Chapter 6 - The Emergency That Wasn't Supposed to Happen
Luca didn't shout.
He didn't throw anything.
He climbed the stairs and knelt in front of Ethan.
"Buddy, tell me exactly what Vanessa said."
Ethan looked frightened.
"Am I supposed to keep it a secret?"
"No."
"But she said I'd make her look bad."
Luca took his son's hands.
"Your job is not to protect a grown-up from the truth."
Ethan thought about that.
Then he began talking.
The missing autoinjector had disappeared two days earlier.
Vanessa had found Ethan packing a small backpack for the wedding rehearsal.
He'd put his medication inside.
She told him it would ruin the photographs.
When he protested, she opened the blue case and removed one device.
"She said I only needed one," Ethan whispered.
"What happened next?"
"She put it in her purse."
"Did she return it?"
Ethan shook his head.
"Did you tell anyone?"
"I told Mrs. Carter I couldn't find it."
Mrs. Carter, standing nearby, pressed a hand to her mouth.
"I thought you'd misplaced it, sweetheart."
Ethan nodded miserably.
"I thought maybe I did."
Luca pulled him into his arms.
"That wasn't your fault."
He looked toward Daniel.
"Make sure every emergency supply is checked and replaced where needed."
Daniel nodded.
"And I want the medication list reviewed with his allergist."
"Already arranging it."
Luca looked at me.
"Nora, would you stay with him while I speak to Daniel?"
"Of course."
But Ethan held tightly to his father's shirt.
"Don't go."
Luca stopped.
For a moment, I thought he would insist that he had business to handle.
Instead, he sat on the step beside his son.
"I'm right here."
Daniel quietly left to make his calls.
I sat a few steps below them.
Ethan leaned against his father.
After a while, he asked, "If somebody gives you food that makes you sick on purpose, is that a crime?"
Luca's expression tightened.
"Sometimes, yes."
"Even if they're family?"
"Yes."
Ethan stared at his hands.
"Then Vanessa's going to hate me."
Luca closed his eyes.
"No, buddy. Listen to me. What Vanessa thinks about you is not your responsibility."
"But she wanted you to be happy."
"You make me happy."
Ethan looked up.
"Even when I get scared?"
"Especially when you're scared and you tell me about it."
His eyes filled.
"What if you need a wife?"
Luca swallowed.
"I don't need someone who hurts my son."
Ethan put his head against Luca's shoulder.
For the first time all morning, his body relaxed.
Later, Julia took him into the garden.
Luca asked me to join him in the study.
Daniel was speaking to someone on the phone.
He ended the call when we entered.
"I've contacted an attorney who handles child welfare and family matters," he said. "She can advise both parents about the placement documents and help preserve Ethan's statements without making him repeat them unnecessarily."
Luca nodded.
"Good."
"And I recommend a formal report concerning the dinner incident and the missing medication."
"Make it."
Daniel looked at me.
"Nora, I need you to tell me something difficult."
I sat.
"All right."
"Did Vanessa ever tell you she wanted Ethan to have an allergic reaction?"
"No."
"Did she ever suggest that an incident would make Luca more willing to send him away?"
I thought carefully.
Then I remembered the afternoon she'd caught me checking ingredient labels before a charity luncheon.
She'd looked irritated.
"Do you people think one little mistake will kill him?"
I'd told her that with a severe allergy, even a small exposure could be dangerous.
She'd rolled her eyes.
"Sometimes I think a real scare is the only thing that would make Luca realize how impossible this arrangement is."
At the time, I'd thought she meant a scare that happened accidentally.
Now I understood there might have been another meaning.
I repeated her words.
Daniel wrote them down.
Luca didn't move.
"Was that before she arranged Westbrook?" he asked.
"Yes."
"How long before?"
"About a month."
Daniel looked up.
"That could be important."
Luca stared at the desk.
"If Ethan had eaten the cake..."
He stopped.
Nobody finished the sentence.
We didn't have to.
An allergic reaction can become life-threatening quickly.
And the woman who had been planning his wedding arrangements knew exactly that.
A knock sounded at the door.
Mrs. Carter entered.
"Sir, there's a police officer at the front gate."
Luca stood.
"Why?"
"She says she needs to speak with you about a report filed against a member of your household."
Daniel frowned.
"What report?"
Mrs. Carter swallowed.
"Miss Bellini claims Nora assaulted her during dinner."
I stared at her.
"What?"
Luca looked toward me.
"That's ridiculous."
Mrs. Carter continued.
"She says Nora forcibly interfered with a child under her supervision and threatened her in front of witnesses."
Daniel closed his eyes.
"She's attempting to establish herself as the injured party."
Luca headed for the door.
"Then let's give the officer the witnesses."
I followed him into the entrance hall.
A uniformed officer stood beside the security desk.
She introduced herself as Officer Melissa Grant.
Luca explained that Vanessa had filed the complaint after Nora stopped Ethan from eating food that could have caused a severe allergic reaction.
Officer Grant listened carefully.
Then she turned toward me.
"Miss Bennett, I'd like to hear your account."
I told her what had happened.
The pecan.
The fork.
Ethan's warning.
Mrs. Carter's confirmation.
I described it without exaggeration.
When I finished, Officer Grant asked, "Is there video from the dining room?"
Luca looked at the security supervisor.
"There is."
The supervisor hesitated.
"Sir, I need to explain something."
Luca turned.
"What?"
"The dining room camera was disabled during the dinner service."
Daniel looked up.
"Disabled?"
"Yes."
"By whom?"
The supervisor swallowed.
"Miss Bellini requested it."
"When?"
"Yesterday afternoon."
Luca's expression darkened.
"Why?"
"She said she didn't want security footage showing private guests at the engagement dinner."
Officer Grant made a note.
"Do you still have recordings from the adjoining rooms?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Please preserve them."
Then she looked toward me.
"Miss Bennett, we'll document your statement. A report being filed doesn't mean the allegations are established."
I nodded.
But my hands had started shaking.
Vanessa had removed the security footage.
She'd interfered with Ethan's medication.
And now she was accusing me of attacking her.
The officer left after speaking with Mrs. Carter and several staff members.
Luca waited until the front door closed.
Then he turned to Daniel.
"Find the person who turned off that camera."
Daniel nodded.
But Mrs. Carter interrupted.
"Sir, you don't need to."
We looked at her.
She held out her phone.
"Miss Bellini sent the instructions to me yesterday. I kept the message."
Luca read it.
Then he looked up.
"What time?"
"Five-forty-two."
He checked his own phone.
The message had been sent seventeen minutes before Vanessa entered the kitchen to ask about Ethan's dessert.
And seventeen minutes before the pastry chef warned her about the pecans.
Luca's face went pale.
May you like
For the first time, the dinner no longer looked like a reckless moment.
It looked like a sequence someone had prepared.
