Chapter 6 - The Photograph That Proved Everything|
The photograph my mother described was taken less than three hours earlier.
That was the first thing Rosa Alvarez told us when we arrived at the apartment.
She was a small woman in her late fifties with tired brown eyes and trembling hands.
Her gray cardigan was buttoned incorrectly.
She looked like someone who had spent several nights without sleeping.
My mother sat beside her on the couch.
When she saw me, she stood immediately.
“Claire!”
I ran into her arms.
For several seconds, I forgot about Luca, Victor, and the nightmare surrounding us.
I was simply a daughter holding her mother.
“I'm okay,” I whispered.
She touched my cheek.
“You shouldn't have to be brave for people who can afford to protect themselves.”
Her words stayed with me.
Then Rosa stood.
“Mr. Moretti?”
Luca approached.
“Yes.”
She looked at him with an expression I couldn't explain.
“You have no idea how many times he asked about you.”
Luca went completely still.
Rosa handed him the photograph.
It showed an elderly man sitting beside a window.
His hair was white.
His cheeks were hollow.
His hands rested on the arms of a wheelchair.
But his eyes were unmistakable.
They were Luca's eyes.
Luca stared at the picture.
Then his knees seemed to weaken.
He lowered himself into a chair.
“My God.”
His voice was barely audible.
“Dad.”
Margaret began crying.
Rosa nodded.
“He's alive.”
Luca looked up.
“Where is he?”
“Northlake Residence.”
“Are you certain?”
“I am.”
She sat across from him.
“I worked at Cedar House for eleven years.”
“I knew Daniel March wasn't his real name.”
“He didn't always remember where he was, but he never forgot his son.”
Luca pressed the photograph against his chest.
Rosa continued.
“Sometimes the medication made him confused.”
“Sometimes he could barely speak.”
“But when he was clearheaded, he would tell me stories about a little boy who loved wolves.”
Margaret covered her face.
“He remembers.”
Rosa nodded.
“He remembers more than they want him to.”
I sat beside her.
“Who took this picture?”
“A nursing assistant named Nina Brooks.”
“She works at Northlake.”
“She sent it to me this morning.”
“She has been trying to document what happens there.”
Luca leaned forward.
“What happens there?”
Rosa hesitated.
“Patients are kept under false records.”
“People who ask questions lose their jobs.”
“And Dr. Adrian Vale signs documents that nobody seems willing to examine.”
Tomas exchanged a look with Luca.
Rosa continued.
“Daniel is scheduled to leave Northlake before sunrise tomorrow.”
“Nina overheard two administrators discussing the transfer.”
“They didn't say where he was going.”
“She believes they intend to remove him permanently.”
Luca stood.
“Then we're getting him out.”
Rosa caught his arm.
“Listen carefully.”
“If you arrive there with armed men, they'll claim you're trying to abduct a vulnerable patient.”
“They have records saying he's mentally incompetent.”
“They have documents identifying someone else as his legal guardian.”
“Who?” Luca demanded.
Rosa swallowed.
“Victor Bellini.”
For several seconds, Luca said nothing.
Then he turned away.
I could see him fighting to control his anger.
My mother squeezed my hand.
“Claire, this is bigger than any of us.”
She was right.
But I also knew we couldn't abandon Dominic.
Luca's attorney, Andrew Keller, arrived shortly afterward.
He had spent the morning speaking to a federal investigator who had been examining Bellini-linked companies.
Her name was Special Agent Maya Torres.
When she entered the room, she didn't appear impressed by Luca's wealth or reputation.
She was a serious-looking woman with dark hair and a notebook tucked beneath her arm.
“Mr. Moretti,” she said.
“Before we discuss your father, you need to understand something.”
Luca folded his arms.
“Go ahead.”
“Your family's businesses have been subjects of investigation.”
“Helping us doesn't erase anything you've done.”
“I didn't ask you to erase it.”
Maya studied him.
“Good.”
“Because if you want us to find your father, we need evidence that will survive in court.”
I stepped forward.
“We have medical records from Cedar House.”
“And the photograph.”
“And a nurse willing to testify.”
Maya looked at me.
“Who are you?”
“Claire Sullivan.”
“The housemaid from the wedding video?”
I nodded.
She offered a faint smile.
“You started quite a chain of events.”
“I gave someone my shoes.”
“Apparently, that was enough.”
For the first time that day, Luca almost smiled.
Then he took Vanessa's locker key from his pocket.
“There's something else.”
An hour later, federal agents accompanied us to Union Station.
Locker 118 stood in a long row near the baggage area.
Luca inserted the brass key.
The lock clicked.
Inside was a small steel case.
It contained copies of financial ledgers, medical invoices, and a digital recorder.
Maya carefully examined the contents.
One document identified Victor Bellini as the person authorizing Daniel March's private care.
Another contained payments to Dr. Adrian Vale.
Several invoices were dated within the past month.
Then Maya switched on the recorder.
A man's voice crackled through the speaker.
“Victor, I'm not signing anything else.”
Luca gripped the edge of the table.
The voice was old and strained.
But Margaret immediately recognized it.
“Dominic.”
Another man answered.
“You've signed everything I've asked for thirty years.”
It was Victor.
Dominic spoke again.
“My son deserves the truth.”
Victor laughed.
“Your son believes you're dead.”
“And if you want him to stay alive, you'll keep it that way.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Maya turned toward her colleague.
“Preserve the original.”
“Get the emergency warrant application moving.”
Luca looked at her.
“How long?”
“As quickly as the judge can review what we have.”
His jaw tightened.
“Tomorrow morning may be too late.”
Maya looked at the photograph again.
“Then we won't wait until tomorrow.”
But just as she stood, her phone rang.
She listened silently.
Then her expression changed.
“What do you mean the transport was moved up?”
Luca stepped closer.
Maya looked at him.
“Northlake's private ambulance has just been ordered for tonight.”
May you like
She paused.
“And Victor Bellini is already on his way there.”
