Chapter 11 - THE TWIN WHO STOLE THE ARCHIVE
Her name was Sophia DeLuca.
My mother’s identical twin.
I had never heard her name.
“Why?”
That was all I could ask.
Mom looked ashamed.
“Because Sophia disappeared before you were born.”
Apparently disappearing ran in the family.
“Why?”
“She worked with Bellini.”
Luca’s face hardened.
“Voluntarily?”
“At first.”
Mom explained.
Sophia was a nurse.
Bellini recruited her into his private medical program by claiming they were developing emergency tracking for kidnapping victims and vulnerable witnesses.
A good purpose.
A dangerous tool.
When Sophia discovered the devices were being implanted without informed consent, she tried to leave.
Bellini threatened her.
Then Daniel.
Then Marina.
Sophia vanished.
Mom assumed she was dead.
“She isn’t,” I said.
“No.”
“Why take the drive?”
Mom shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Federal agents traced Sophia to an abandoned clinic.
She surrendered immediately.
No chase.
No gunfight.
She wanted to talk.
By dawn, we joined investigators at a secure federal building.
Sophia looked exactly like Mom.
But harder.
Sharper.
A scar crossed her chin.
When she saw me, she began crying.
“You look like Daniel.”
At least one parent was certain.
“Why did you take the drive?”
“To stop Bellini.”
“By stealing evidence?”
“The drive he wanted wasn’t evidence.”
Luca leaned forward.
“What was it?”
“A master access key.”
For every implanted device Bellini ever created.
Even inactive ones.
Even archived identities.
“If he had it?”
“He could locate people whose devices remained functional.”
“How many?”
Sophia swallowed.
“Forty-three.”
Not thousands.
Forty-three living people.
Still enough.
Some were witnesses.
Some family members.
Some former criminal associates.
One was Luca.
His original implanted tracker had been removed.
But Sophia revealed Bellini had placed a second passive identifier during the recent bullet surgery.
Luca’s face turned cold.
“That procedure happened in my own private clinic.”
“Yes.”
“Who helped him?”
Sophia looked toward Marcus.
Marcus stiffened.
But Sophia shook her head.
“Not him.”
“Who?”
“Dr. Emilia Rossi.”
Luca’s aunt.
Vittorio’s sister.
Head of the Rossi family medical foundation.
The woman Luca had described as practically a second mother.
Another betrayal.
Then Sophia looked at me.
“And Emily has one too.”
My blood ran cold.
“No.”
“It was inserted years ago.”
“Mom said mine was removed.”
“The first one was.”
Sophia swallowed.
“Bellini inserted another during a dental procedure when you were sixteen.”
I stared.
A wisdom tooth surgery.
Routine.
I remembered Sarah driving me home.
Sarah went pale.
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
Sophia looked at Sarah.
“So was Bellini.”
Sarah began shaking.
Then a memory surfaced.
The dentist had changed at the last minute.
The anesthesiologist wore a mask the entire time.
My stomach turned.
“Can it be removed?”
Sophia nodded.
“Yes.”
Then she added:
“But if Bellini realizes we have the master key, he’ll activate every remaining device.”
“What does activation do?”
Sophia’s face lost color.
“It doesn’t only transmit location.”
Luca stared.
“What else?”
“It can deliver an electrical pulse.”
May you like
Silence.
“In certain placements,” she whispered, “a fatal one.”
