Chapter 13 - THE DAUGHTER OF TWO WORLDS|
Nora spent the next hour trying to understand who she was.
Her grandmother was a Vescari. Her mother had been born into the family. Vittorio Vescari might have been her father.
And Dante, the man who had been watching over her since the birthday party, might be her half-brother.
The thought made her feel ill.
Dante sat across from her in a private hospital lounge, his hands clasped so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
“We need a DNA test,” he said.
“I know.”
“If Vittorio is your father, that changes everything.”
“Does it change what happened?”
“No.”
“Does it make my grandmother's suffering less real?”
“No.”
“Then perhaps we should stop pretending a test can repair any of this.”
He accepted the rebuke.
“I am not trying to erase what happened. I need to know the truth before we decide what to do next.”
Nora looked down at the photograph.
She had spent her childhood believing her father was a sailor who died before she was born. Her grandmother had told her that he loved the sea and had left no photographs behind.
Now she wondered whether the story had been another lie intended to keep her safe.
“What if Vittorio is my father?” she asked.
“Then you are not responsible for his choices.”
“What if you're my brother?”
Dante's expression softened.
“Then I will still help you uncover the truth. But I won't ask you to call me family until you decide what that means.”
Nora hadn't expected the answer to comfort her.
It did.
They arranged a confidential DNA test through an independent laboratory. While they waited, Marcus found a document that placed Vittorio in New York during the period Catherine had become pregnant.
The evidence was circumstantial, but it was enough to make the possibility real.
Then Salvatore sent another message.
A video showed Isabella sleeping in her hospital bed. The camera moved closer to her face, then turned toward the window.
A voice spoke in the old dialect.
“Bring the original ledger to the abandoned ferry terminal. Come alone. If you bring Dante, the old woman dies.”
Nora watched the video twice.
The man had used the wrong word for daughter.
It was the same mistake the caller had made at the harbor.
She looked at Dante.
“Salvatore isn't recording these messages himself.”
“Who is?”
“Someone who learned the dialect from books or recordings. Someone who wants us to believe they're from Sicily.”
Marcus checked the video's metadata.
The recording had been made inside the hospital.
The camera angle showed a reflection in the window.
A nurse's badge.
Nora zoomed in.
The badge belonged to a nurse who had worked in the hospital for only three weeks.
Her name was Elena Russo.
Marcus traced her employment records and discovered that she had worked at a shipping company before becoming a nurse.
The company was owned by Salvatore.
Dante rose.
“Find her.”
Marcus shook his head.
“She left the hospital an hour ago.”
“Where did she go?”
Marcus looked at the screen.
“She's on her way to the ferry terminal.”
Nora stood.
“Then we know where Salvatore wants us.”
Dante blocked the door.
“You are not going alone.”
“I didn't say I was.”
May you like
She looked at him steadily.
“I said we know where he wants us.”
