Chapter 3 - The Device Told Us Someone Had Been Monitoring Luca Since Birth—And His Medical Records Had Been Altered More Than Twenty TimesThe device was more than a tracker.
It had stored data.
Temperature.
Heart rate.
Blood oxygen.
Medication levels.
Stress responses.
Everything.
But the strangest file wasn't medical.
It was labeled:
FAMILY RESPONSE.
Inside were notes.
Father: suspicious.
Mother: compliant.
Grandfather: hostile.
Then:
Physician: unaware.
I stared.
“Who wrote these?”
Marcus shook his head.
“Someone was conducting a behavioral study.”
On a child.
A living child.
I felt sick.
The database contained nearly eight years of observations.
Birth.
Infancy.
First illness.
First injury.
Every hospital visit.
Every blood test.
Even photographs.
Luca sleeping.
Luca playing.
Luca crying.
There was one photograph from the day he was born.
His mother was holding him.
A man stood in the background.
Dr. Adrian Moretti.
Alive.
I took the photograph to Vincent.
He stared at it.
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“He told me he was dead.”
“Apparently he wasn't.”
Vincent sat down.
For the first time since I met him, he looked exhausted.
“My father wanted to control everyone.”
“Why?”
“He believed fear was an evolutionary advantage.”
That answer made no sense.
Until Vincent explained.
His father had built a network around one concept.
If he knew exactly how people reacted to stress, illness, fear, or grief, he could manipulate them.
He used criminals.
Politicians.
Businessmen.
And eventually—
children.
Luca had a rare genetic condition.
Not dangerous by itself.
But useful for research.
His body responded unusually to certain medications.
Adrian had been monitoring him to develop a treatment.
But the research had become something else.
The child was being used as a test subject.
His mother had discovered it.
She tried to stop it.
That's when Adrian threatened her.
Then Vincent's father threatened Luca.
I stared at Vincent.
“And you?”
“I didn't know.”
His voice broke.
“You need to believe me.”
I did.
But there was another question.
“Why did your wife call herself compliant?”
He looked at me.
“I don't know.”
We found her in the waiting room.
She was staring through the glass at Luca.
I asked her.
“What was your role?”
She began crying.
“I lied.”
“About what?”
“I pretended to cooperate.”
“Why?”
“To protect him.”
“From whom?”
“From Vincent's father.”
She revealed that Adrian had threatened to take Luca away unless she followed instructions.
She had been forced to bring him to appointments.
Forced to sign documents.
Forced to lie.
But she had secretly collected evidence.
The device was supposed to be her insurance.
She had hoped to expose Adrian someday.
Then she made one mistake.
She told her husband.
Vincent's father found out.
And that was why the whole family had been targeted.
The wife pulled a folded paper from her purse.
“I found this inside Adrian's old office.”
I opened it.
It was a list of names.
Doctors.
Scientists.
Politicians.
And one name at the bottom.
DR. SARAH JENKINS.
My blood went cold.
“Why am I on this?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Vincent looked at me.
“I do.”
I waited.
“My father had a file on you.”
“What file?”
“He studied your family.”
I felt dizzy.
“My family has nothing to do with yours.”
May you like
Vincent stared at the paper.
“Apparently, you're wrong.”
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