Chapter 4 - The Man Who Opened His Eyes
Lorenzo Moretti opened his eyes at 2:17 the following morning.
I wasn't supposed to be there.
After the attack, Isabella had moved Mia and me into a guarded guest suite. Two men stood outside the door, and another watched the garden below.
Sleep was impossible.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the cut-open rabbit.
So at two in the morning, I gave up.
Mia was asleep beside me when someone knocked.
Three quick taps.
Elena.
“Clara.”
I opened the door.
“What happened?”
“He's waking.”
I looked back at Mia.
One of the guards immediately said, “I'll stay.”
I hesitated.
Then followed Elena.
Lorenzo's room was dim.
A doctor stood on one side of the bed.
Isabella stood on the other.
Lorenzo's eyelids trembled.
Then opened.
His eyes were dark brown.
Confused.
Alive.
“Lorenzo?” Isabella whispered.
His gaze moved toward her.
His mouth opened.
No sound.
“Don't try to speak.”
He ignored her.
His eyes moved around the room.
Then stopped on me.
I felt suddenly exposed.
He stared at me for several seconds.
Then rasped one word.
“Girl.”
Isabella's eyes filled with tears.
“Mia?”
His gaze remained on mine.
I nodded.
“My daughter.”
His eyes closed briefly.
“Song.”
“She sang to you.”
His fingers moved weakly against the sheet.
The doctor checked his vitals.
“You've been unconscious for seven weeks, Mr. Moretti.”
Lorenzo's eyes opened again.
His expression changed.
“Crash?”
“Yes.”
He looked at Isabella.
“Victor?”
Nobody answered.
That silence was enough.
Lorenzo's eyes sharpened.
Even barely awake, the man changed the room.
“Where?”
“On the property,” Isabella said.
“Get him out.”
“Lorenzo—”
“Out.”
His voice was weak.
The command wasn't.
Isabella left immediately.
I started after her.
“Clara.”
I stopped.
He knew my name.
I turned.
Lorenzo studied me.
“Sofia.”
My heart tightened.
“What about her?”
His face showed something I hadn't expected from a man whose reputation frightened half of New York.
Grief.
“You look like her.”
“We were cousins.”
His eyes widened slightly.
“You know?”
“I found out tonight.”
He stared at me for a long moment.
Then whispered, “She found you.”
“No. She tried.”
He closed his eyes.
“Too late.”
“What happened to her?”
The doctor stepped forward.
“Mr. Moretti needs rest.”
Lorenzo ignored him.
“She was murdered.”
Every hair on my arms lifted.
“Who?”
His eyes opened.
“I don't know.”
“Victor?”
A pause.
“I thought so.”
“Thought?”
“Before crash.”
The doctor touched his shoulder.
“Enough.”
But Lorenzo caught my wrist.
Weakly.
Still, I felt the strength hidden beneath weeks of illness.
“The rabbit.”
I froze.
“How do you know about Mia's rabbit?”
His breathing became harder.
“Sofia.”
“What?”
“She hid it.”
“The flash drive?”
He nodded.
My mind raced.
Sofia had died four years ago.
Mia's rabbit had been purchased at a thrift shop eleven months ago.
“That doesn't make sense.”
Lorenzo struggled to speak.
“Not... rabbit.”
“What did she hide?”
His eyes started closing.
“Song.”
The doctor pushed medication into his IV.
“What does that mean?”
Lorenzo fought the sedative.
“Song... is key.”
Then he slipped back into sleep.
By sunrise, Victor was gone.
Security footage showed his car leaving at 3:06 a.m.
Nobody knew where he'd gone.
The flash drive remained encrypted.
But Lorenzo's words gave Elena an idea.
The song is key.
We spent hours trying combinations.
Lyrics.
Dates.
Sofia's birthday.
Nothing.
Then I remembered something.
My mother never sang the last line.
She always hummed it.
Because, she once told me, the final words weren't for children.
I hadn't thought about that in twenty years.
I sat at Isabella's computer.
“What were they?” she asked.
“I don't know.”
But I remembered the rhythm.
Seven syllables.
Elena found an audio file on the drive's hidden directory.
Locked.
Its password required seven characters.
I thought of my mother.
The way she would stop singing.
The way her expression always changed.
Then another memory surfaced.
A phrase she'd once whispered while washing dishes.
“Seven bells.”
I typed:
7BELLS.
The drive opened.
Three folders appeared.
FINANCES.
SOFIA.
L.M.
Isabella covered her mouth.
We opened SOFIA.
A video appeared.
Sofia sat in the very library where we were now sitting.
She looked frightened.
“If you're watching this, I failed.”
I leaned closer.
“There are people inside Lorenzo's organization who have been moving money through shell charities. But that's not the worst part.”
She looked toward the door.
“They're paying judges. Police officers. Hospital administrators.”
Isabella gripped the desk.
Then Sofia said the name.
“Victor.”
My heart pounded.
“But Victor isn't leading them.”
We stared at the screen.
Sofia continued.
“He answers to someone Lorenzo trusts completely.”
The video glitched.
Static swallowed the picture.
Then Sofia returned.
“If Lorenzo is hurt, do not take him to Moretti Memorial.”
Elena whispered, “That's where he was taken after the crash.”
Sofia leaned closer to the camera.
“And if he's already there, check his blood for—”
The video cut.
I stared at Elena.
“What?”
Her face had gone white.
She ran.
We followed her upstairs.
She grabbed Lorenzo's medical chart.
Flipped pages.
Then stopped.
“What is it?”
Elena looked at Isabella.
“They transferred him from Moretti Memorial after twelve hours.”
“Yes.”
“His toxicology panel showed an unusual sedative.”
“What kind?”
“A drug that can suppress neurological responses.”
My stomach dropped.
“You mean—”
“He may not have been unconscious for seven weeks because of the crash.”
Elena looked toward Lorenzo.
“Someone may have been keeping him that way.”
Behind us, a voice said quietly,
“Exactly.”
We turned.
A woman stood in the doorway wearing a physician's coat.
Isabella whispered her name.
“Dr. Evelyn Shaw.”
May you like
The woman smiled.
Then locked the door.
