Chapter 4 - THE NURSE WHO COULDN'T FORGET|
The next morning, Leonardo brought me breakfast himself.
I was still in the hospital, wearing a pale blue gown and staring at the monitor beside my bed.
He entered carrying two paper bags and a cup of coffee.
"Before you ask, the doctor approved breakfast."
I looked at him suspiciously.
"Did you cook it?"
He almost smiled.
"Matteo told you about my cooking?"
"He said you once burned water."
"That was an exaggeration."
"Was it?"
Leonardo considered the question.
"Mostly."
For the first time in months, I laughed.
Then I started crying.
The sound surprised both of us.
"I'm sorry."
He placed the bags on the table.
"Don't apologize."
"I keep forgetting he's gone."
Leonardo pulled up a chair.
"So do I."
We ate quietly while Chicago woke outside the window.
Below us, cars moved through the streets, people hurried toward work, and the world continued as though nothing extraordinary had happened.
I wondered how many terrible things were hidden behind ordinary-looking doors.
At ten o'clock, Anthony arrived with Detective Hayes.
They had located Nora Whitfield.
She was willing to talk, but only if the meeting happened somewhere she considered safe.
Hayes had arranged for her to give a formal statement in a secure interview room.
"Can I speak to her?" I asked.
Leonardo shook his head.
"Emma, you don't need more stress."
"I need answers."
He looked at me.
I held his gaze.
"Matteo died trying to protect someone."
My voice softened.
"If Nora knows what happened, I want to hear it."
Leonardo hesitated.
Then turned to Dr. Carter, who had just entered.
"Would a brief conversation be safe?"
The doctor studied me.
"Physically, you're stable, but I recommend keeping things calm and taking breaks."
I nodded.
"I can do that."
By early afternoon, Nora Whitfield appeared on a secure video call arranged by the investigators.
She was forty-three, with tired eyes, short brown hair, and the hollow expression of someone who hadn't slept properly in years.
The moment she saw my face, she covered her mouth.
"Oh, Emma."
I stared.
"You know me?"
She nodded.
"I was there during your first appointment."
My heart sank.
"I don't remember you."
"You were frightened."
Nora's voice cracked.
"And I was told not to introduce myself."
Leonardo leaned forward.
"Who told you that?"
"Dr. Samuel Voss."
Anthony wrote down the name.
Nora looked at me again.
"Emma, I'm so sorry."
I didn't know what to say.
Finally, I whispered, "What happened to Claire Bennett's baby?"
Nora closed her eyes.
For a moment, I thought she might refuse to answer.
Then she began.
"Claire was admitted after going into premature labor."
"Was her baby healthy?"
"She needed medical support, but she was alive."
Nora swallowed.
"She was a beautiful little girl."
My throat tightened.
"What did they tell Claire?"
"That the baby suffered complications and couldn't be saved."
"Who told her?"
"Dr. Voss."
I stared at the screen.
"And you signed the report?"
Nora nodded.
Tears ran down her cheeks.
"I did."
Leonardo's voice hardened.
"Why?"
"Because they threatened my mother."
Nobody spoke.
Nora wiped her face.
"My mother was living in a care facility funded through a charitable trust."
"Which trust?" Anthony asked.
"The Romano Foundation."
She looked ashamed.
"They told me that if I didn't cooperate, she'd lose her place."
I felt anger rise through the fear.
"You helped them steal a child."
Nora bowed her head.
"Yes."
The word hung between us.
I expected her to defend herself.
Instead, she whispered, "And I've regretted it every day."
Leonardo folded his arms.
"Where is the child now?"
Nora glanced away.
"I don't know exactly."
Anthony leaned forward.
"You wrote that you knew where she was taken."
"I know the organization that arranged the placement."
"Which organization?"
"The Bellweather Family Foundation."
Anthony's expression changed.
He typed rapidly.
"That's a private adoption-support charity."
Nora shook her head.
"That's what it's supposed to be."
"Was the child legally adopted?" Hayes asked.
"I never saw any valid consent from Claire."
The detective made a note.
Nora continued.
"Dr. Voss told us wealthy families were paying for private placements, and the money would support the clinic."
I felt sick.
"Paying for babies?"
"That's how it looked to me."
Leonardo stared at the screen.
"Was Richard Romano involved?"
Nora's face drained of color.
"He attended meetings."
"How often?"
"Frequently."
"And Bianca?"
Nora hesitated.
"She was involved with the foundation's fundraising."
I looked down at my stomach.
I had spent months believing Bianca was simply cruel.
But cruelty was only the surface.
Underneath it was something organized.
Something expensive.
Something that required lawyers, doctors, and people willing to look away.
"Did Matteo know?" I asked.
Nora nodded.
"He came to see me."
My breath caught.
"When?"
"Nine days before his accident."
I covered my mouth.
She continued.
"He said he was investigating suspicious transfers involving his family's businesses."
Leonardo leaned forward.
"What transfers?"
"Money from the Romano Foundation was being routed through a medical consulting company."
"Why?"
"To hide payments connected to the placements."
Anthony stopped typing.
"And Matteo discovered the connection?"
"Yes."
Nora swallowed.
"He also found Claire."
I could barely breathe.
"What did she tell him?"
"Everything."
A tear rolled down Nora's cheek.
"Matteo promised he'd help her find her daughter."
For several seconds, Leonardo couldn't speak.
Then he whispered, "That sounds like him."
Nora nodded.
"He was kind to her."
Her voice broke.
"Claire said he was the first person who didn't treat her like she was crazy."
I pictured Matteo sitting at our kitchen table, trying to help a woman he'd never met before.
He would have made her coffee.
He would have listened.
And he would have promised not to give up.
Because that was who he was.
"Then why was he killed?" I whispered.
Nora stared at me.
"I don't know who caused the accident."
"But you think someone did?"
She hesitated.
"Matteo told me he was being followed."
Leonardo's jaw tightened.
"By Arthur Pike?"
Nora nodded.
"I saw Pike outside the clinic twice."
Hayes leaned toward the camera.
"Can you identify him from a photograph?"
"I already did when I gave my statement."
The detective nodded.
"Thank you."
Then Nora looked at me.
"Emma, there's something else."
I gripped Leonardo's hand without thinking.
"What?"
"Your appointments were being monitored before Matteo died."
My heart stopped.
"That's impossible."
Nora looked miserable.
"Dr. Voss had access to your medical information from an earlier visit to an affiliated office."
I remembered visiting a walk-in clinic for dizziness several days before Matteo's accident.
I hadn't known I was pregnant.
Neither had Matteo.
"Did they know?" I whispered.
"They suspected."
Nora swallowed.
"They ordered additional testing without explaining the reason to you."
I felt nauseated.
"Why would they do that?"
"Because Matteo had become a problem."
Leonardo stared at her.
"Explain."
Nora looked directly at him.
"Someone in Richard Romano's organization realized Matteo might have an heir."
Anthony's pen stopped moving.
Nora continued.
"And if Matteo died before exposing the financial scheme, that heir could complicate control of the assets they were trying to move."
I began shaking.
"So they were watching my pregnancy?"
"Yes."
"Even before Matteo died?"
Nora nodded.
Tears filled my eyes.
For eight months, I'd believed I was living through a tragedy that began with a truck crossing the center line.
Now I realized the tragedy might have begun much earlier.
Leonardo stood so abruptly that his chair scraped across the floor.
"Hayes, I want Pike found."
"We're working on it."
"I want Voss investigated."
"He is."
"And I want every financial record connected to that foundation preserved."
Anthony nodded.
"Already underway."
Nora leaned closer to the camera.
"There's one thing you need to understand."
We turned toward her.
"Claire's daughter wasn't the only child."
A silence followed.
"How many?" I whispered.
Nora's face crumpled.
"I don't know."
She reached for something beyond the camera.
Then lifted a small notebook.
"But I kept a record of every transfer I saw."
Leonardo slowly sat down.
"How many names?"
Nora opened the notebook.
"Seventeen."
My breath caught.
Seventeen mothers.
Seventeen families.
Seventeen stories someone had tried to erase.
Nora's voice broke.
"And Emma's name was already written on the next page."
She turned the notebook toward the camera.
At the top was a date.
Tomorrow's date.
Beneath it were two words.
Collins infant.
May you like
And next to those words was a handwritten notation.
Placement confirmed.
