Chapter 4 - THE OTHER VINCENT
It took me several seconds to understand.
Vincent Gallo stood beside us.
Alive.
Confused.
Not the Vincent Alessandro meant.
“My uncle's name was Vincent Moretti,” Alessandro explained. “Gallo isn't related to me.”
Vincent Gallo raised both hands.
“Thank God we clarified that.”
I almost laughed.
Almost.
“What happened to your uncle?” I asked.
“He disappeared fifteen years ago.”
“After killing your father?”
Alessandro's jaw tightened.
“That's what I was told.”
I looked at the black rose engraved into the revolver.
“And now?”
“Now I'm questioning everything.”
The police were not called.
I objected.
Alessandro listened patiently.
Then ignored me.
Again.
“You can't just hide a shooting.”
“I can.”
“That wasn't permission.”
“It wasn't a request.”
I glared at him.
He smiled faintly.
“You're doing that thing again.”
“What thing?”
“Ordering me around.”
“It worked last time.”
Vincent Gallo coughed to hide a laugh.
Back at the Moretti estate, we examined the notebook.
Project Belladonna appeared dozens of times.
Payments to doctors.
Private clinics.
False names.
One name appeared more than any other.
Dr. Elena Marconi.
I recognized it.
“My brother's specialist.”
Alessandro looked at me.
“What?”
“Dr. Marconi treats Marco.”
The room went silent.
Vincent immediately reached for his phone.
“I'll check her background.”
I felt sick.
“Why would my brother's doctor be in a notebook from almost thirty years ago?”
Alessandro's face hardened.
“Maybe she isn't who she says she is.”
I called Marco.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
My fear rose.
“I'm going to the hospital.”
Alessandro was already moving.
“We're going.”
We reached Lakeview Medical Center twenty minutes later.
Marco's room was empty.
His bed was stripped.
I grabbed the nearest nurse.
“Where is my brother?”
She looked confused.
“Marco Rossi?”
“Yes.”
“He was discharged.”
“What?”
“About an hour ago.”
“By whom?”
She checked the chart.
“Dr. Marconi.”
My heart stopped.
“He can't be discharged. He's in the middle of treatment.”
The nurse frowned.
“According to the record, he requested transfer.”
“Transfer where?”
She looked again.
“There isn't a destination.”
Alessandro's voice became dangerously quiet.
“Show me the security footage.”
The nurse looked terrified.
“I can't—”
He handed her a business card.
“Call your administrator.”
Five minutes later, we were inside a security office.
The footage showed Marco leaving in a wheelchair.
Dr. Marconi walked beside him.
A man pushed the chair.
The camera caught his face.
Alessandro froze.
“No.”
I turned.
“You know him?”
His expression changed completely.
For the first time since I'd met him, Alessandro Moretti looked afraid.
“That's impossible.”
“Who is he?”
He stared at the screen.
“My uncle.”
My blood went cold.
“Vincent Moretti?”
“Yes.”
“The man who disappeared fifteen years ago?”
“Yes.”
The footage continued.
Vincent Moretti leaned down and said something to Marco.
My brother looked terrified.
Then the camera caught Dr. Marconi turning toward Vincent.
She removed her glasses.
Alessandro stopped breathing.
“What?”
He stepped closer to the monitor.
The woman looked directly into the camera.
May you like
Alessandro whispered,
“Mom.”
