Chapter 11 - THE BODY THAT WASN'T HISThe Last Lie of the Vescari FamilyThe dead man in the hospital bed wasn't Gabriel.
It looked like him.
It had his clothes.
His ring.
His scars.
But the DNA was wrong.
Someone had replaced him.
Matteo stared at the body.
"How?"
The doctor couldn't answer.
Security footage showed no intruder.
The corridor had been sealed.
Every guard had been checked.
Alina stood outside the room, trembling.
"He's alive."
Matteo looked at her.
"You saw him."
"Yes."
"Then he escaped."
"No."
She pointed to the elevator camera.
A hospital worker pushed a linen cart past the cameras twenty minutes earlier.
The worker wore a mask.
But Alina recognized the shoes.
Black.
Polished.
Expensive.
"Adrian."
They chased the cart.
It led to the basement.
An ambulance waited outside.
Empty.
On the floor was Gabriel's jacket.
Inside the pocket:
A note.
You keep looking for men.
Look for the woman.
Alina read it twice.
"The woman?"
Matteo's face tightened.
"Someone above Adrian."
"Who?"
He didn't answer.
Then Elena's phone rang.
Unknown.
She answered.
A woman's voice came through.
"I've waited twenty years to meet you."
Elena turned white.
"Who is this?"
The woman laughed softly.
"The last Vescari."
Alina's heart jumped.
"Impossible."
The voice continued.
"You forgot about me, Elena."
A pause.
"Your daughter didn't."
Alina whispered:
"Who?"
The caller said:
"Gabriel's wife."
Matteo went still.
"My brother was never married."
The woman laughed.
"He was."
Then the line died.
A photograph arrived seconds later.
Gabriel.
Standing beside a woman.
Holding Leo.
On the back:
She was alive when Sofia died.
Matteo stared at the photograph.
"Sofia."
Leo's mother.
The woman he'd believed dead.
Alina looked at the face.
There was something familiar about her.
Not her eyes.
Her expression.
A small scar near her eyebrow.
Then it hit.
"I've seen her."
"Where?"
"In the restaurant."
Matteo stared.
"The night Leo reached for me."
"She was there?"
"No."
Alina pointed at the photograph.
"The woman sitting behind you."
Matteo remembered.
A woman in gray.
Hat.
Gloves.
Face turned away.
The whole night had been staged.
The wine glass.
Leo's sudden movement.
The pendant.
Everything.
The woman had wanted Alina to meet Matteo.
And she had succeeded.
A new message appeared.
Come to the Vescari cemetery.
Bring Matteo.
And tell no one.
May you like
Below it was a final line.
Because your mother isn't the only parent who lied.
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