Chapter 5 - THE CHILD EMILY NEVER STOPPED MOURNING
Luca returned to the estate in less than twenty minutes.
Emily's room was empty. Her purse remained on the dresser. Her shoes stood beside the bed, and a half-finished cup of tea sat untouched on the nightstand.
There were no signs of a struggle.
That frightened him more than broken furniture would have.
“Find her,” he ordered Dominic. “Check every road, every hospital, every camera within five miles.”
Sophie stood at the top of the staircase, clutching her stuffed rabbit.
“Daddy, is Emily gone because of me?”
Luca climbed the stairs and knelt beside her.
“No, sweetheart. None of this is your fault.”
“She was nice to me.”
“I know.”
“She told me my baby brother would have my eyes.”
Luca went still.
Emily had spoken about her pregnancy, but he hadn't realized Sophie had already grown attached to the unborn child.
“She's coming back,” he promised, though he had no evidence to support it.
At dawn, Dominic found Emily's phone beneath a bridge near the river.
A single audio file had been recorded minutes before the device went silent.
Luca played it in the study.
Emily's voice sounded distant and frightened.
“If anyone finds this, please tell my baby that I tried. I tried to keep her safe.”
Then another voice spoke.
An older woman.
“You don't remember what happened at St. Catherine's, do you, Emily?”
A sharp gasp followed.
“No. Who are you?”
“You were there when Elena brought the child to us.”
The recording ended.
Luca immediately contacted a private investigator who had once worked for Elena. By noon, the investigator had located an abandoned medical archive belonging to St. Catherine's Hospital.
Inside were files documenting a fire in the maternity wing seven years earlier.
Three newborns had been reported dead.
One mother had died from smoke inhalation.
Another had disappeared.
The third had been listed as having relinquished her child.
The mother's name was Emily Carter.
Luca read the record twice.
Emily had been seventeen when she gave birth. Her daughter had supposedly died within hours.
But the hospital's handwritten notes told another story.
A nurse had transferred the infant to a private room shortly before the fire. The transfer had been authorized by a physician whose signature appeared repeatedly in the records connected to Elena's investigation.
Dr. Nathaniel Shaw.
Luca recognized the name.
Shaw had been the family's physician for decades. He had signed Elena's death certificate.
He had also signed the death certificate for Luca's father.
Both men had been cremated before independent examinations could be completed.
“Find Shaw,” Luca ordered.
The investigator called back ten minutes later.
“Doctor died six months ago.”
“Where?”
“His estate outside Boston.”
Luca looked toward the window.
“Then we're going to Boston.”
Before he could leave, Sophie entered the study carrying a photograph from Elena's jewelry box.
It showed Elena holding a newborn baby wrapped in a yellow blanket.
On the back, Elena had written a date.
Seven years earlier.
Sophie touched the baby's face.
“Daddy, Mommy told me this was the baby who needed a family.”
Luca's heart hammered.
“Did she tell you the baby's name?”
Sophie shook her head.
“She said the baby had a mommy who was still alive. She said one day the mommy would remember.”
Luca stared at the photograph.
Emily had lost her daughter seven years ago.
Elena had been holding a newborn around the same time.
And now someone was desperate to keep Emily from remembering what happened.
Dominic entered with another file.
“Boss, we found something in Emily's employment application. She changed her surname after leaving the hospital.”
“What was it before?”
“Carter was her mother's maiden name. Her birth certificate lists her father as Thomas Vale.”
Adrian, who had followed them back from the warehouse, suddenly went rigid.
“Thomas Vale was our father's accountant.”
Luca turned.
“Was?”
“He disappeared the year before the hospital fire. Our father accused him of stealing money from the family trust.”
Adrian opened the file and stared at Emily's photograph.
“Thomas wasn't a thief,” he whispered. “He was trying to expose the ledger.”
Luca looked from the picture of Emily to the image of the newborn.
For the first time, the pieces seemed to form a shape.
Emily had been seventeen when her daughter vanished.
Elena had risked everything to save a baby.
And the Moretti family had spent years concealing what happened.
Then Dominic received a call.
His expression changed.
“Boss, we've located Emily.”
“Where?”
“St. Catherine's old maternity wing.”
A pause.
“She isn't alone.”
Luca's blood ran cold.
“Who is with her?”
Dominic swallowed.
May you like
“Vanessa Sterling.”
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