Chapter 7 - THE NIGHT LEO DISAPPEARED
I had never heard Luca Moretti shout until his son disappeared.
The sound changed the entire building.
Security moved.
Doors locked.
Phones rang.
Every camera feed was reviewed.
But beneath the fury, I saw something worse.
Terror.
Luca wasn't a mafia boss in that moment.
He was a father who couldn't find his baby.
"What was her name?" I asked.
"Maria Santos."
"How long has she worked for you?"
"Eight months."
"Do you trust her?"
"I did."
Frank interrupted.
"Maria's sister received a threat this morning."
Luca turned.
"What threat?"
"If Maria didn't cooperate, her family would be hurt."
I closed my eyes.
So she might not have taken Leo willingly.
Rebecca tracked the nanny's phone through lawful emergency coordination with authorities.
Last signal: the old Moretti shipping terminal near the river.
The same area Matteo had worked twenty-eight years earlier.
Police were contacted.
Luca wanted to go immediately.
Rebecca tried to stop him.
"You're a target."
"He's my son."
"I'm aware."
"So am I."
I stepped forward.
"Luca."
He turned.
"Don't tell me to stay here."
"I wasn't going to."
That surprised him.
"I was going to tell you not to go in acting like the man everyone fears."
His jaw tightened.
"Then what do you suggest?"
"Act like Leo's father."
Something in his face changed.
We followed the authorities at a safe distance.
The terminal was mostly abandoned.
Snow had begun falling.
Not heavily.
Just enough to turn the rusted loading docks white.
Maria was found inside a storage office.
Alive.
Terrified.
She'd been forced to bring Leo.
But the baby was gone.
On the floor beside her sat one item.
My silver necklace.
I stared.
"They took this from my apartment."
Maria began crying.
"He wanted Avery."
Luca crouched.
"Who?"
"Victor."
My blood went cold.
"Where's Leo?"
"He said the baby was insurance."
Luca's hands shook.
"What does he want?"
Maria looked at me.
"The key."
I touched the necklace.
The brass key was still with investigators.
Victor didn't know that.
Then Maria handed us a note.
Matteo's daughter comes alone.
Luca tore it in half.
"No."
I looked at him.
"Obviously I'm not going alone."
He stared.
"You aren't going at all."
My expression hardened.
"Careful."
He stopped.
For several seconds, we looked at each other.
Then Luca closed his eyes.
"You're right."
It cost him something to say that.
He exhaled.
"We do this with the police."
"Yes."
"Nobody improvises."
I nodded.
"Agreed."
Then Maria whispered something.
"I heard Victor talking."
We turned.
"He wasn't alone."
Luca frowned.
"Who was with him?"
Maria swallowed.
"A woman."
My stomach tightened.
"What woman?"
"She called Leo her grandson."
The room went silent.
Luca looked stunned.
"Sofia's mother is dead."
Maria shook her head.
"She said her name was Marianne."
My entire body went cold.
May you like
Because my mother had been dead for eight years.
Or at least, that's what I had been told.
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