Chapter 4 - THE ROSARY LEFT ON THE BED
"Lock down the hospital!" Luca roared, his voice echoing off the sterile walls.
Two of his massive bodyguards instantly sprinted down the hallway, pulling their weapons, ignoring the screams of the nurses.
I fell against the reception desk, gasping for air.
Richard was dead.
Vanessa had killed her own father to silence him.
"Margaret," Luca said, grabbing my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. His eyes were completely black with rage, but his touch was grounding. "Breathe. I need you to breathe."
"She killed him," I sobbed, clutching the lapels of his shirt. "He was finally going to tell me the truth, and she killed him."
"She silenced him because he was going to expose the rest of her lies," Luca said fiercely. "And she left the rosary to send a message. She's not hiding anymore."
One of the bodyguards ran back, breathing heavily.
"Boss. The security cameras in the stairwell were spray-painted. She slipped out through the loading dock. She's gone."
Luca cursed in Italian, a violent, sharp sound.
He turned back to me.
"If she knows we found the birth certificate in the watch, she knows her claim to the Bellini empire is ruined," Luca said, his mind working with terrifying speed. "Her only leverage now is the transfer documents you signed. But a dead woman can't contest a contract."
My blood ran cold. "She's going to kill me."
"No," Luca said, his voice dropping into a lethal, absolute vow. "She is not going to touch my sister."
Sister.
The word felt foreign, heavy, and completely impossible. I looked at the man who had been my boss for nine months. The ruthless mafia don. He was my blood.
"We need to get to your mother," Luca said abruptly. "If Vanessa is wiping out loose ends, Evelyn is the only one left who knows the whole truth."
Panic seized my chest. "My mother is at the nursing home! She works the night shift!"
"Let's go."
We rushed out of the hospital and threw ourselves into the back of Luca’s armored SUV. The driver tore through the Chicago streets, tires squealing around corners.
I pulled out my phone and dialed my mother’s number.
It rang. And rang. And went to voicemail.
"She's not answering," I panicked.
Luca pulled a heavy Glock from his shoulder holster, checking the chamber. "Daniel," he said into his earpiece. "Send a team to the Oakwood Nursing Home. We're five minutes out."
When we arrived, the nursing home was quiet. Too quiet.
We burst through the front doors. The receptionist was asleep at the desk.
"Where is Evelyn Ellis?" I yelled, shaking the woman awake.
The receptionist jumped. "Evelyn? She... she left twenty minutes ago. A black car came to pick her up. She said there was a family emergency."
"No," I cried, burying my face in my hands.
We were too late. Vanessa had her.
Luca didn't panic. He walked behind the reception desk and grabbed the sign-in clipboard.
He scanned the page.
"Look," Luca said, pointing to a messy signature at the bottom of the page.
It wasn't a name.
It was a child's drawing.
Someone had hurriedly sketched a crude picture of an old, rusted bridge with a clock tower next to it.
"My mother drew this," I gasped. "When I was a kid, we used to feed the ducks under the old St. Jude bridge. It has a broken clock tower. She drew this to tell me where they were taking her!"
Luca’s eyes hardened. "She knew you would come for her."
He turned to his men.
"St. Jude bridge. Now."
As we sprinted back to the SUV, my phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket.
It was an unknown number.
I answered it on speakerphone, my hands shaking.
"Hello?"
"Margaret," Vanessa’s voice echoed through the speaker, cold and venomous. "I see you found the little drawing your mother left."
"Where is she, Vanessa?" I screamed. "If you hurt her—"
"I haven't touched her," Vanessa interrupted smoothly. "But whether she survives the night depends entirely on you. You're going to meet me under the St. Jude bridge. Alone. If you bring Luca, or any of his dogs, I put a bullet in Evelyn's head."
"You're a coward," I spat.
"I'm a survivor," Vanessa sneered. "I want the physical copies of the transfer documents you signed. I want them destroyed, and I want you to sign a new confession stating you forged the birth certificate in the watch."
"I don't have the transfer documents!"
"Luca does," Vanessa said. "Get them. You have twenty minutes."
The line went dead.
I looked at Luca. He had heard every word.
"I have to go," I whispered.
"You are not going alone," Luca said flatly. "It's a trap. She has snipers. She'll kill you both the second you hand over the papers."
"She's my mother, Luca!" I cried, the tears finally breaking free. "I can't lose her! She sacrificed everything for me!"
Luca stared at me. The ruthless mafia boss softened, his dark eyes filled with a profound understanding.
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded manila envelope.
"These are the transfer documents," Luca said quietly.
He handed them to me.
"I'm not letting you go alone," Luca said. "But I'm not going to stop you from saving her."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavy, dark wool coat.
"Put this on," Luca ordered. "It's lined with Kevlar. And keep your hands in the pockets."
I slipped the heavy coat on. It smelled like cedar and expensive cologne.
"Why?" I asked.
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"Because," Luca said, his expression turning terrifyingly cold. "You aren't going to surrender, Margaret. You are a Moretti. And tonight, you are going to show Vanessa exactly what that means."
TITLE: THE CHILD'S DRAWING IN THE COAT
