Chapter 5 - THE MAN WHO STOLE THE COINS
Dante disappeared the next morning.
His phone was off.
His apartment was empty.
His driver had been paid to leave town.
And the private jet he'd supposedly never used had departed for Montreal at 4:12 a.m.
I wanted to follow him.
Instead, I went home.
Because Ellie had made me understand something.
The enemy wasn't necessarily outside.
It was inside.
I found Clara in the kitchen making toast.
She looked exhausted.
“Where's Ellie?”
“Asleep.”
I put the medical file on the table.
“Tell me everything.”
Clara stared at it.
Then she sat down.
“Dante recruited me because he needed someone inside your house.”
My jaw tightened.
“To spy on me?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Six months.”
“And what did you learn?”
“That you weren't what he told me.”
“What did he tell you?”
“That you were obsessed with Sofia. That you were unstable. That if I ever had to choose between his instructions and yours, I should remember who signed my paycheck.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Typical Dante.”
Clara's eyes filled with tears.
“I started feeling guilty.”
“When?”
“The first night Ellie got sick.”
“What happened?”
“I couldn't afford the medicine.”
She looked down.
“You paid the bill.”
I remembered.
A minor household employee's daughter.
The invoice had crossed my desk.
I had approved it without thinking.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“That's why you stayed.”
She nodded.
“Dante knew.”
That surprised me.
“He threatened you?”
“He threatened Ellie.”
My hands curled into fists.
Then Clara said something I hadn't expected.
“He didn't just use me.”
“What?”
“He used Sofia.”
I went still.
“How?”
“He knew about the Lantern treatment.”
“Did he?”
“Yes.”
“Why would he?”
“Because the research was connected to a company he controlled.”
The room became silent.
Clara reached into her bag.
She pulled out an old photograph.
It showed Dante standing beside Dr. Reed.
Behind them was a research facility.
On the wall was the word:
LANTERN.
“When did you take this?”
“Three days before Sofia died.”
“Why?”
“I was supposed to photograph documents for Dante.”
“Why?”
“He wanted proof that the treatment had failed.”
I stared at her.
“Why would he need proof?”
“Because he was selling the research to another company.”
The pieces began moving.
Dante hadn't simply stolen money.
He had built an illegal pipeline around experimental medical research.
Sofia's treatment was valuable.
If the program appeared unsuccessful, its patent rights could be acquired cheaply.
But if Sofia survived?
The program could become enormously valuable.
I couldn't breathe.
“Are you saying my brother benefited from my daughter's death?”
Clara whispered:
“I think he planned for her to become part of the numbers.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Dante's voice came through.
“You should stop.”
“Where are you?”
“That doesn't matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“You're grieving again.”
“No.”
I looked at Sofia's photograph on the wall.
“I'm investigating.”
A pause.
Then:
“You don't know what you're opening.”
“I know exactly what I'm opening.”
“No, Vince. You don't.”
His voice softened.
“Remember the third coin.”
I froze.
“How do you know about that?”
He laughed.
“Because Sofia gave it to me.”
The call ended.
I stood there staring at the phone.
Then Ellie appeared in the doorway.
She held her stuffed rabbit.
“Mr. Vincent?”
“Yes?”
She walked over.
“Mommy said you shouldn't be sad.”
I knelt.
“Did Mommy say anything else?”
Ellie nodded.
“She said the third coin opens the blue door.”
My blood ran cold.
“What blue door?”
May you like
Ellie pointed toward the basement.
“The one Uncle Dante said I wasn't allowed to see.”
