Chapter 5 - THE CHILD WHO KNEW HIS NAME
The first thing Luca did was call the police.
The second was order Caleb to get the security recordings from Emma's mother's house.
The third was call the number that had sent him Gabriel's photograph.
Someone answered on the first ring.
A man's voice.
“Mr. Moretti.”
“Where is my niece?”
A pause.
Then:
“She's exactly where your brother wants her.”
Luca's grip tightened.
“Put Gabriel on the phone.”
“He isn't available.”
“Then put Lily on.”
The caller laughed softly.
“You've spent seven years searching for a ghost. Don't make us turn a little girl into one.”
The call ended.
Luca stood motionless.
Emma was crying beside Arthur.
Caleb returned from the hallway.
“Local police are at the house. No sign of forced entry downstairs. Lily's grandmother is safe.”
“Cameras?”
“Disabled remotely about twenty minutes before the abduction.”
Luca looked at Emma.
“Does Lily know who her father is?”
Emma nodded.
“She has his picture beside her bed.”
“Does she know me?”
Emma hesitated.
Then opened her phone.
She showed Luca a photograph of Lily.
Blonde curls.
Wide brown eyes.
A gap between her front teeth.
She was smiling beside a homemade birthday cake.
Luca's throat tightened.
Gabriel had looked exactly like that at six.
Emma played a short video.
Lily sat on a living room rug holding a framed photograph of two young men.
Luca and Gabriel.
“Who's that?” Emma asked in the recording.
Lily pointed.
“Daddy.”
Then she pointed to Luca.
“Uncle Luca.”
The video ended.
Luca looked away.
For years, he had imagined what he would say if Gabriel returned.
He had never imagined meeting his brother's daughter first.
“We're bringing her home,” he said.
Emma wiped her tears.
“How?”
Luca turned toward Caleb.
“Find everything about Saint Agnes.”
Within an hour, Caleb's team had located the foundation's corporate records.
It had operated three private medical properties.
Two had closed.
The third was still active.
A rehabilitation center in northern Wisconsin.
Its current medical director was Elias Ward.
Luca stared at the address.
“That's where we're going.”
Caleb shook his head.
“Not without coordinating with law enforcement. They've already opened an investigation into Lily's abduction.”
Luca hated the delay.
But he knew Caleb was right.
Charging into a facility could put Lily in greater danger.
While they waited for investigators, Emma brought Antonio's sealed envelope into the library.
The envelope Arthur had delivered with the film.
Luca had forgotten it.
His father's handwriting covered the front.
For Luca, when he's ready.
He carefully broke the seal.
Inside was a letter.
My son,
If Arthur has given you this, then the truth has finally reached our family.
I made a terrible mistake.
I believed Elias Ward could help Gabriel. I gave him money, property, and authority because I was afraid of losing another person I loved.
When I learned what Ward was doing, I tried to stop him.
By then, Gabriel had discovered something far worse.
Luca paused.
He looked at Arthur.
“What did Gabriel discover?”
Arthur shook his head.
“Antonio never told me.”
Luca continued reading.
The foundation was being used to move vulnerable patients between private facilities under false identities. Some families believed their relatives were receiving treatment. Others were told their loved ones had died.
Gabriel found evidence that Ward was not acting alone.
I attempted to expose them. They threatened Gabriel.
Then they threatened you.
Luca's hands shook.
The final paragraph was written in darker ink.
If you find Gabriel, tell him I never stopped loving him.
And tell him I'm sorry I chose silence when he needed courage.
Luca folded the letter.
For years, he had resented his father for refusing to discuss Gabriel.
Now he understood.
Antonio had been protecting secrets.
Some shameful.
Some dangerous.
And his silence had allowed other people to suffer.
A knock interrupted them.
Caleb entered.
“Police found something at Lily's house.”
“What?”
“A note beneath her pillow.”
Emma stood.
“Lily wrote it?”
Caleb shook his head.
“Printed. No fingerprints yet.”
He handed Luca a photograph.
The note contained a single sentence.
ASK VANESSA WHAT HAPPENED TO RACHEL.
Luca slowly turned toward the doorway.
Vanessa was seated in the adjoining room under security supervision, waiting to speak with investigators.
He walked toward her.
She looked up.
“Luca?”
He placed the note on the table.
“What happened to Rachel Bennett?”
Vanessa stared at it.
Her lips parted.
“Where did you get that?”
“Someone left it in Lily's bedroom.”
Vanessa began shaking.
“Then they know.”
“Know what?”
She covered her face.
Luca pulled out a chair.
“Vanessa. Tell me.”
She whispered:
“Rachel wasn't kidnapped by Ward.”
Luca froze.
May you like
Vanessa looked up.
“Rachel agreed to disappear because she believed Gabriel was going to kill her.”
