Chapter 4 - The Missing Girl Walked Into the Room, and Renato Realized His Family Had Been Lying for Eighteen Years
The girl looked terrified.
Dr. Parker kept the gun against her shoulder.
“Let her go.”
Renato's voice was calm.
Too calm.
Parker smiled.
“You always were your father's son.”
“Put the gun down.”
“No.”
She pushed the girl forward.
“She belongs to the family.”
The girl looked at Renato.
“Are you Renato?”
He nodded.
She began crying.
“They told me you were dead.”
Renato's face changed.
“Who?”
“Everyone.”
My mother stepped forward.
“Lena?”
The girl nodded.
My mother covered her mouth.
“I am so sorry.”
Lena stared at her.
“You knew?”
My mother cried.
“I tried to find you.”
Parker pulled her back.
“You failed.”
Renato looked at Parker.
“You stole my sister.”
“No.”
“She disappeared the night my father died.”
“Because your father ordered her moved.”
“Why?”
Parker hesitated.
“Because Silvio wanted her.”
“Why?”
“Because she carried the genetic marker.”
Renato frowned.
“What marker?”
“The Calder bloodline.”
Dr. Chen, who had followed us into the room, stepped forward.
“What genetic marker?”
Parker laughed.
“You doctors think everything is chemistry.”
She looked at Renato.
“Your family wasn't just wealthy.”
“You had access to a private pharmaceutical trust.”
I didn't understand.
Parker explained.
The trust had developed specialized medicines and controlled medical research.
Some treatments were valuable enough to influence governments.
Silvio believed the Calder heir could control the trust.
Daniel refused.
So Silvio created a succession plan.
Lena would become the legal heir.
But if Lena disappeared, Renato would become the public heir.
Silvio could then control him.
“Why did my father refuse?” Renato asked.
“Because he wanted the trust dissolved.”
Parker's gun shook.
“He wanted to expose everything.”
“Then why kill him?”
“I didn't.”
Renato stared.
“Then who did?”
Parker looked toward the doorway.
A man walked in.
Older.
Tall.
Gray-haired.
I recognized him from the photograph.
Silvio Calder.
Alive.
Renato's face went blank.
“You.”
Silvio smiled.
“Hello, nephew.”
Renato raised his gun.
“Where were you?”
“Watching.”
“For eighteen years?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew you would come looking.”
“You killed my father.”
Silvio shook his head.
“Your father died because he was weak.”
“No.”
“He should have joined me.”
Renato's eyes hardened.
“Who poisoned him?”
Silvio looked at Parker.
She looked away.
“You already know.”
Renato turned toward her.
“You did.”
Parker whispered:
“I changed the medication.”
“Why?”
“Because Silvio ordered me to.”
Silvio laughed.
“Don't pretend innocence.”
Parker glared.
“You forced me.”
“You made your choice.”
The room fell silent.
Then I remembered something.
“Renato.”
He looked at me.
“The words in my notebook.”
“What about them?”
“Three days, maybe seven.”
I pointed to Silvio.
“They said the boss would die in three days, maybe seven.”
Silvio smiled.
“That was the plan.”
Renato went still.
“You planned to kill me?”
“Of course.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because she intervened.”
He looked at me.
“An eight-year-old girl ruined thirty years of preparation.”
I didn't know what to say.
Silvio reached into his coat.
I stepped closer to Renato.
He handed Marco a document.
A medical trust agreement.
The heir clause.
Renato read it.
His eyes widened.
“Lena.”
Silvio nodded.
“She inherits everything.”
Lena looked frightened.
“I don't want it.”
Silvio smiled.
“You don't get to choose.”
Renato stepped forward.
“She does.”
Silvio laughed.
“You're still pretending you can save everyone.”
Renato raised his weapon.
“Let her go.”
Silvio nodded.
Parker lowered her gun.
But then the lights went out again.
Gunfire erupted.
When the lights returned, Lena was gone.
So was Silvio.
Parker lay unconscious.
Renato looked furious.
Marco ran to the door.
“They escaped through the basement.”
Renato turned to me.
“Stay with Dana.”
My mother grabbed my hand.
“No.”
She stood.
“I'm coming.”
Renato stared.
“Why?”
“Because I know where he'll go.”
“Where?”
“Under St. Andrew's.”
Renato frowned.
“What is there?”
My mother whispered:
“The original vault.”
We returned to the hospital before dawn.
The basement was sealed.
But my mother knew a passage.
She found an old panel behind the laundry room.
Inside was a narrow staircase.
We went down.
At the bottom was a steel door.
My mother's key opened it.
Inside were hundreds of files.
And one enormous ledger.
Black leather.
Gold edges.
The Black Ledger.
Renato touched it.
“It's been here all along.”
My mother nodded.
Then we heard movement behind the shelves.
A child cried.
Lena.
We rushed toward the sound.
She was tied to a chair.
Silvio stood behind her.
“Back away.”
Renato stepped forward.
“No.”
Silvio held a syringe.
“Digitoxin.”
My stomach dropped.
He smiled.
“The same poison that killed your father.”
Renato's eyes became cold.
“You won't use it.”
Silvio pressed the syringe against Lena's arm.
“Then give me the ledger.”
Renato looked at the book.
Then at Lena.
I saw something change in his expression.
He wasn't calculating money.
He wasn't calculating power.
He was calculating whether he could save someone he had just found.
He slowly pushed the ledger across the floor.
Silvio reached for it.
And that's when I noticed the tiny metal wheel attached beneath Lena's chair.
A lock.
I remembered something from the ledger.
The key wasn't the book.
It was the person.
I whispered to Renato.
“Don't give him the ledger.”
He looked at me.
“Why?”
“Because the heir has to open it.”
Silvio heard.
He smiled.
“Smart girl.”
He grabbed Lena.
“Then let's find out who the real heir is.”
He looked at Renato.
May you like
Then at me.
“The answer will surprise you.”
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