Chapter 7
“No!” Luca roared, tearing past the police officers. He took the marble stairs three at a time, reaching the landing in seconds. He swept Lucy into his arms, burying her small face in his neck, shielding her from the flashing lights and the cold stares of the authorities.
Sarah stood frozen beside them, her hands trembling as she looked down at the chaos she had unwittingly triggered. She had wanted her baby back, but not like this. Not to be dragged away by armed strangers into the cold machinery of the foster system.
“Mr. Moretti, put the child down,” Mrs. Gable ordered, marching to the bottom of the staircase with her clipboard. “You are making this traumatic for her. Hand her over to the state, or we will use force.”
“If any of you take one step up these stairs,” Luca warned, his voice low and lethal, “you won’t walk back down.”
Marco and five of Luca’s security guards immediately stepped forward, forming a human wall at the base of the stairs, their hands hovering over their concealed weapons. The police officers drew their tasers and batons, the tension in the room snapping tight like a wire about to break.
“Wait!” Sarah screamed. She rushed down a few steps, placing herself between the armed guards and the police. She looked at Mrs. Gable, tears streaming down her face. “I’m her mother! I’m Sarah! I reported her missing. If she has to leave with anyone, she leaves with me!”
Mrs. Gable adjusted her glasses, looking at Sarah with absolute disdain. “You have no legal proof of maternity on your person, ma'am. You are homeless, unemployed, and have a history of instability. The state does not hand children over to strangers claiming to be relatives. The child goes to a group home tonight while we conduct a six-month DNA and background investigation.”
“Six months?” Sarah gasped, her knees buckling. She looked up at Lucy, who was sobbing into Luca’s shoulder. Sarah realized she had walked right into a trap. Vanessa had never intended for Sarah to get her baby back. Vanessa had used Sarah to void the adoption, so Vanessa’s accomplice, Mrs. Gable, could take the child and hold her ransom.
Vanessa smirked, adjusting the diamond bracelet on her wrist. “It’s over, Luca. Give her the child. And if you’re good, maybe I won't press charges for assault.”
I watched the smug, evil grin on Vanessa’s face, and something inside me snapped.
I was done being afraid. I was done letting women like Mrs. Gable destroy families for profit.
I looked at the lead police officer. He was an older man, with tired eyes and a tight jaw. He didn't look like he wanted to be taking a crying child from her father. He looked like a man following bad orders.
“Officer,” I said, stepping past the wall of security guards. I pointed directly at the heavy silver locket resting against Vanessa’s chest. “You want evidence of a crime? Tell her to open her necklace.”
Vanessa’s hand flew to her chest, her eyes widening in genuine panic. “Shut up! Don't listen to her!”
“She’s been touching it all night,” I said, my voice ringing clear and steady in the massive room. “Earlier tonight, she bragged that she had a dead-man’s switch. An automated email scheduled to send at midnight containing the forged adoption files. But the Wi-Fi in this mansion is highly encrypted. A remote server couldn't send an email without a physical decryption key on the premises.”
The tech guy on Luca’s security team, a young man named David, suddenly perked up. “The maid is right, Boss. If she set up a dead-man’s switch, the hardware token has to be on her person.”
“Search her,” Luca commanded from the top of the stairs.
Vanessa shrieked as the lead officer approached her. “Don’t touch me! I know my rights! This is an illegal search!”
“Ma'am, based on the accusation of extortion, I have probable cause,” the officer said grimly. He reached out and snatched the heavy silver locket from Vanessa’s neck. The clasp snapped.
He popped the locket open. Inside wasn't a picture. It was a tiny, custom-made micro-SD card and a Bluetooth transmitter.
Vanessa let out a wail of defeat, sinking against the wall.
“David, plug it in,” Luca ordered.
David grabbed his laptop from his security bag and inserted the card. He tapped furiously on the keyboard for thirty seconds. The room was dead silent except for the clacking of keys and Lucy’s soft crying.
“Got it,” David said, turning the screen around. “It’s a scheduled email drop. It contains the original forged hospital records, Elena’s forged signature, and bank routing numbers. Boss… these bank routing numbers don't lead to Vanessa.”
Mrs. Gable took a sudden, sharp step backward toward the front door.
“Who do they lead to?” the lead officer asked, looking at the screen.
“An offshore account registered to Gable Consulting,” David read aloud. He looked up at Mrs. Gable. “It’s a ledger. It shows Vanessa Bellini has been paying Mrs. Gable ten thousand dollars a month for the last seven years to ensure Child Protective Services never audited Lucy’s adoption file.”
Mrs. Gable’s face turned the color of ash. She dropped her thick leather binder. It hit the marble floor with a heavy thud, papers scattering everywhere.
The lead officer slowly turned to look at the CPS agent. He didn't look tired anymore. He looked furious.
“Agent Gable,” the officer said, his hand resting on his handcuffs. “You told a judge this was an anonymous tip. You swore under oath you had no prior relationship with this family.”
“It’s a lie! It’s a fabricated file!” Mrs. Gable stammered, backing toward the rain-swept doorway. “I have diplomatic immunity as a state agent!”
“You have the right to remain silent,” the officer barked, grabbing Mrs. Gable by the arms and spinning her around, slamming the heavy steel handcuffs onto her wrists.
I watched the woman who had terrorized my childhood get shoved toward the back of a police cruiser in the pouring rain. A massive weight lifted off my chest. I took a deep, shuddering breath.
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But as the officer turned back to face the room, his expression remained grim. He looked up at Luca and the little girl in his arms.
“The extortionist and the corrupt agent are going to jail,” the officer said heavily. “But the evidence on that drive proves the adoption was forged. The child still isn't legally yours, Mr. Moretti. I still have to take her.”
