Chapter 5 - THE SECOND MEDICAL FILE|
The threat changed everything.
Luca doubled security around the estate, assigned two guards to accompany me, and ordered Marco to investigate the number that had sent the photograph.
I hated the feeling of being watched.
But I hated the thought of someone hurting our baby even more.
The next morning, Dr. Sofia Bennett returned with the results of Luca's preliminary examination.
She asked us to sit.
“I reviewed the original records from your accident,” she began. “There are signs that your medical history was altered.”
Luca leaned forward.
“Can you prove it?”
“Not yet. But the records show that you underwent a procedure at Saint Gabriel that isn't mentioned in your later medical reports.”
“What procedure?”
Sofia hesitated.
“A reproductive surgery.”
I felt Luca's hand tighten around mine.
“What did they do?” he asked.
“The available notes are incomplete. But it appears the procedure was intended to preserve function after your injury.”
“Preserve?”
“Yes.”
“Then why was I told I was infertile?”
“That's what we need to determine.”
Luca stood and walked to the window.
“Find the surgeon.”
Sofia shook her head.
“The surgeon listed on the record was Dr. Adrian Vale. He died six years ago.”
“Everyone keeps telling me that.”
“There's another name.”
She placed a second document on the table.
A laboratory authorization form.
At the bottom was the signature of Dr. Thomas Hale, the Varenna family's longtime physician.
Luca stared at it.
“Thomas?”
“He was involved in reviewing your test results after the operation.”
Luca's expression became unreadable.
Thomas Hale had been more than a family doctor. He had attended Luca's childhood birthdays, treated his brothers, and helped Isabella during her final illness.
Luca had trusted him.
“Where is he?” Luca asked.
“Retired. He lives outside Boston.”
Marco was already moving toward the door.
“Bring him here,” Luca ordered.
“Alive and unharmed,” I added.
Luca looked at me.
“Of course.”
Two hours later, Marco returned alone.
“Dr. Hale isn't home.”
“Where is he?”
“His house was searched. Every medical file is gone. His car is still in the driveway.”
Luca's face hardened.
“Find him.”
That afternoon, I received a call from an unfamiliar number.
A woman's voice spoke before I could answer.
“Mrs. Varenna?”
“Who is this?”
“My name is Rachel Hale. I'm Thomas Hale's daughter.”
“Is your father safe?”
There was a long silence.
“No.”
My heart began racing.
“What happened?”
“He left me a message this morning. He said if anyone from the Varenna family came looking for him, I should give them something.”
“What?”
“An address.”
I wrote it down.
Then Rachel whispered, “He also said your husband was never infertile.”
I closed my eyes.
“Do you know what happened to him?”
“No. But I know my father has been afraid of Augusto Varenna for twelve years.”
“Why?”
Rachel's voice broke.
“Because he signed the report that ruined Luca's life.”
Before I could ask another question, she added one more thing.
“He said the truth isn't in Boston anymore. It's in a storage unit registered under your mother-in-law's maiden name.”
Then the call ended.
I told Luca everything.
He stared at the address for several seconds.
“Isabella's maiden name was Moretti.”
Marco checked the address.
It belonged to a storage facility near the harbor.
But when Luca and his men arrived, the unit was already open.
Inside stood an empty metal cabinet.
A single photograph lay on the floor.
It showed Isabella holding a newborn baby.
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On the back, someone had written:
LUCA WAS NOT THE FIRST CHILD THEY TRIED TO ERASE.
