Chapter 2 - The Fourth Doctor
Adrian called Dr. Nathan Cole at 3:31.
Cole was not a Moretti physician.
That was precisely why Mara chose him.
“You trust him?” Adrian asked.
“No.”
Adrian stared.
Mara folded her arms.
“I trust that he has no connection to your family.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“It’s better right now.”
Adrian hated that she was correct.
Cole arrived forty minutes later wearing jeans beneath his winter coat and carrying a medical bag.
Adrian’s security searched him.
Twice.
Cole tolerated it with visible annoyance.
“I’m a pediatrician, not an assassin.”
“In this house,” Adrian replied, “the distinction occasionally requires confirmation.”
Cole looked at Mara.
“Is he always like this?”
“Yes.”
Adrian frowned.
“You’ve known me four hours.”
“Long enough.”
Cole examined Leo.
He looked at the baby’s skin.
Breathing.
Throat.
Temperature.
Nothing alarming.
Then he asked for the pajamas Leo had worn earlier.
Mara handed them over.
Cole smelled the collar.
“What detergent?”
Adrian looked toward the housekeeper summoned from downstairs.
“Mrs. Vale?”
The housekeeper shook her head.
“We use the nursery formula provided by Mrs. Moretti.”
Adrian frowned.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“When did that start?”
“After Mrs. Sofia passed.”
Mara and Adrian exchanged a look.
Cole did not declare a conclusion.
Instead he bagged fabric samples.
“I want testing.”
“For what?” Adrian asked.
“Anything that shouldn't be there.”
Adrian’s voice hardened.
“Be specific.”
“I won’t speculate in front of a parent at four in the morning.”
“I dislike doctors who hide behind caution.”
“And I dislike powerful men who think confidence improves science.”
Mara coughed to conceal a laugh.
Adrian glanced at her.
She looked innocent.
Cole continued examining Leo.
“When did the crying begin?”
“After Sofia died.”
“Immediately?”
Adrian hesitated.
“No.”
“When?”
“Maybe two weeks later.”
“Any staff changes?”
Adrian turned toward Victor Salerno, his chief of security.
Victor had entered silently.
“Pull everything.”
“Yes.”
Mara looked at Victor.
Something passed through her expression.
Victor noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Adrian saw it.
“Apparently everyone in my house enjoys that answer.”
Mara looked away.
After Cole left, Adrian moved the nursery into a guest suite.
Fresh linens came directly from sealed store packaging.
No household detergent.
No scented products.
Mara helped.
Leo slept almost four uninterrupted hours.
The longest stretch in months.
Adrian sat beside the crib watching him.
At 8:13, Evelyn Moretti entered.
She was sixty-seven.
Silver hair.
Black wool dress.
Pearls.
Always pearls.
She stopped when she saw Mara.
“Who is this?”
Adrian remained seated.
“The new nanny.”
“Agency sent her?”
“Yes.”
Evelyn looked closely.
Her face changed.
It happened quickly.
But Adrian had learned from Mara the importance of small reactions.
“Have we met?” Evelyn asked.
Mara replied calmly.
“No.”
Lie.
Adrian knew it instantly.
His mother did too.
Evelyn turned toward the crib.
“Why is Leo in here?”
“We changed rooms.”
“Why?”
“He slept.”
“That’s wonderful.”
“Four hours.”
Evelyn smiled.
Then saw the old bedding sealed inside evidence bags.
Her smile vanished.
“What is that?”
“Dr. Cole took samples.”
“Cole?”
“A pediatrician.”
“We already have Dr. Whitmore.”
“I wanted someone independent.”
Evelyn’s posture stiffened.
“Independent of whom?”
Adrian looked directly at her.
“Us.”
His mother stared.
“You’re behaving strangely.”
“My son has screamed every night for months.”
“Babies cry.”
“He stopped when we changed everything you selected for his nursery.”
Silence.
Evelyn looked at Mara.
And suddenly Adrian understood.
His mother was afraid of her.
Not suspicious.
Afraid.
“Mara,” Adrian said.
“Yes?”
“Have you met my mother?”
“No.”
Evelyn interrupted.
“Adrian, enough.”
He stood.
“When?”
Mara’s face paled.
“When what?”
“When did you meet Evelyn?”
“I didn’t.”
“Mara.”
His voice carried a warning.
She closed her eyes.
“Six years ago.”
Evelyn whispered:
“You little fool.”
The room froze.
Adrian looked between them.
“What?”
Evelyn’s composure vanished.
“You had no business coming here.”
Mara stepped closer to Leo.
“I had every reason.”
“You promised Sofia.”
“I promised to protect her child.”
“She’s dead.”
Mara’s eyes flashed.
“You don’t know that.”
Adrian felt his chest tighten.
“Mother.”
Evelyn ignored him.
“You think coming here helps her?”
“I think Leo deserves somebody who isn’t lying to him.”
“He’s an infant.”
“I wasn’t talking about Leo.”
That struck Adrian.
His mother turned toward him.
“This woman is dangerous.”
Mara laughed once.
“Of course.”
“What does that mean?” Adrian asked.
Evelyn’s voice became cold.
“Mara Ellis spent six months in prison.”
Adrian looked at her.
Mara did not deny it.
“For what?”
“Assault,” Evelyn said.
Mara’s jaw tightened.
“Against whom?”
Evelyn answered.
“Your father.”
Adrian went completely still.
Mara looked at him.
“Ask her why.”
Evelyn said, “She attacked him.”
Mara raised her voice for the first time.
“Because he was choking Sofia!”
Silence crashed into the room.
Adrian’s father, Vincent Moretti, had been feared across Chicago.
But Adrian had never heard that allegation.
Not once.
“Mara.”
She was crying again.
“I was nineteen.”
“My father knew Sofia?”
“Before you did.”
His stomach dropped.
“How?”
Mara looked toward Evelyn.
“Tell him.”
Evelyn remained silent.
“Tell him why Sofia changed her last name.”
Adrian’s pulse accelerated.
Sofia’s maiden name had been Russo.
At least officially.
Mara whispered:
“It wasn’t Russo.”
“What was it?”
“Ellis.”
Adrian stared.
“And your father knew exactly who she was because our father worked for him.”
“What did your father do?”
Mara swallowed.
“He kept Vincent Moretti’s books.”
Adrian looked at his mother.
“And?”
Evelyn sat slowly.
“Your father discovered he was stealing.”
Mara laughed bitterly.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“My father discovered Vincent was laundering money through a children’s charity.”
Adrian felt nauseated.
“He tried to expose him.”
“And?”
Mara looked at Evelyn.
“My father disappeared.”
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“How old was Sofia?”
“Twenty-two.”
“And you?”
“Nineteen.”
“What happened to you?”
“I confronted Vincent.”
“That’s the assault.”
“Yes.”
“He pressed charges?”
“No.”
Evelyn whispered:
“I did.”
Adrian turned.
His mother looked suddenly old.
“I thought keeping her locked away would stop Vincent from doing something worse.”
Mara stared.
“You saved me by putting me in prison?”
“I saved your life.”
“And Sofia?”
“I helped her disappear.”
The word hit differently now.
Adrian stared.
“Disappear where?”
“From Vincent.”
“But I met Sofia four years later.”
“Yes.”
“You knew who she was when I brought her home.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“You let me marry her.”
“Yes.”
“And never told me?”
“She begged me not to.”
Adrian stepped away.
Everything he believed about his marriage shifted.
Then Victor entered.
“Boss.”
Adrian turned sharply.
“What?”
“The laboratory called.”
Already?
“They expedited.”
“What did they find?”
Victor looked toward Evelyn.
Then Mara.
“Traces of an irritant on the nursery fabric.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Dangerous?”
“Dr. Cole says probably not life-threatening in the measured amount, but enough to potentially cause discomfort in a sensitive infant. He wants Leo assessed again.”
Adrian looked at his mother.
“Who supplied the detergent?”
Evelyn whispered:
“I did.”
Adrian’s face became stone.
Mara moved between them.
“Wait.”
Adrian looked at her.
“She may not have known.”
His voice was dangerously quiet.
“You were accusing her ten minutes ago.”
“I was accusing her of lying.”
“She supplied something hurting my child.”
“Maybe somebody altered it.”
Victor nodded.
“The container was unsealed.”
Adrian turned.
“Security footage.”
Victor looked uncomfortable.
“What?”
“The laundry-room camera has been offline for eleven weeks.”
Adrian stared.
“Who authorized that?”
Victor didn’t answer.
“Victor.”
His oldest friend looked him in the eye.
May you like
“I did.”
And for the second time that morning, Adrian wondered whether the person threatening his son had been standing beside him all along.
