Chapter 7 - THE SEVEN CALLS THAT NEVER REACHED LUCA|
I wanted to slap Daniel Voss.
For five years, I'd watched him move through the Moretti mansion with the confidence of a man who believed he was indispensable.
He knew every security code.
He controlled Luca's private calendar.
He even knew which flowers Olivia liked after she'd had a difficult day.
And all that time, he'd been helping Vanessa turn her grief into a weapon.
“Why?” I demanded.
Daniel looked at the floor.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Olivia was afraid, too.”
My voice shook with anger.
“She was lying in a hospital bed thinking her brother had abandoned her.”
Daniel said nothing.
“She begged me to pick her up because she thought nobody else would come.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
“No, you don't.”
I stepped closer.
“You weren't the one who had to tell a pregnant woman she wasn't worthless.”
Daniel covered his face.
When he lowered his hands, he looked twenty years older.
“Vanessa found out I had taken money from one of Luca's business accounts.”
I stared at him.
“How much?”
“Eighty thousand dollars.”
He swallowed.
“I told myself I would replace it before anyone noticed.”
“Then she found out?”
He nodded.
“She said she wouldn't tell Luca if I helped her handle Olivia's affairs.”
My stomach twisted.
“What did she ask you to do?”
“At first, just forward Olivia's calls to her.”
He spoke so quietly that I almost couldn't hear him.
“Then she wanted me to delete messages.”
“And the hospital?”
Daniel wiped his forehead.
“She made me call them and say I represented Luca.”
I thought of the six calls Olivia had made while frightened and alone.
“Did you know Olivia was sick?”
“I knew she was in the hospital.”
“Did you know the doctors wanted to keep her there?”
Daniel looked away.
That was answer enough.
I stepped backward.
“You need to tell the police.”
He shook his head desperately.
“Vanessa said she'd destroy me.”
“You've already helped her destroy someone else.”
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Daniel held out the phone.
“There's a message from Grant Mercer.”
I didn't take it.
“Keep it exactly as it is.”
I called Detective Ellison instead.
She arrived with another investigator less than forty minutes later.
Daniel surrendered the phone and agreed to provide a statement with his attorney present.
He explained that Vanessa had instructed him to redirect calls from Olivia and the hospital, remove certain envelopes from Luca's office, and send copies of medical paperwork to Grant Mercer.
He also admitted that he'd falsely presented himself as authorized to speak for Luca.
Ellison listened carefully.
When Daniel finished, she asked him one question.
“Did you personally change Olivia's hospital records?”
“No.”
“Do you know who did?”
Daniel hesitated.
Then he whispered a name.
“Lena Park.”
I frowned.
“Who's that?”
“A hospital records employee.”
He explained that Vanessa and Grant had met Lena through a private consulting company that handled administrative projects for medical practices.
Daniel claimed he hadn't been present when anyone altered the records.
But he'd seen a payment confirmation bearing Lena's name.
Detective Ellison wrote it down.
“Do you have a copy?”
Daniel nodded.
“It's on the phone.”
For the first time that night, I felt something other than fear.
We finally had a way to follow the lies backward.
When Luca arrived, Daniel nearly collapsed.
“Sir, I can explain.”
Luca stopped several feet away.
“Can you explain why my sister thought I didn't love her?”
Daniel lowered his head.
“No.”
“Can you explain why she went hungry while you helped my wife control her appointments?”
“No, sir.”
Luca's voice grew quieter.
“Then there's nothing I want to hear from you except the truth.”
Detective Ellison stepped between them.
“Mr. Moretti, we've got this.”
I watched Luca struggle to control his anger.
His hands trembled, but he didn't move closer.
Instead, he looked at me.
“Is Olivia safe?”
“She's sleeping.”
He nodded.
“Then that's where I need to be.”
As we walked back toward the elevators, he said something that surprised me.
“I used to think protecting people meant making everyone afraid to cross me.”
I looked at him.
“Fear didn't stop Vanessa.”
“No.”
He pressed the elevator button.
“It made everyone too frightened to tell me what was happening.”
I didn't answer.
I didn't need to.
The truth was standing between us.
Upstairs, Olivia woke when we entered.
She looked at her brother.
“Did Daniel really stop my calls?”
Luca sat beside her.
“Yes.”
She stared at him.
“Why didn't you notice?”
It was an ordinary question.
But Luca seemed to find it harder to answer than any threat he'd ever faced.
“Because I trusted the wrong people and stopped asking you directly.”
Olivia looked down at her hands.
“I thought you hated me.”
He took her fingers.
“I don't think I could ever hate you.”
She began crying.
For several minutes, he held her without speaking.
Then she pulled back.
“Luca, I want to go to court.”
He looked startled.
“I know you're frightened.”
“I am.”
She took a breath.
“But I'm more frightened of teaching my daughter that she should stay quiet when someone mistreats her.”
I felt my throat tighten.
Olivia was still weak.
She was still recovering.
But something inside her had begun to change.
The next morning, Nora arrived carrying the latest filing from Grant Mercer's office.
She read the supporting documents twice.
Then she looked at Olivia.
“They're relying on an affidavit from a medical professional to support their claim that you lack decision-making capacity.”
Olivia frowned.
“Which doctor?”
Nora turned the document toward us.
The affidavit bore the name of a physician supposedly involved in Olivia's treatment.
But Dr. Shah had already told Nora that the named doctor had not examined Olivia during either admission.
And the signature beneath the affidavit looked suspiciously similar to the forged signatures on the other documents.
Olivia stared at it.
Then she whispered, “They're going to keep lying until somebody believes them.”
May you like
Nora closed the folder.
“That's why we're going to make them answer questions under oath.”
