Chapter 3 - The Secret in the Medical Records|
Damian did not return to the estate.
He went straight to his private investigator's office and placed Alessia's phone on the desk.
“Tell me who sent this.”
The investigator, Marcus Hale, studied the message and ran a preliminary examination of the device.
“The sender appears to have used an encrypted account linked to a disposable number.”
“Can you trace it?”
“Possibly. But there's something else.”
Marcus opened a file.
“Three weeks ago, someone accessed Mrs. Moretti's medical records using credentials assigned to a hospital administrator. The access originated from a remote computer registered to a medical consulting firm.”
“Who owns the firm?”
“A company called Northbridge Clinical Services.”
Damian recognized the name.
Northbridge handled medical coordination for several wealthy families in Chicago. It had also recently signed a contract with a private clinic owned by the Romano family.
Alessia's family.
“Freeze every payment we make to Northbridge,” he ordered.
Marcus looked up.
“That's a significant contract.”
“Then they'll have a significant incentive to explain themselves.”
Damian called Evelyn Carter and asked her to meet him privately.
She agreed, but only after confirming that Claire's medical information would not be accessed or distributed without proper authorization.
At the hospital, Evelyn showed him the documented record of the anonymous calls.
The first had occurred three weeks earlier.
The second had occurred ten days before Claire went into labor.
The caller had asked whether Claire's pregnancy was considered high risk and whether her obstetrician had recommended additional monitoring.
Evelyn had refused to answer.
But someone had accessed the records anyway.
“Was Claire in danger?” Damian asked.
Evelyn folded her arms.
“Pregnancy is unpredictable. Premature labor can happen without anyone doing anything wrong. I won't speculate about what caused your wife's labor without medical evidence.”
“Then tell me what you do know.”
“I know Claire was frightened. She asked whether her baby would be safe if she went into labor early.”
Damian's chest tightened.
“Why didn't she tell me?”
Evelyn's expression softened.
“Perhaps she didn't believe you would be available.”
He looked away.
Before leaving, Damian asked for the hospital's security records covering the day Claire delivered. He did not demand private information that the hospital could not lawfully release; instead, he asked that any suspicious activity be preserved for investigators.
Two hours later, Marcus called.
“We identified the woman who visited Claire's room before the delivery.”
“Alessia?”
“No. A woman employed by Northbridge. Her name is Vivian Shaw.”
“Where is she?”
“Missing.”
Damian slammed his palm against the desk.
“Find her.”
Marcus hesitated.
“There's another issue. Vivian's employment file lists a previous position with your family's charitable foundation.”
Damian went still.
His mother, Isabella Moretti, had managed the foundation for years before retiring from public life.
“Send me the file.”
When it arrived, Damian found a photograph of Vivian standing beside Isabella at a charity dinner.
On the back, someone had written a date.
Seven months earlier.
The month Damian had signed Claire's protection agreement.
The month Claire had told him she was afraid he was slipping away from her.
He called his mother.
She answered on the fourth ring.
“Damian, darling.”
“Who is Vivian Shaw?”
A pause.
“Why are you asking?”
“She accessed Claire's medical records.”
Isabella sighed.
“Your wife has been under considerable stress. I told you she needed someone sensible around her.”
“You told someone to monitor my wife's pregnancy?”
“I arranged for a professional to make sure she was receiving appropriate care.”
“Without her knowledge?”
“I was trying to protect my grandchild.”
The word grandchild nearly broke him.
“You don't get to call him that as if you cared about him.”
Silence.
Then Isabella's voice sharpened.
“Be careful, Damian. Grief is making you irrational.”
“No. Grief is making me see clearly.”
He ended the call.
For years, he had treated his mother's advice as wisdom. She had raised him after his father died, teaching him that the Moretti name survived because its members kept their weaknesses hidden.
She had also encouraged his relationship with Alessia, describing her as a woman who understood the demands of his world.
Claire, Isabella had once said, was too gentle for the life Damian had chosen.
Now Damian wondered whether his mother had been trying to remove Claire from that life entirely.
Marcus called again that evening.
“We found Vivian's car near a private marina. The vehicle was abandoned, but the security cameras show her boarding a boat two nights ago.”
“Where was the boat headed?”
“An island property owned by the Romano family.”
Damian closed his eyes.
“Alessia's family?”
“Yes.”
“And my mother?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Her foundation transferred money to Northbridge the same day Vivian disappeared.”
Damian stood motionless.
The evidence did not prove his mother had arranged Claire's premature labor. It did, however, establish a disturbing chain of contacts between the people who had monitored Claire, the woman who had been with him in Capri, and the family that had spent years encouraging his marriage to Alessia.
He needed the truth.
But first, he needed to find Claire.
He called Dante.
“Any word?”
“Nothing direct. But the hospital social worker says Claire left with a woman named Nora Ellis.”
“Who is she?”
“A former nurse. She worked at the hospital until last year.”
Damian's blood chilled.
“Find her.”
Dante paused.
“Boss, there's one more thing. Nora didn't simply help Claire leave.”
“What do you mean?”
“She had a legal document prepared before Gabriel was born. It gives Claire the right to relocate with the baby without your permission if certain conditions are met.”
Damian gripped the phone.
“What conditions?”
Dante read the clause aloud.
“Evidence of coercive control, credible threats, or a medical emergency requiring immediate separation from the household.”
The document had been prepared weeks earlier.
Claire had been planning an escape long before Gabriel died.
May you like
And Damian finally understood that the hospital had not been the beginning of her departure.
It had been the last place she could bear to wait for him.
