Chapter 5 - The Brother Who Disappeared|
Nora ran.
She made it halfway down the corridor before Vincent called after her.
“Stop!”
She turned so quickly that her shoulder struck the wall.
“Daniel is missing.”
“I heard you.”
“You don’t understand. He can’t get far without his wheelchair, and he needs medication. If he’s been taken somewhere—”
“Rocco is already calling the facility.”
“I’m going there.”
“Not alone.”
“I don’t have time to argue with you.”
“Neither do I.”
Vincent wheeled toward the private elevator and pressed the control. Nora stared at him.
“You can’t come with me.”
“Watch me.”
“Your security team needs you here.”
“My security team needs to find your brother. Those are two different problems.”
The elevator doors opened.
Vincent entered first.
Nora followed, trembling with anger and fear.
By the time they reached the garage, Rocco had arranged two vehicles and contacted the facility director. Vincent insisted on riding in the first car with Nora, despite his driver’s concern about the transfer and the distance.
The drive took twenty-three minutes.
Nora spent every second calling Daniel’s phone. It went directly to voicemail.
“He hates hospitals,” she said, staring at the screen. “He always says he feels like everyone is talking over him. But he wouldn't leave without telling me.”
Vincent watched the city move past the window.
“Was he frightened after Peter approached him?”
“He pretended not to be. Daniel jokes when he’s scared.”
“So do you.”
Nora looked at him.
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“No,” Vincent admitted. “It isn’t.”
At the rehabilitation center, the director met them at the entrance. Her name was Mrs. Alvarez, and her face was pale.
“Mr. Bellori, I’m sorry. We thought he had gone for a scheduled evaluation. The paperwork appeared legitimate.”
“What paperwork?” Nora demanded.
Mrs. Alvarez handed her a clipboard.
A discharge authorization carried Daniel’s signature and a physician’s approval. The signature looked convincing until Nora examined it closely.
“That’s not his handwriting.”
The director looked stricken.
“We checked the identification of the person who collected him.”
“Who was it?” Vincent asked.
“A transport service. They said they were taking him to a specialist appointment.”
“Name?”
“Bellweather Medical Transport.”
Rocco, standing near the door, immediately took out his phone.
“I’ll verify the company.”
Nora’s hands shook as she stared at the false signature.
“Someone planned this.”
Vincent looked at the paperwork.
“Yes.”
“And they knew he was vulnerable.”
“Yes.”
She rounded on him.
“Then stop standing there and do something!”
The entire reception area fell silent.
Vincent didn’t retaliate. He didn’t threaten her job or remind her who he was.
He simply turned to Rocco.
“Find the vehicle. Contact every legitimate hospital within fifty miles. Get the facility’s security footage and preserve the original files.”
Rocco moved immediately.
Vincent then called a lawyer he trusted, instructing him to contact the police and report a suspected abduction. It was a dangerous decision for a man whose organization had spent years solving problems privately, but Daniel’s life mattered more than Vincent’s pride.
Nora watched him make the call.
“You’re involving the police?”
“Yes.”
“Even if they start asking questions about your business?”
Vincent met her eyes.
“If someone has taken your brother to silence him, we need every lawful resource available.”
She looked down, fighting tears.
A technician brought them the surveillance footage. On the screen, Daniel sat in his wheelchair beside the reception desk. A man wearing a dark coat approached and showed the receptionist a folder.
Daniel looked uncertain.
Then the man leaned close and said something that made Daniel’s expression change.
He followed the man outside.
Nora pressed a hand over her mouth.
Vincent watched the screen carefully.
The man’s face was obscured by a cap, but his build was familiar.
“Pause it,” Vincent said.
The technician froze the frame.
Vincent leaned forward.
“Zoom in on his left hand.”
The image sharpened enough to reveal a silver ring engraved with a small black wolf.
Vincent’s face went cold.
That ring belonged to Marcus Dane.
Rocco swore under his breath.
Nora looked from the screen to Vincent.
“Your underboss took my brother?”
“We don’t know if Marcus was physically there.”
“The ring is on his hand!”
“It could have been borrowed. It could be someone wearing a copy.”
“Stop defending him!”
Vincent fell silent.
Nora’s eyes filled with tears, but her voice remained steady.
“You told me you wanted to help. So help me. Don’t protect the man who might have done this just because he sits at your table.”
Vincent looked again at the frozen image.
For eleven years, Marcus had been his closest lieutenant. He had stood beside Vincent at funerals, negotiations, and the bedside of Vincent’s dying father.
If Marcus had betrayed him, the betrayal was deeper than business.
“Rocco,” Vincent said quietly, “find Marcus.”
“Alive?”
Vincent’s gaze remained on the screen.
“Bring him to me alive. I want him to explain why he put his hands on a man who couldn’t defend himself.”
Rocco left.
Nora stepped away from the monitor.
“If Daniel is hurt—”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t. You have no idea what it feels like to wait for someone you love and imagine every terrible thing that might be happening to them.”
Vincent absorbed the accusation without looking away.
“You’re right,” he said. “I don’t.”
It was the first time he had admitted ignorance without trying to disguise it as authority.
Nora wiped her face.
A moment later, Rocco called.
They had located the transport van.
It had been abandoned near an industrial road south of the city.
The rear doors were open.
Inside lay Daniel’s wheelchair cushion, his medication pouch, and a small white envelope.
Nora opened it with shaking hands.
A photograph slipped onto the floor.
It showed Daniel sitting in the van, frightened but alive.
On the back, a message had been written in black ink:
Tell Vincent Bellori to surrender control of his organization, or your brother disappears for good.
Vincent stared at the words.
May you like
For the first time since the shooting, the war had become personal in a way no business dispute could explain.
And the person being used as a weapon was the one person Nora could not afford to lose.
