Chapter 7 - The Ambulance
The landing was brutal.
The left tire blew on touchdown.
The cabin shook so hard the overhead compartments popped open.
But they stopped.
Alive.
Emergency vehicles surrounded the jet.
Silas didn’t move.
“Who controls the airport?”
Victor checked his phone.
“Local authority.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Victor looked outside.
“Right now? We don’t know.”
Silas turned to Khloe.
“Stay beside Matteo.”
She nodded.
The aircraft door opened.
Paramedics boarded first.
Then airport police.
Then two men wearing federal jackets.
Silas’s expression became unreadable.
One agent raised his hands.
“Mr. Costello, we’re not here for you.”
Victor murmured, “That’s new.”
The agent looked toward Matteo.
“We have a court order to transfer the minor child to protective custody.”
Silas stepped between them.
“No.”
“Sir—”
“No.”
Khloe felt the cabin temperature change.
Every armed person became more alert.
The agent spoke carefully.
“Mr. Costello, do not make this worse.”
Silas smiled.
“For who?”
Matteo grabbed Khloe.
She signed.
Stay calm.
The agent produced paperwork.
“Emergency guardianship. Signed this afternoon.”
Victor stepped forward.
“Based on fraudulent medical records.”
“That’s for the court.”
“You’re taking a deaf child from his father based on evidence created by the woman accused of poisoning him.”
The agent’s face changed slightly.
“Accused by who?”
“By me.”
The agent studied Victor.
“That carries less weight than you think.”
Khloe stepped forward.
“It carries more if the child tells you himself.”
Silas looked at her.
The agent frowned.
“Can he speak?”
“He can communicate.”
Khloe crouched beside Matteo.
“Do you want to tell him what happened?”
Matteo looked at the strangers.
Then at his father.
Then at Khloe.
He nodded.
Khloe translated while Matteo signed.
“My grandmother gave me medicine. It made my ears hurt. I got sick. She told me not to tell Dad.”
The agent’s face changed.
Matteo continued.
“She said if Dad knew I couldn’t hear, he would send me away.”
Silas turned his face toward the wall.
Khloe kept translating.
“There was a woman with red nails who filmed me when I cried.”
The agent lowered the papers.
“Who taught him sign language?”
Khloe answered, “Someone did before tonight.”
Silas looked sharply at her.
“What?”
Khloe froze.
She replayed Matteo’s signing.
Too fluent.
Not perfect.
But far too advanced for a child who supposedly had never been taught.
She turned to him.
Who taught you signs?
Matteo’s face changed.
Fear.
Khloe repeated gently.
Who taught you?
Matteo looked toward Victor.
Victor frowned.
Then Matteo signed a name.
Khloe stared.
Silas demanded, “Who?”
Khloe looked up.
“He says… Rosa.”
Victor went pale.
Silas whispered, “Rosa’s dead.”
Khloe looked back at Matteo.
“Who is Rosa?”
Silas answered.
“My son’s nanny.”
Victor looked toward the aisle.
“She died two months ago.”
“How?”
Silas said, “Car accident.”
Victor shook his head slowly.
“No.”
Silas turned.
“What?”
“I saw the police report.”
“So?”
“She wasn’t driving.”
Silas stared.
Victor continued.
“The report said she was in the passenger seat.”
Silas’s voice dropped.
“Then who was driving?”
Victor didn’t answer.
He didn’t have to.
Outside, an ambulance door opened.
An older woman stepped onto the tarmac beneath a black umbrella.
Perfect silver hair.
Black coat.
Pearls.
Helena Costello had arrived.
Matteo saw her through the window.
He screamed without sound.
Then he signed one desperate sentence.
May you like
That’s the woman who killed Rosa.
---
