Chapter 6 - The Locked NurseryVivian Shaw was tied to a chair in the east library.
Her clothes were soaked from the rain.
She looked older than Liana remembered from the hospital.
Much older.
Her face was exhausted.
She lifted her eyes when Liana entered.
“You shouldn't be here.”
Liana stopped.
“You know me.”
“I know what happened to your son.”
Matteo stood behind Liana.
“Then talk.”
Vivian looked at him.
“You're already too late.”
“For what?”
“For all of them.”
Matteo leaned forward.
“Who is 'all of them'?”
Vivian looked toward Nico.
“The children.”
Liana stepped closer.
“What happened to Gabriel?”
Vivian's eyes lowered.
“He was never dead.”
Liana felt the floor disappear beneath her.
Matteo grabbed the edge of the table.
“Explain.”
Vivian swallowed.
“Your son was listed as deceased because someone wanted a body.”
“Whose body?”
“That doesn't matter.”
“It matters to me!”
Liana's voice broke.
“I buried him.”
Vivian looked directly at her.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You buried a child.”
Liana froze.
“But not yours.”
A terrible silence filled the room.
Liana couldn't breathe.
“Why?”
Vivian closed her eyes.
“Because the babies were being moved.”
“Where?”
“Everywhere.”
Matteo's hand tightened around his gun.
“Who?”
Vivian stared at him.
“People you know.”
That answer changed the room.
Liana looked at Matteo.
“You?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Vivian whispered,
“Your wife's family.”
Matteo's face turned to stone.
“My wife didn't have family in the business.”
“She didn't.”
Vivian looked at him.
“But someone used her.”
“How?”
“She was told Nico needed special treatment.”
“He did.”
“No.”
Vivian shook her head.
“Nico was never sick.”
Matteo froze.
“What?”
“He was sedated.”
Liana covered her mouth.
“Why?”
“To keep him quiet.”
Matteo's voice became deadly.
“Who ordered it?”
Vivian looked at Nico.
“Someone who didn't want him to remember.”
“Remember what?”
Vivian hesitated.
Then she gave Liana a strange look.
“You.”
Liana felt her heart stop.
“What?”
Vivian's voice dropped.
“Your baby was taken from you because someone discovered who his father was.”
Matteo's eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
Vivian looked at him.
Then at Liana.
“That's why they wanted both children.”
Liana looked between them.
“Both?”
Vivian nodded.
“They weren't just switching babies.”
“They were changing identities.”
A guard burst through the door.
“Boss!”
Matteo turned.
“What?”
“We found something in the nursery.”
Everyone moved.
The nursery was on the second floor.
Nico's room looked ordinary.
Crib.
Toys.
Soft lamps.
White curtains.
But the guard had moved the wardrobe.
Behind it was a hidden door.
Matteo opened it.
A narrow staircase descended into darkness.
Liana felt her pulse race.
They went down.
At the bottom was a second nursery.
Old.
Unused.
Covered in dust.
Two cribs stood against the wall.
One was labeled:
B-17-04
The other:
B-17-05
Liana stopped breathing.
On the first crib was a faded blue blanket.
The same blanket from her photograph.
On the second was Nico's hospital cap.
Matteo stepped closer.
“Someone brought them here.”
Liana touched the first crib.
Inside was a tiny toy rabbit.
Its ear had been embroidered with one letter.
G.
She began crying.
Then she saw something carved into the wooden side.
A message.
Three words.
HE CAME BACK.
Matteo stared.
“Who?”
A floorboard creaked behind them.
Everyone spun around.
Vivian stood at the bottom of the stairs.
She was no longer tied.
She had slipped free.
She was holding a knife.
But she wasn't looking at Matteo.
She was looking at Liana.
“You can't let them take him again.”
“Who?”
Vivian stepped backward.
“Your son.”
Liana froze.
“Nico?”
Vivian nodded.
Then she whispered,
“Because Nico isn't the child you're looking for.”
She pointed toward the first crib.
“The boy you're holding belongs to you.”
Liana's heart exploded.
“What are you saying?”
Vivian looked toward Matteo.
May you like
“Nico is Gabriel.”
And before anyone could move, Vivian turned the knife toward her own chest.
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