Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEWHer name was Bianca Marchetti.
She was Elias’s mother.
And she had known about Poppy from the beginning.
Marlo refused to sit.
She stood near the kitchen table, clutching the blue envelope.
“You knew.”
Bianca looked at her.
“Yes.”
“You knew I was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Elias was the father.”
Bianca's expression remained calm.
“Yes.”
Marlo's voice rose.
“Then why did nobody tell me?”
“Because telling you would have gotten you killed.”
Silence.
Poppy appeared at the doorway.
“Mommy?”
Marlo turned instantly.
“Go back to bed.”
“But—”
“Please.”
Poppy stared at Bianca.
“Who is she?”
Bianca smiled gently.
“Someone who loved your father very much.”
Poppy frowned.
“My daddy is Preston.”
Bianca's smile disappeared.
“No.”
Marlo's heart stopped.
Poppy looked confused.
Elias stepped forward.
“Go back to bed.”
Poppy did.
Marlo waited until the bedroom door closed.
Then she faced Bianca.
“Start talking.”
Bianca sighed.
“Eleven years ago, Elias was investigating a financial network that moved money through children's hospitals.”
Marlo blinked.
“Children's hospitals?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because medical grants were being used to hide illegal transactions.”
Marlo thought of Daniel's question.
Could delaying Poppy’s surgery endanger her?
Bianca continued.
“Poppy’s mother was working as a receptionist at one of those hospitals.”
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
“What did she discover?”
“She found a list.”
Marlo's stomach tightened.
“The same list?”
Bianca nodded.
“Names. Dates. Payments. Surgeries.”
Marlo looked at the blue envelope.
“Who were the patients?”
“Children from low-income families.”
“And the money?”
“Donations.”
Marlo frowned.
“Where was the crime?”
Bianca stared at her.
“The children were being deliberately placed into more expensive treatment programs.”
Marlo went pale.
“You mean they were being overtreated?”
“Sometimes.”
“Sometimes?”
“Sometimes they were denied treatment.”
Marlo suddenly understood Daniel's question.
Delaying Poppy’s surgery.
Someone had wanted to know whether she was medically vulnerable.
Bianca looked toward the bedroom.
“Poppy wasn't just treated at that hospital.”
“She was born there.”
“Yes.”
Marlo closed her eyes.
“And the genetic records?”
Bianca answered softly.
“Someone changed them.”
Marlo looked up.
“What?”
“The first birth certificate was different.”
“How different?”
“Poppy’s father wasn't listed as Preston.”
“Who was?”
Bianca looked at Elias.
“Elias.”
Marlo stepped backward.
“Why?”
“Because someone wanted him blamed.”
“For what?”
“Murder.”
Elias finally spoke.
“My brother died eleven years ago.”
Marlo looked at him.
“You have a brother?”
“Had.”
“What happened?”
“He was found dead in a parking structure.”
“Who killed him?”
Elias looked at the floor.
“We never found out.”
Bianca's voice was quieter.
“Because everyone assumed Elias had done it.”
Marlo stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because the gun belonged to him.”
Silence.
“But it wasn't his gun?”
“It was registered to him.”
Marlo looked at the blue envelope.
“What does that have to do with Poppy?”
Bianca answered.
“Everything.”
She took a photograph from her coat.
It showed a hospital room.
A nurse.
A newborn baby.
And a man standing beside the crib.
Marlo recognized him immediately.
Preston.
But something was wrong.
The photograph showed Preston holding a file.
Written across the top was one word.
TRANSFER.
Marlo's pulse jumped.
“What's inside that file?”
Bianca looked at Elias.
“That's what Victor Vale has been searching for.”
A sound came from upstairs.
Poppy screamed.
Marlo ran.
The bedroom window was open.
Poppy was gone.
Her blanket lay on the floor.
Marlo's scream tore through the house.
“POPPY!”
Elias reached the doorway.
He stopped.
A small red ribbon was tied to the bedpost.
Bianca's face went white.
“He found her.”
Elias looked at Marlo.
“Who?”
May you like
Bianca whispered,
“Preston.”
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