Chapter 4 - Pier NineThe Varric warehouses occupied three blocks of private docks.
Pier Nine was different.
It had been abandoned for years.
No workers.
No trucks.
No listed tenants.
The building stood behind a chain-link fence beneath a broken security light.
Matteo's men cut the lock.
Liana followed him inside.
The air smelled of salt, dust, and old machinery.
“Seventeen,” Matteo said.
They moved through rows of rusted storage cages.
Liana counted.
Fourteen.
Fifteen.
Sixteen.
Then seventeen.
A small metal door.
No label.
No company name.
Just a faded number.
Matteo opened it.
Inside was a plastic medical container.
Liana's heartbeat accelerated.
“Don't touch it,” Matteo said.
He called over an investigator.
The container was opened.
Inside were documents.
Hospital bracelets.
Photocopies.
Photographs.
A tiny knitted blue cap.
Liana recognized it.
Her knees nearly gave out.
“That was Gabriel's.”
Matteo looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“My mother knitted it.”
Liana picked up the cap carefully.
There was a tiny stitched letter inside.
G.
The investigator photographed everything.
Then found something beneath the cap.
A list.
Names.
Birth dates.
Times.
Blood types.
The top of the page read:
TRANSFER REGISTER
Liana scanned the entries.
December fourth.
Two male infants.
5:08 a.m.
5:12 a.m.
Her hands trembled.
“Nico and Gabriel.”
Matteo stared at the paper.
“Why were they transferred?”
There was a column beside the names.
One word.
V-17
“What does that mean?” Liana asked.
Matteo's expression darkened.
“I don't know.”
One of his men entered.
“Boss.”
Matteo turned.
“We found another room.”
They followed.
Behind a false wall was a narrow medical suite.
Unused beds.
Discarded syringes.
Empty oxygen tanks.
Bloodstained restraints.
Liana covered her mouth.
“This isn't a storage facility.”
“No,” Matteo said.
The investigator opened a metal cabinet.
Inside were photographs of newborn babies.
Dozens of them.
Each photograph had a code.
Liana began searching.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then she found a photograph.
Her blood froze.
Gabriel.
He was only hours old.
Wearing the blue cap.
The image had been taken from above.
His eyes were closed.
His hands were clenched.
On the bottom was a code:
B-17-04.
Matteo stepped beside her.
“That's your son?”
“Yes.”
He looked at the photograph again.
Then at another image.
The investigator had found it.
A second newborn.
Nico.
Same day.
Same hour.
Same facility.
Different code.
B-17-05.
Matteo stared at the two photographs.
“Someone separated them.”
Liana looked at him.
“You said Nico was always at the estate.”
“He was.”
“Then why does this place have his photograph?”
Matteo didn't answer.
A sound came from behind them.
A faint metallic click.
The investigator turned.
A hidden speaker crackled to life.
A distorted voice filled the room.
“Mr. Varric.”
Matteo raised his gun.
“Show yourself.”
The voice laughed quietly.
“You've finally opened the door.”
“Who are you?”
“You already know.”
Matteo's face changed.
“Sofia.”
The speaker went silent.
Liana looked at him.
“Your wife?”
Matteo nodded.
“But she's dead.”
The voice returned.
“No, Matteo.”
A pause.
“She is.”
Another pause.
“But her investigation isn't.”
The speaker clicked off.
Liana stared at Matteo.
“What did she investigate?”
Matteo looked toward the photographs.
“Children.”
“Why?”
“I told you.”
“No.”
Liana stepped closer.
“You told me nothing.”
Matteo's jaw tightened.
“My wife believed someone was stealing newborns.”
Liana felt cold.
“And you?”
“I believed she was wrong.”
“Until now?”
Matteo looked down at Gabriel's photograph.
Then he saw something.
A handwritten note on the back.
He turned it over.
His expression collapsed.
It was Sofia's handwriting.
MATTEO, IF YOU'RE READING THIS, THE BABY THEY GAVE YOU ISN'T YOURS.
May you like
Then another line.
AND THE BABY THEY TOLD LIANA WAS DEAD ISN'T DEAD EITHER.
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