Chapter 8 - THE DEATH THEY PLANNED FOR MY MOTHER
My mother's name appeared beside a date.
Nine years ago.
Two weeks after my father's disappearance.
STATUS: TERMINATION APPROVED.
I stared at the screen until my vision blurred.
“What does termination mean?”
Rebecca answered carefully.
“We don't know yet.”
I looked toward Dad.
He had gone completely still.
“You knew?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
Mom sat on the couch between us.
She was pale.
But surprisingly calm.
“Maybe it was insurance terminology.”
I wanted desperately to believe that.
Then Dad looked at the surrounding entries.
Several names.
Several dates.
Several people marked deceased within weeks.
His expression darkened.
“No.”
He pointed toward a code.
“This was Lorenzo's notation.”
My stomach tightened.
“For what?”
Dad swallowed.
“People he considered liabilities.”
The room fell silent.
Vincent stood near the window.
His face hardened.
“He ordered hits?”
Dad nodded.
“Sometimes directly. Sometimes he manipulated medical care.”
I felt cold.
The medication swap that nearly killed Teresa.
The fake patient identity.
The suspicious hospital records.
Everything connected.
“Why didn't Mom die?” Tyler asked.
Dad looked toward her.
“Because someone intervened.”
My heartbeat accelerated.
“Who?”
Rebecca turned the next page.
There was a handwritten note.
DO NOT TOUCH DIANE REED.
Signed:
Antonio Moretti.
Vincent's father.
Everyone stared.
Vincent looked stunned.
“My father?”
Dad nodded slowly.
“Antonio found out what Lorenzo was doing.”
Teresa began crying.
“He tried to stop him.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
For years, he'd believed his father died in a rival dispute.
Now he was learning Antonio had been trying to protect people.
Dad continued.
“Antonio warned me to get my family away from Chicago.”
My chest tightened.
“Why didn't we leave?”
Dad looked ashamed.
“I thought I could finish the investigation first.”
Mom reached for his hand.
“You thought protecting everyone meant doing it alone.”
Dad nodded.
“So did Vincent.”
The room became painfully quiet.
That was the pattern.
Powerful men making decisions for everyone else.
Calling it protection.
And leaving families to pay the price.
Then Teresa asked the question that mattered.
“Why was Diane targeted?”
Dad looked toward Mom.
“Because she had something Lorenzo wanted.”
Mom frowned.
“What?”
Dad hesitated.
Then reached into his coat.
He removed an old photograph.
Mom stood outside St. Anne Medical Center.
She was much younger.
Beside her stood another woman.
Teresa.
My mother stared.
“I don't remember this.”
Dad nodded.
“You were both volunteers for the same patient advocacy program.”
Teresa looked shocked.
Then Mom touched the photograph.
“I remember now.”
She closed her eyes.
“Antonio asked us to review complaints from families.”
Vincent leaned forward.
“What complaints?”
Mom's face changed.
“Missing medical funds.”
The same scheme.
Again.
Then she whispered something none of us expected.
“I kept copies.”
My heart hammered.
“Where?”
Mom looked toward me.
“In Hannah's old bedroom.”
I stared.
“What?”
She smiled sadly.
“You had a stuffed elephant.”
I remembered.
Blue.
Missing one eye.
Mom continued.
“I stitched a flash drive inside it.”
My mouth fell open.
May you like
That elephant still sat in a box in my closet.
And if the files survived, my mother had unknowingly protected evidence for nine years.
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