Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Died TwiceBy sunrise, Dante Moretti had discovered that the dead woman in the photograph had left behind more questions than his entire security department could answer.
Emily Carter had been a registered nurse at St. Catherine's Medical Center.
Her employment records showed seven years of exceptional service.
Her final assignment involved a private medical research program financed through a Moretti charitable foundation.
The program had been administered by Adrian Moretti.
Dante's younger brother.
Adrian had always been charming, reckless, and ambitious.
He possessed the kind of smile that made people believe he was harmless.
Dante had spent most of his life protecting him from the consequences of his decisions.
Three years earlier, Adrian had supposedly died when his yacht exploded off the coast of Florida.
His remains had never been conclusively identified.
Dante had accepted the official explanation because the alternative was unbearable.
Now he wasn't certain what to believe.
“Find Daniel Carter,” he told Vincent.
“Bring him here?”
“No. Ask him to come voluntarily.”
Daniel arrived at the library twenty minutes later.
He looked exhausted.
His hands were rough from working outdoors, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes.
“Is Sophie in trouble?” he asked immediately.
“No.”
Dante gestured toward the chair opposite his desk.
“I want to talk about your wife.”
Daniel's face changed.
For several seconds, he didn't speak.
Then he said quietly, “My wife is dead.”
“Are you certain?”
Daniel stood so abruptly that the chair scraped against the floor.
“What kind of question is that?”
Dante placed the hospital record on the desk.
Daniel stared at it.
His expression shifted from anger to disbelief.
“Where did you get this?”
“Someone altered the records surrounding Emily's accident.”
Daniel picked up the document.
His hands trembled.
“She died five years ago.”
“Then explain the signature.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Emily worked on a confidential medical project. She started getting frightened. She said patient records were being changed, that people were being moved between facilities without proper authorization.”
“Did she mention Adrian?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Dante felt the answer like a physical blow.
“She told me Adrian Moretti was dangerous,” Daniel continued. “She said he was using the foundation to hide something.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Because your last name is Moretti.”
Silence filled the library.
Daniel looked toward the window.
“I took this job because Emily left a letter telling me to stay close to the estate. I thought she'd lost her mind. But it was the last instruction she gave me.”
Dante leaned forward.
“Where is that letter?”
“Hidden.”
“Daniel—”
“I have a daughter to protect.”
Before Dante could respond, a knock sounded at the door.
Vincent entered carrying a small evidence bag.
Inside was a folded note.
“This was found beneath Sophie's bedroom window.”
Dante opened it.
Four words had been printed in black ink.
STOP ASKING ABOUT EMILY.
Daniel went pale.
Dante rose.
“Your daughter is coming inside the main house. You'll both stay in the secured guest wing.”
“I don't want her near your business.”
“Neither do I.”
Dante looked directly at him.
“But someone has already brought her into it.”
That afternoon, Sophie moved into a guest room overlooking the gardens.
She was delighted by the enormous bed and the collection of old books.
Daniel was considerably less enthusiastic.
Dante instructed the household staff that Sophie was not to be left alone outside.
He also ordered an independent inspection of the security system.
By evening, technicians had discovered three more listening devices.
One beneath the staircase.
One inside a decorative clock.
One hidden behind a ventilation grille near the library.
The devices had been installed at different times.
Whoever was responsible had access to the estate.
More disturbing, the equipment had been connected to an encrypted network registered through a company that no longer existed.
The company had been dissolved three years earlier.
Its final director was Adrian Moretti.
Dante stared at the paperwork.
Then his phone rang.
The caller identification showed an unknown number.
He answered.
For several seconds, he heard only breathing.
Then a familiar voice spoke.
“Hello, big brother.”
Dante's blood turned cold.
“Adrian?”
A quiet laugh.
“You always were difficult to surprise.”
Dante gripped the phone.
“Where are you?”
“That's not important.”
“You let me bury you.”
“You buried an empty coffin.”
Dante stood motionless.
Adrian continued.
“I hear you've made a new friend. A little girl with a detective hat.”
Dante looked toward the guest wing.
“If you go near her—”
“Relax. I haven't hurt her.”
A pause.
“Yet.”
The call ended.
Dante immediately contacted Vincent.
“Lock down the property.”
“What's happened?”
“My brother is alive.”
Outside, Sophie sat on her bed examining her mother's old photograph.
She had noticed something that none of the adults had.
A reflection in the glass door behind Emily.
A woman's face.
And around that woman's neck hung a silver necklace shaped like a butterfly.
Sophie had seen that necklace before.
May you like
That very morning.
Around the neck of Marta, the Moretti family's longtime housekeeper.
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