Chapter 4 - THE CHILD WHO CAME WITH A DEATH CERTIFICATEGabriel Vescari Was Never Supposed to Have a DaughterThey drove through the city without headlights.
Alina sat beside Matteo in the back seat.
Neither spoke.
Leo was missing.
Her mother was missing.
Someone knew about her pendant.
And someone named Carlo apparently knew more about her family than she did.
Finally Alina asked:
"Who is Carlo?"
"My father's oldest lieutenant."
"Your father's?"
"Victor's."
"Then why did you accuse him?"
"Because he was the last man to see Gabriel alive."
"And you never confronted him?"
"I did."
"What happened?"
"He lied."
Alina looked at Matteo.
"How do you know?"
"Because my father taught him how to lie."
The old Vescari estate appeared beyond iron gates.
It was enormous.
Not luxurious.
Fortified.
Stone walls.
Security towers.
Windows like black eyes.
Matteo's men swept the perimeter.
Alina entered through a side door.
Inside, the air smelled old.
Dust.
Leather.
And something faintly metallic.
Blood.
Matteo noticed her expression.
"You're not supposed to be here."
"Yet here I am."
A strange almost-smile touched his mouth.
Then disappeared.
He led her into the library.
A fireplace occupied an entire wall.
Above it hung a portrait.
Victor Vescari.
Matteo's father.
Alina stared.
The old man's eyes seemed to follow her.
"There," Matteo said.
Behind the portrait was a safe.
He entered a code.
The door opened.
Inside were passports.
Cash.
Photographs.
A single cassette tape.
And a thick medical file.
Matteo picked up the file.
"That's impossible."
"What?"
He handed it to her.
The hospital logo was twenty years old.
Patient:
Elena Marino.
Date:
June 14.
Time:
2:17 a.m.
Diagnosis:
Complications following emergency delivery.
Alina stared.
She had been born June 14.
Her mother had always told her the birth was uneventful.
"Why would she lie?"
Matteo flipped through the pages.
Then froze.
There was a second document.
Infant deceased.
Alina's heartbeat stopped.
"No."
The document listed her as dead.
A baby girl.
No surviving child.
Death certificate issued.
Cause:
Respiratory failure.
Alina's fingers shook.
"My mother told me I almost died."
"She wasn't lying about that."
"But I didn't die."
"No."
Matteo looked at another paper.
The signature at the bottom belonged to Victor Vescari.
Alina swallowed.
"Why fake my death?"
"So nobody would look for you."
"Who would?"
"My father."
The cassette suddenly clicked.
Both of them looked toward the old tape recorder on the desk.
Neither had touched it.
A voice crackled through static.
Gabriel.
Alina knew immediately.
Somehow, she knew.
"Matteo."
Her breath caught.
"If you're hearing this, I failed."
Matteo stepped closer.
Gabriel's voice continued.
"Father will tell you I betrayed him. He will tell you Elena stole something. He will tell you the child is dead."
A pause.
"Believe none of it."
Alina covered her mouth.
Gabriel breathed heavily.
"They are listening."
Static.
Then:
"The child is not the key."
Matteo stared at the recorder.
Gabriel said the next sentence slowly.
"She is the lock."
The tape cut out.
Alina looked at Matteo.
"What does that mean?"
Before he could answer, every light in the mansion turned red.
An alarm screamed.
Men shouted outside.
Then one sentence came over the security intercom.
"Mr. Vescari."
A man's voice.
Calm.
Almost amused.
"Your nephew has finally come home."
Alina went cold.
Matteo grabbed his gun.
"Who?"
The voice answered.
"Your brother."
May you like
A beat.
"Gabriel."
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