Chapter 6 - The Heart Monitor Went Silent
Richard's death broke the last illusion that I was dealing with ordinary criminals.
The enemy knew everything.
Where Lucas slept.
Where Sophie was.
What we had discovered.
What we planned next.
And they were willing to kill anyone who knew too much.
I moved Lucas to the old chapel beneath the estate.
It had no ventilation connection to the main house.
No network cameras.
No electronic doors.
It was built before modern technology.
Dr. Hale objected.
"I strongly recommend against moving him."
"I don't care."
"He requires monitoring."
"You'll monitor him here."
He looked toward Marco.
"You're putting his life at risk."
I stepped closer.
"No. Someone put his life at risk years ago."
Hale looked away.
Sophie sat beside Lucas.
She held his hand.
His pulse was weak.
Then his monitor suddenly changed.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Slowly, his heart rate became steadier.
Hale stared at the screen.
"That's impossible."
Lucas opened his eyes.
"Dad?"
I leaned over him.
"I'm here."
"Mommy came."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
Lucas smiled faintly.
"She was here."
"Where?"
"In my dream."
"What did she say?"
He looked toward Sophie.
"She said she left something with her."
Sophie opened the red lunchbox.
At the bottom was a tiny envelope.
My name was written on it.
Lorenzo.
Inside was a photograph.
Isabella holding Lucas as a baby.
On the back:
The truth is under the heart.
I looked at Lucas.
His heartbeat.
The monitor.
The medication.
The heart.
Then I remembered something.
Isabella had given Lucas a stuffed bear.
Captain.
I picked it up.
The bear had a small stitched heart.
I tore it open.
Inside was a tiny memory card.
I nearly dropped it.
Sophie smiled.
"Mommy said Captain protects people."
I inserted the memory card into my laptop.
A folder appeared.
Twenty-seven audio files.
I opened the first.
Isabella's voice.
"I don't have much time."
The recordings documented everything.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Symptoms.
Chemical exposure.
And finally...
A confession from someone.
A man's voice.
My father.
He admitted that Matteo had been working with him.
They intended to control the Duca empire by controlling me.
Lucas was supposed to be sick enough to make me desperate.
Isabella's death was never the original plan.
But when she discovered the poison, they had to silence her.
I listened to the recording again.
My father was alive.
He had faked his death.
He had orchestrated Isabella's murder.
For three years, I had hunted enemies outside my family while the real enemy watched from the shadows.
I stood.
"Find him."
Marco asked,
"Where?"
The final recording answered.
Isabella's voice returned.
"If you're hearing this, he'll probably go to the old vineyard."
My father's estate in Italy.
Abandoned for decades.
But there was a problem.
The next file contained one sentence.
"He won't be alone."
I looked at Marco.
"Call every man we have."
"We're going to Italy?"
"No."
I looked at Lucas.
Then Sophie.
"He's coming here."
As if summoned by the thought, every light in the chapel went out.
A second later, the doors slammed shut.
The heart monitor went silent.
Lucas's body went limp.
"Lucas!"
I grabbed him.
Hale rushed forward.
"No pulse!"
Sophie screamed.
I hit the emergency release.
The doors didn't open.
Someone had sealed us inside.
Marco rammed the door with his shoulder.
Nothing.
Hale started CPR.
I stood frozen.
For the first time in my life, I felt powerless.
Then Sophie crawled beneath the altar.
"There!"
She shouted.
A small maintenance hatch.
Marco pulled it open.
Air rushed through.
He dragged the electrical cable free.
The monitor flickered.
Lucas coughed.
Then his heart started again.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
I fell to my knees.
Hale looked at the monitor.
"He's alive."
Sophie came running.
She whispered,
"The medicine room."
"What?"
"The smell."
She pointed toward Lucas.
"It changed."
I looked at Hale.
He smelled Lucas's medication.
Then his expression transformed.
"I know this compound."
"What is it?"
"It reacts with another medication."
"Meaning?"
"The two drugs together create a toxic metabolite."
I stared.
"You mean the treatment itself was making him worse."
Hale swallowed.
"Yes."
I turned toward Sophie.
She had known.
She hadn't understood the chemistry.
She had simply noticed the smell.
A child had seen what twelve specialists missed.
And now we finally knew how to save Lucas.
But we still didn't know who was physically inside the mansion.
Then Marco's radio crackled.
"Sir."
"What?"
"We have movement at the main gate."
"Who?"
There was a long pause.
May you like
Then Marco said,
"The man on the security cameras looks exactly like your father."
