Chapter 2 - The Ambulance Nobody Called
The ambulance arrived six minutes later.
It wasn't a city ambulance.
Luca noticed that immediately.
Its white exterior carried the emblem of a private medical transport company contracted exclusively to the Whitmore Children's Neurology Institute.
Two men stepped out.
Neither looked at the restaurant.
Both looked directly at Sophia's wheelchair.
“Marco.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Lock the doors.”
Marco signaled the second bodyguard.
The private dining room's security shutters lowered over the street-facing windows.
Hannah held Sophia closer.
“Mr. Moretti, we need to leave.”
“Not until I understand what's happening.”
“Then listen while we move.”
She stood, keeping Sophia in her arms.
“Those men aren't here to help her.”
Luca crossed to the security monitor mounted beside the entrance.
One of the men was speaking into his phone.
The other was opening a metal medical case.
Inside were syringes, medication packs, and restraints designed to secure a patient to a stretcher.
Luca's stomach twisted.
“They brought restraints.”
Hannah nodded.
“They always do.”
“Always?”
She looked away.
Luca stepped between her and the exit.
“Tell me exactly what happened to my daughter.”
Hannah's gaze hardened.
“Your daughter was never supposed to be paralyzed.”
Luca felt his pulse hammer against his ribs.
“Explain that.”
“Sophia had significant motor delays when she was younger.”
“I know.”
“She needed therapy, strengthening, and a careful neurological evaluation.”
“She had all of that.”
“She had appointments.”
Hannah's voice broke.
“That doesn't mean she received the treatment you were paying for.”
Luca stared at her.
“Are you accusing Dr. Whitmore of fraud?”
“I'm accusing him of keeping your daughter dependent on a wheelchair after he knew she could improve.”
A loud knock came from the service entrance.
“Medical transport!”
Marco stepped forward.
“Stay back.”
A voice answered.
“We have an emergency order signed by Dr. Charles Whitmore.”
“No medical emergency exists.”
“We're authorized to remove the child.”
Luca reached for Marco's radio.
“Contact the police.”
Hannah shook her head.
“Not the private security liaison.”
“Why not?”
“Because the last time someone reported Whitmore, he knew about it before the police reached the hospital.”
Luca looked sharply at Marco.
His bodyguard's expression didn't change.
But his hand moved toward his jacket.
Not toward his gun.
Toward his phone.
Luca held out his hand.
“Give it to me.”
Marco frowned.
“Sir?”
“Your phone.”
“Mr. Moretti—”
“Now.”
Marco handed it over.
The screen was unlocked.
A message had arrived from an unknown number.
Is the waitress contained?
Luca's face went white.
Hannah saw it.
“That's why I asked him to remove his earpiece.”
Marco shook his head.
“Sir, I can explain.”
“Then start.”
“My wife has been receiving threats.”
“From whom?”
“I don't know.”
Luca stepped closer.
“Someone is asking whether you've contained a woman holding my child.”
Marco lowered his eyes.
“They told me Hannah Brooks was planning to kidnap Sophia.”
Hannah gave a bitter laugh.
“Of course they did.”
“They sent photographs of my wife leaving her office.”
“Did you verify anything?”
Marco swallowed.
“No, sir.”
Luca looked at the man who had protected his family for eleven years.
“Then you should have come to me.”
“I was afraid.”
“So was my daughter.”
That ended the conversation.
Luca took Sophia from Hannah.
She reached back toward the waitress.
“Daddy, don't let them take her.”
He kissed her forehead.
“They won't.”
Another knock rattled the service door.
Luca called his personal attorney, Rebecca Sloan.
She answered on the second ring.
“Luca?”
“I need independent police officers at Bellamy's restaurant.”
“What happened?”
“Someone forged my signature on my daughter's medical records.”
Rebecca went silent.
“Luca, where did you get that information?”
“Why?”
“Because I received a call from your brother fifteen minutes ago.”
His grip tightened.
“Dante called you?”
“He said Sophia was experiencing a medical crisis and you were behaving irrationally.”
Luca looked toward the locked door.
“What else?”
“He asked me to prepare emergency guardianship paperwork.”
“Guardianship?”
“He wants temporary medical decision-making authority over Sophia.”
Luca almost laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because the betrayal was becoming so enormous that his mind struggled to hold it.
“My brother wants legal control of my daughter?”
“That's what he requested.”
“Did you prepare it?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Rebecca paused.
“Luca, there is something else.”
He waited.
“The paperwork he sent already contains your signature.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“Another forgery.”
“And it's dated yesterday.”
A metallic crash came from the service entrance.
Someone had forced the outer lock.
Marco drew his weapon.
“Everyone behind me.”
Hannah stepped toward Luca.
“There's another way out.”
“How do you know?”
“I worked here before.”
“When?”
“For three weeks.”
“Why?”
“I was trying to get close enough to Sophia without setting off Whitmore's security alerts.”
Luca stared.
“You arranged this dinner?”
“No.”
She looked frightened for the first time.
“That's what worries me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I didn't know you were coming tonight.”
Behind them, the kitchen door opened.
An elderly dishwasher stood in the doorway.
“Miss Brooks.”
Hannah turned.
“Eddie?”
He held out a set of keys.
“Back delivery entrance. My truck is running.”
Luca moved quickly.
Hannah took Sophia's wheelchair.
They crossed the kitchen as someone pounded on the dining room door.
Sophia rested her head on her father's shoulder.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, baby?”
“Can Hannah come home with us?”
Luca glanced at the waitress.
He had known her for less than twenty minutes.
Yet his daughter trusted her more than she trusted her own doctor.
“We'll see.”
Sophia considered that answer.
Then whispered:
“Don't take me to the big house.”
Luca stopped.
“What?”
“The big house.”
“Our home?”
She nodded.
“The doctor knows my room.”
Hannah went pale.
Luca looked at her.
“What room?”
Hannah shook her head.
“Please. Not here.”
They reached the delivery entrance.
Eddie opened the door.
Cold night air swept inside.
A black SUV waited across the alley.
Luca recognized it immediately.
His brother's security vehicle.
The rear passenger window lowered.
Dante Moretti sat inside wearing a charcoal suit and a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
“Luca.”
He stepped out.
“Thank God you're okay.”
Luca didn't move.
Dante looked at Sophia.
Then at Hannah.
The smile vanished.
“You.”
Hannah's face drained.
Dante took one step forward.
“I thought Whitmore handled you.”
Luca felt every muscle in his body tighten.
“Handled her how?”
Dante looked at his brother.
A dangerous silence filled the alley.
Then he smiled again.
“You're confused, Luca.”
“No.”
Luca shifted Sophia higher against his chest.
“For the first time in three years, I think I'm beginning to understand.”
Dante's gaze dropped to the little girl's shoes.
Sophia instinctively tucked her feet behind her father's back.
Dante noticed.
His expression changed.
“Can she stand?”
Luca said nothing.
Dante turned toward Hannah.
“What have you done?”
Before Hannah could answer, Sophia lifted her head and spoke with the confidence of someone delivering an important message.
“Hannah said my legs weren't broken.”
Dante stared.
Sophia continued.
“She said somebody was lying.”
May you like
Then she pointed directly at her uncle.
“And she said I shouldn't tell you.”
