Chapter 3
I moved my daughters into the private dining room with Elias.
Hannah tried to go with them.
I stopped her gently.
“They’re safe.”
She looked toward the door.
“They get scared when Bianca raises her voice.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Bianca laughed.
“They get scared because Hannah rewards it.”
I turned.
“Enough.”
For once, she stopped.
I looked at Hannah.
“Tell me about Samuel.”
She hesitated.
Marco smiled.
“Careful.”
I turned.
He lifted both hands.
“One word, Dominic.”
“One threat.”
His smile disappeared.
Hannah spoke.
“My father worked overnight security at St. Catherine’s.”
“I know.”
“He knew Elena?”
“Did he?”
Hannah nodded.
“She talked to him sometimes.”
“Why?”
“Because he walked the maternity wing at night.”
Elena had been in St. Catherine’s for ten days after delivering the triplets.
Complications.
Then sudden collapse.
Then death.
That was the story.
“What happened the night before Samuel vanished?”
Hannah’s voice shook.
“He came home around four in the morning.”
“Blood?”
“On his sleeve.”
“His?”
“He said no.”
Bianca shifted.
I noticed.
“What else?”
“He kept checking the windows.”
“What did he say?”
Hannah closed her eyes.
“He told me if anyone named Bellandi came looking, I was supposed to say I hadn’t seen him.”
Marco laughed.
“Convenient.”
Hannah turned.
“He was terrified.”
“Of Dominic?”
“No.”
She looked directly at Bianca.
“Of someone he called the woman with the white coat.”
Bianca’s face emptied.
She wasn’t a doctor.
But two years ago, during Elena’s hospital stay, Bianca had volunteered with the hospital foundation.
White volunteer coat.
I remembered photographs.
Bianca smiled slowly.
“You’re reaching.”
I said nothing.
Hannah continued.
“My father gave me a key.”
“What key?”
“I don’t know.”
“Still have it?”
She nodded.
Marco stepped forward.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
He stopped.
Another mistake.
I looked at him.
“You know what it opens.”
“No.”
“Then why say no?”
Silence.
Hannah whispered:
“He told me never to use it unless a Bellandi asked what happened to Elena.”
My breathing slowed.
“Where is it?”
“In my locker.”
Bianca laughed.
“Two years and she suddenly remembers a magical key?”
Hannah looked at her.
“I remembered every day.”
“Then why didn’t you come forward?”
Hannah’s face hardened.
“Because my father disappeared.”
May you like
Pause.
“And the last person seen speaking to him was your brother.”
