Chapter 6 - The Nurse Who Vanished
By noon, the mansion no longer felt like a home.
Security officers moved quietly through the corridors.
Telephones rang behind closed doors.
The downstairs staff whispered in corners, then fell silent whenever Luca appeared.
Vanessa remained in the east guest suite.
Or at least that was what everyone believed.
At eleven thirty, Marco discovered she'd disappeared through the servants' entrance.
Her luggage remained behind.
Her phone had been left on the bed.
And one of the kitchen employees had seen a black sedan waiting outside the service gate.
Luca didn't shout.
He simply ordered Marco to locate her.
Then he asked me to bring Teresa downstairs.
The elderly woman sat beside the fireplace with a knitted blanket over her knees.
She looked exhausted.
Luca crouched beside her.
“Mom, I need to ask you something.”
Teresa nodded.
“Do you remember Elena Bellini?”
Her hands tightened.
“Yes.”
“Did you meet her?”
“Once.”
“Where?”
“At the hospital.”
Luca exchanged a glance with Marco.
Teresa continued.
“Catherine brought me there because she wanted me to see something for myself.”
“What?”
“A young woman who had been hurt.”
I sat beside Teresa.
“Was that Elena?”
She nodded.
“She was frightened. She kept looking toward the hallway.”
Luca leaned closer.
“What did she tell you?”
“That someone had been stealing money from your company. And that she had proof.”
“Did she name the person?”
Teresa closed her eyes.
“She tried.”
We waited.
“But a nurse came into the room.”
“What nurse?”
Teresa's face tightened.
“A beautiful woman with long dark hair. She wore a white uniform.”
I remembered the photograph.
Three women outside the hospital.
Catherine.
Elena.
And the nurse.
“Mrs. Moretti,” I said gently, “was the nurse in a photograph?”
“Yes.”
Luca showed her the picture.
Teresa stared.
Then her breathing changed.
“That's her.”
She pointed toward the nurse.
“The woman who came into Elena's room.”
Luca frowned.
“Do you know her name?”
Teresa shook her head.
“She introduced herself as Victoria.”
Marco took the photograph.
“I'll find her.”
But Teresa grabbed his sleeve.
“No. Wait.”
We all turned.
“She wasn't a nurse.”
Luca stared.
“What?”
“I realized it later. She didn't know how to operate the equipment in the room. Catherine noticed too.”
“Then why was she wearing a uniform?”
Teresa's voice trembled.
“To get close to Elena.”
My stomach turned.
Luca examined the photograph carefully.
The nurse had dark hair.
Heavy makeup.
A narrow face.
And a small beauty mark beside her left eye.
My pulse quickened.
I had seen that beauty mark before.
But not on a nurse.
On a woman in a red evening gown.
“Mr. Moretti,” I whispered.
He looked at me.
“Vanessa has a beauty mark beside her left eye.”
Silence.
Luca examined the photograph again.
Then he held it closer to the light.
“Her hair is darker.”
“And shorter,” I said. “But look at her mouth.”
The resemblance was unmistakable.
Marco took out his phone.
Within minutes, he'd sent the image to a private forensic specialist.
While we waited, Teresa began crying.
“I should have recognized her at the engagement dinner.”
Luca took her hand.
“Mom, this isn't your fault.”
“She frightened me, Luca.”
His expression softened.
“What did she say?”
Teresa looked toward the window.
“After Catherine died, she came to see me. She said Catherine had wanted to leave you. She told me that if I kept asking questions, Noah might lose his father too.”
Luca went very still.
“She threatened Noah?”
“Not directly. But I was afraid.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
“I was so afraid.”
Luca held his mother for a long time.
Then he looked at Marco.
“Find Vanessa.”
Marco nodded.
“And Daniel Mercer?”
Luca's face hardened.
“Bring him in for questioning.”
A knock interrupted us.
Mrs. Alvarez entered holding a small envelope.
“This was left at the front gate.”
Marco took it carefully.
No return address.
No stamp.
Inside was a photograph.
A woman stood outside a grocery store wearing sunglasses and a gray coat.
Her hair was shorter than in the hospital picture.
But I recognized her.
Elena Bellini.
On the back, someone had written:
SHE IS ALIVE. STOP LOOKING OR SHE WON'T BE FOR LONG.
Luca read the message.
Then stared at the picture.
Marco's phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
And slowly lowered the device.
“Boss. The forensic specialist confirmed it.”
Luca looked up.
May you like
Marco swallowed.
“The woman dressed as a nurse in that photograph is Vanessa Bellini.”
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