca felt his chest tighten.
“What money?”
Vanessa shook her head.
Ward answered for her.
“Two hundred thousand dollars. Paid after the incident at the lake house.”
Luca looked at the woman he had planned to marry.
“Is that true?”
Vanessa began crying.
“I didn't know Gabriel would disappear.”
“That wasn't my question.”
She closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Luca stepped backward.
Two years.
Two years of dinners, vacations, shared plans.
Two years of Vanessa telling him she loved him.
And she had never mentioned that she was connected to the worst night of his life.
“Why did you come into my life?” he asked.
Vanessa opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Ward supplied the answer.
“Because I asked her to.”
Luca went completely still.
“You sent her?”
Ward smiled.
“Your father was becoming difficult. Someone needed to know what he was telling you.”
Luca stared at Vanessa.
“You were watching me.”
“At first,” she whispered.
“At first?”
“I fell in love with you.”
He laughed once.
A broken, disbelieving sound.
“You were paid to get close to me.”
“Luca—”
“Get her out.”
Caleb escorted Vanessa toward the door.
She turned back.
“Luca, Ward is lying about Gabriel being dead!”
Ward's face changed.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
Vanessa continued.
“I saw Gabriel after the date on that certificate!”
Ward snapped, “Be quiet.”
Luca raised his hand.
Everyone stopped.
“When?”
Vanessa wiped her face.
“Eight months ago.”
“Where?”
She looked at Ward.
Then whispered:
“At your father's funeral.”
Luca felt the room tilt.
Gabriel had been at Antonio's funeral?
Hundreds of mourners had attended.
Luca remembered every face he recognized.
But there had been one man.
A tall stranger standing near the cemetery gates.
Dark coat.
Head lowered.
A white scar above his eyebrow.
Luca turned toward Caleb.
“Pull every security recording from my father's funeral.”
Caleb was already reaching for his phone.
Ward suddenly moved.
Not toward the door.
Toward Emma.
He grabbed her wrist.
“Tell your employer what your real last name is.”
Emma dropped the coffee tray.
Porcelain shattered across the floor.
Luca stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
May you like
Ward smiled.
“Ask your maid why Gabriel Moretti's daughter has been living under your roof.”
