Chapter 5 - The Doctor's Secret
I stared at the name on the clipboard, the sterile smell of the hospital suddenly making me nauseous.
Dr. Thomas Bellini.
Vanessa’s father had taken my mother.
“Why?” I whispered, terror gripping my chest. “Why would they take her?”
Luca pulled me away from the nurse’s desk, guiding me and Daniel into a quiet alcove near the elevators.
“Leverage,” Luca said grimly. “Victor knew Isabella was alive. He knew she reached out to you, or was planning to. They took your mother to ensure you wouldn't help Isabella when the time came.”
I felt the floor drop beneath my feet. My mother was recovering from chemo. She needed her medication. She needed rest.
“We have to find her,” I choked out, tears finally spilling over. “She’s all I have.”
Daniel reached up and took my hand. “Don't cry, Hannah. My daddy will find her.”
Luca knelt down so he was eye-level with me. The mafia boss who had just shot his own brother was gone. In his place was a father who understood exactly what it meant to protect family.
“I swear to you on my life, Hannah,” Luca said quietly, “I will get your mother back. But we need to find Isabella first. She’s the only one who knows the whole picture.”
“But where do we look?” I asked, wiping my eyes. “My phone is broken. We can’t call her back.”
Luca stood up, pacing the small alcove. “Isabella is smart. She hid the raincoat with the visitor’s pass because she knew I’d check the pockets. She wanted us to find it. She wanted us to come to the hospital.”
“But she’s not here,” I said.
“No,” Luca agreed. “But she left something else.”
He pulled the visitor’s pass out of his pocket and examined it closely under the harsh fluorescent lights.
Answer one. Open two.
Isabella hadn't just left the pass to tell us she was alive. She had left it as a map.
“Look at the time stamp,” Luca said, pointing to the bottom corner of the ticket.
Time of Entry: 2:14 PM.
Time of Exit: 4:12 PM.
“She was here for two hours,” I said.
“Look at the exit time again,” Luca insisted. “4:12. Your mother’s room number is 412.”
I frowned. “A coincidence?”
“Isabella doesn't believe in coincidences,” Luca said. “What about the entry time? 2:14.”
Daniel tugged on my hand. “Daddy, that’s my birthday.”
Luca froze.
February 14th. 2/14.
“She’s speaking to us in numbers,” Luca realized. “Room 412. February 14th.”
He flipped the pass over. On the back, written in faint blue ink, was a single sequence of numbers:
11-48-22.
“Locker numbers?” I guessed.
“Coordinates?” Luca muttered, pulling out his phone.
But Daniel shook his head. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small blue scarf his mother had knitted him.
He held it up. Sewn into the corner of the scarf was a small tag.
Psalm 11.
Proverbs 48.
Wait, there is no Proverbs 48.
“It’s a Bible verse?” I asked.
Luca shook his head. “Isabella isn't religious.”
He stared at the numbers. 11-48-22.
“Eleven,” Luca whispered. “Daniel is eleven. 48. My father was forty-eight when he bought the safe house in Wisconsin. 22... the highway marker.”
Luca looked up, his eyes burning with sudden clarity.
“She’s at the old hunting cabin. The one Victor thinks we sold ten years ago.”
“We have to go,” I said.
Luca nodded. He picked Daniel up. “We’re getting her back.”
We hurried out to the SUV. The rain had stopped, leaving the Chicago streets slick and reflective.
Luca drove fast, breaking every speed limit as we headed north out of the city. The tension in the car was suffocating. I kept checking my watch. Every minute my mother was with Dr. Bellini was a minute she was in danger.
Two hours later, we turned off the main highway onto a dark, unpaved logging road deep in the Wisconsin woods.
The trees were thick, blocking out the moonlight. The SUV’s headlights cut through the darkness until they illuminated a small, weathered log cabin at the end of the path.
There were no lights on inside.
Luca parked the car behind a thick cluster of pine trees. He pulled a spare handgun from the glove compartment and handed it to me.
“Do you know how to use this?” he asked.
“I grew up on the South Side,” I said, gripping the cold metal. “Yes.”
“Stay in the car with Daniel. Lock the doors. Do not open them for anyone but me or Isabella.”
“Be careful, Daddy,” Daniel whispered.
Luca kissed his son’s forehead. “I’ll be right back, buddy.”
Luca slipped out of the car, dissolving into the shadows. I locked the doors and held Daniel close, the gun resting on my lap.
Ten minutes passed. It felt like hours.
Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from the cabin. Wood splintering.
Then, silence.
I couldn't breathe. I waited for Luca to emerge.
Finally, the front door of the cabin opened.
A figure stepped out onto the porch.
But it wasn't Luca. And it wasn't Isabella.
It was a woman in a tailored black suit, holding Luca’s gun in her hand.
She walked slowly toward the SUV, raising the weapon.
And as the moonlight caught her face, I realized exactly why Isabella had run in the first place.
May you like
The woman was Luca’s mother.
TITLE: The Matriarch's Verdict
