Chapter 8 - The Second ChildThey found the source of the call beneath an abandoned theater.
Matteo insisted on coming.
Nico wanted twenty men.
Dante brought four.
The theater had been empty for fifteen years.
The lobby smelled of dust and wet plaster.
A torn velvet curtain hung across the stage.
Beneath it was an elevator.
It descended far below street level.
The doors opened onto a hallway lined with mirrors.
Lily refused to look at them.
"Why?"
"Mommy says mirrors lie."
Dante glanced at his own reflection.
It did not.
At least he didn't think it did.
They reached a room at the end.
The door was painted white.
Inside were drawings.
Dozens.
Children's drawings.
Houses.
Families.
A man in a black suit.
A woman holding a baby.
And one picture of two little girls holding hands.
One had dark hair.
The other had blonde hair.
Underneath, in childish handwriting:
LILY AND ANNA.
Dante stared.
"Anna."
Matteo nodded slowly.
"The second child."
"Who is she?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"No."
Matteo pointed at one drawing.
The black-suited man had been drawn with red eyes.
"Your father called them Seven and Eight."
Dante felt sick.
"Children in a project?"
Matteo nodded.
"An experiment in inheritance."
Dante looked at Lily.
"What kind of experiment?"
Matteo said nothing.
Nico opened another door.
It contained hospital equipment.
Old.
But recently used.
One bed.
One monitor.
Fresh blood.
A syringe still warm.
Dante saw something on the wall.
A fingerprint card.
A name:
ANNA MARINO.
He turned.
"Marino?"
Matteo stared at it.
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
"Because Anna was declared dead."
"When?"
"Three years ago."
Dante laughed bitterly.
"Everyone in this family is dead until they need something."
A sound came from the ventilation shaft.
A soft knock.
Three times.
Dante raised his gun.
"Who's there?"
Nothing.
Then a child's voice.
"Please."
Dante stepped closer.
"Nico."
Nico opened the grate.
A little girl crawled out.
Seven years old.
Thin.
Pale.
Hair tangled around her face.
She flinched from the light.
Dante lowered his weapon.
"It's okay."
The girl stared at him.
Then at Lily.
Her face changed.
She whispered:
"Lily."
Lily stepped forward.
"Anna?"
The girl nodded.
They ran into each other's arms.
Dante looked at Matteo.
"What did my father do?"
Matteo looked sick.
"Nothing."
"That isn't good enough."
"Your father wasn't the architect."
"Who was?"
Matteo stared at Gabriel's photograph.
"Gabriel."
Dante shook his head.
"Gabriel was twenty-two then."
"Exactly."
That made no sense.
Then Anna spoke.
"Gabriel isn't his real name."
Dante crouched.
"What is his name?"
Anna whispered:
"Doctor Bell."
Matteo closed his eyes.
Dante remembered the white laboratory.
The doctor from the film.
The same narrow smile.
The same calm hands.
Doctor Bell.
Gabriel Rosi.
One man.
Two identities.
Dante looked toward the hallway.
A slow clap echoed.
Gabriel walked out of the darkness.
No guards.
No gun.
Just a small smile.
"At last."
Dante raised his weapon.
"Where is Sophia?"
Gabriel looked at Lily and Anna.
"You found both of them."
"Answer me."
"Sophia is alive."
"Where?"
"Exactly where she needs to be."
Dante's finger tightened on the trigger.
Gabriel raised his hands.
"Before you shoot me, you should see what is on the other side of that wall."
Dante didn't move.
Gabriel smiled.
"Your father's grave."
Dante frowned.
"My father is buried in Queens."
"That is what you think."
Gabriel walked to the wall and pressed his palm against it.
A section opened.
Behind it was a staircase.
At the bottom was a tomb.
Inside lay a metal coffin.
A plaque read:
ENZO BELUCCHI
Dante approached slowly.
Matteo stopped him.
"Don't."
Dante ignored him.
He opened the coffin.
Inside was not Enzo.
It was a woman.
Dark hair.
Older.
Still.
On her wrist was the same bracelet Sophia always wore.
Dante stumbled backward.
"Who is she?"
Matteo's voice cracked.
"Isabella."
Dante stared.
"She's dead."
Matteo nodded.
"No."
He pointed to the body.
"That's not Isabella."
Dante looked closer.
The face was similar.
But not identical.
Gabriel smiled.
"You've spent your entire life looking for your sister."
He leaned toward Dante.
"And you never noticed she was standing beside you."
Dante froze.
Gabriel pointed at the photograph in Dante's hand.
Sophia.
The face from the file.
The face in the room.
Dante whispered:
"Sophia..."
May you like
Gabriel nodded.
"Sophia Marino is Isabella Belucchi."
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