Chapter 14 - THE NIGHT MATEO DISAPPEARED|
Sofia was halfway through a conversation with Eleanor when her phone rang.
It was Mateo’s nurse.
“Your brother has been moved from his room,” she said. “Someone presented a transfer authorization, but we can’t verify who signed it.”
Sofia stood so quickly that her chair scraped across the floor.
“What do you mean, moved?”
“We’re checking the records now. His room is empty.”
Sofia felt the room tilt.
“Find him. Please.”
She called the hospital’s security desk, then emergency services. Lena arrived within minutes and began coordinating with the authorities.
Dante heard the commotion from his office.
“What happened?”
“Mateo is missing.”
His expression changed instantly.
“Who took him?”
“We don’t know.”
Dante reached for his phone.
“I’ll send people to every private clinic in the city.”
“No,” Sofia said sharply. “Call the police. Give them the information they need. Don’t turn this into a hunt.”
He stopped.
For one terrible second, she thought he would ignore her.
Then he made the call.
The hospital’s security footage showed a man wearing a medical uniform entering Mateo’s room with a clipboard. He had presented paperwork bearing a forged signature and told the nurse that Mateo was being transferred for an urgent specialist consultation.
The nurse had been distracted by another patient. By the time she realized the transfer had not been approved, the man and Mateo were gone.
Lena obtained a description of the vehicle from the hospital’s exterior cameras. The license plate had been stolen.
An hour later, Sofia received a message from an unknown number.
Stop helping Ferrara. Stop asking about the dock. Your brother goes home when you do.
Attached was a photograph of Mateo sitting in the back of a van, frightened but conscious.
Sofia’s hands began to shake.
Dante read the message over her shoulder.
His face became frighteningly calm.
“They want the evidence.”
“They want me to abandon the investigation.”
“They may want both.”
Sofia turned toward him.
“Do you have any idea how it feels to know someone can reach my brother because of your family?”
“Yes,” Dante said. “And I will not pretend I understand it as well as you do.”
His answer surprised her.
He continued, “I can help the police identify the vehicle and locate the people involved. I will not send anyone to hurt them. You have my word.”
Sofia searched his face.
“Your word isn’t enough if you decide you know better.”
“Then stay with Lena. Hear every update. Make every decision you can safely make. I won’t shut you out.”
The police traced the stolen plate to a vehicle abandoned near a warehouse in Queens. Inside, they found a disposable phone and a piece of hospital paperwork with Mateo’s name.
A second message arrived.
Bring the original ledger to Pier 41 at midnight. Come alone.
Sofia’s first reaction was to go.
Dante refused to let her walk into an obvious trap, but he did not order her to stay home. Instead, he arranged a meeting with the lead detective and the emergency response team. The police would handle the operation; Dante’s security personnel would provide records and identify possible associates, under the investigators’ direction.
Sofia insisted on participating in the planning because the kidnappers had contacted her directly.
She knew the way frightened people thought. She knew they might expect her to panic, disobey instructions, or arrive carrying the evidence.
They developed a plan that did not require her to enter the warehouse alone.
At eleven forty-five, Sofia sat inside an unmarked vehicle with Lena and two detectives. Dante waited in another car several streets away, following the police commander’s instructions.
At midnight, a light appeared inside the warehouse.
Then the phone rang.
A man’s voice spoke.
“Are you alone?”
Sofia steadied her breathing.
“No.”
The man swore.
She continued, “You wanted the ledger. You wanted me frightened. But you made one mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“You assumed my brother was the only person who mattered to me.”
She heard movement on the other end.
Then a second voice shouted.
“Police! Don’t move!”
The line went dead.
Sofia closed her eyes, praying that the operation had reached Mateo in time.
Minutes later, a detective opened the car door.
“We found him.”
Sofia rushed toward the ambulance.
Mateo was shaken, dehydrated, and furious, but alive.
He grabbed her hand.
“You came.”
“Of course I came.”
Dante stood several feet away, his face pale with relief.
Sofia looked at him over Mateo’s shoulder.
For once, neither of them tried to hide what the night had cost them.
The kidnappers had been caught, and the police had recovered the disposable phone.
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But the man who had arranged the abduction had escaped.
His name, according to the first suspect interviewed, was Salvatore Ferrara.
