Chapter 6 - THE FERRY TICKET
“Then where did the baby go?”
Hannah signed the question with trembling hands.
On the phone screen, her younger brother shook his head.
Mom won't tell me.
Luca moved closer.
“Ask him whether the man took anything.”
Hannah translated.
Daniel looked down.
The cedar trunk is open.
Hannah felt her stomach tighten.
Did Mom open it?
The man did.
Luca's expression hardened.
Richard Hale had been ordered to stay away from Lily.
Instead, he had gone to Hannah's family home.
And somehow, he'd reached it before Luca could protect them.
“Daniel,” Hannah signed, “lock the doors. Stay with Mom. I'm coming.”
Her brother nodded.
The call ended.
Luca was already speaking to Marcus.
“Have the driver bring the SUV around.”
Hannah reached for her coat.
“I can go myself.”
“No,” Luca answered. “Richard is involved in whatever happened to those children. If he's frightening your family to protect it, you're not going alone.”
Hannah looked toward Sofia.
The elderly woman had covered her face with one hand.
“Mrs. Moretti,” Hannah said gently, “why did you recognize that ticket?”
Sofia lowered her hand.
“Because I bought it.”
Luca turned.
“What?”
Sofia looked ashamed.
“Margaret came to me two days after the fire. She was frightened. She said Richard had taken her son and told her she would never see him again.”
Luca went still.
“His own child?”
“She believed Salvatore had ordered it.”
“Had he?”
“I don't know.”
Sofia drew a shaky breath.
“I arranged for Margaret to leave Boston. Clara was supposed to take Elizabeth's daughter to a woman Margaret trusted on Cape Cod.”
Hannah frowned.
“Why would Margaret's friend take Elizabeth's baby?”
“Because Margaret believed the child was in danger.”
“From whom?”
Sofia looked toward Luca.
“Your father.”
Luca said nothing.
For years, his father's name had carried an almost sacred weight within the family.
Salvatore Moretti had been feared in Boston.
He'd controlled men, money, and businesses through a mixture of loyalty and intimidation.
Luca had inherited that world.
He had spent years trying to move its wealth into legitimate shipping, construction, and real estate.
But he had never questioned the story of his own childhood.
Now every memory seemed uncertain.
“What did my father do to Elizabeth?” he asked.
Sofia closed her eyes.
“I don't know what happened between them after the fire. But Elizabeth wanted to leave him.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because Richard told her that leaving meant losing you.”
Luca stared at his grandmother.
Then he turned away.
Hannah watched him walk toward the window.
She had never seen him look so alone.
After a moment, she approached.
“Mr. Moretti?”
He glanced at her.
“I'm sorry your family was dragged into this.”
Hannah shook her head.
“Don't apologize for something somebody else chose to do.”
He looked at her.
“My grandmother brought you into the house without telling you why.”
“Yes.”
“You have every reason to walk away.”
Hannah glanced toward the family-room door.
Through the glass, Lily sat beside Sofia's empty wheelchair, reading a picture book.
“I didn't take this job because I wanted to be involved in your family's secrets,” Hannah said.
“I know.”
“I took it because I needed the money. Then I met Lily.”
Luca followed her gaze.
Hannah continued.
“Your daughter is smart, funny, and stubborn. She deserves a house where nobody makes her afraid to use her hands.”
Luca nodded slowly.
“She does.”
Hannah looked back at him.
“And my mother deserves to live without being threatened over something that happened before I was born.”
“Agreed.”
“Then let's find out what Richard wants.”
Forty minutes later, they reached the Bennett house.
It was a small white Cape Cod with blue shutters and a carefully maintained front garden.
Daniel opened the door before Hannah reached the porch.
He hugged his sister.
Then looked suspiciously at Luca.
Hannah introduced them in ASL.
This is Luca. Lily's father.
Daniel studied him.
Then signed:
The man in the expensive car?
Hannah almost smiled.
Yes.
Daniel folded his arms.
Is he helping?
Luca understood enough to answer slowly.
I'm trying.
Daniel considered that.
Then stepped aside.
Clara Bennett sat at the kitchen table.
She was fifty-nine, with tired brown eyes and a soft gray sweater.
An untouched cup of tea stood before her.
When she saw Luca, her face went white.
For several seconds, she simply stared.
Then she whispered:
“Salvatore.”
Luca stopped.
“My name is Luca.”
Clara pressed a hand to her mouth.
“Of course. I'm sorry.”
Hannah hurried to her.
“Mom, what happened?”
Clara looked at her daughter.
“Why did you bring him here?”
“Because Richard Hale came to our house.”
Clara closed her eyes.
“I told him I had nothing left.”
Luca pulled out a chair.
“Mrs. Bennett, what did he take?”
Clara looked toward the hallway.
“The blanket.”
Hannah frowned.
“The one in your trunk?”
Clara nodded.
“And a photograph.”
Luca felt his pulse quicken.
“What photograph?”
Clara looked at him.
“A picture of the child I carried out of St. Catherine's Hospital.”
Hannah sat beside her.
“Mom, why didn't you ever tell us about this?”
Clara looked ashamed.
“Because I was twenty years old, frightened, and surrounded by people who could ruin my life with a single telephone call.”
She reached for Hannah's hand.
“I thought silence would keep us safe.”
Luca leaned forward.
“Tell me about the little girl.”
Clara stared at him.
“She had a heart-shaped birthmark on her left shoulder.”
Hannah frowned.
“Mom…”
Clara continued.
“She wore the pink bracelet. Elizabeth Moretti's daughter.”
Luca looked at Hannah.
“And the ferry?”
Clara's eyes filled.
“I was supposed to take her to Cape Cod. But someone changed the plan.”
“Who?”
“Richard.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“What did he tell you?”
“That Margaret Whitmore had been arrested. That the baby wasn't safe. That I should take her to a church-run children's home outside Boston until arrangements could be made.”
“Did you?”
Clara shook her head.
“Not immediately.”
“Why?”
“Because the woman who came for the baby wasn't from a children's home.”
Luca leaned forward.
“Who was she?”
Clara stared at the kitchen table.
“Elizabeth Moretti.”
Silence filled the room.
Hannah looked confused.
“Elizabeth took her own daughter?”
Clara nodded.
“She arrived with a small suitcase and a gold necklace with a blue bird.”
Luca instinctively touched the necklace in his pocket.
“What happened next?”
Clara's voice trembled.
“She told me Richard had arranged for the little girl to disappear. She said her husband didn't know where the baby was.”
“Then why didn't she simply bring the baby home?” Luca asked.
Clara looked at him with pity.
“Because she was afraid Salvatore would choose his son over her daughter.”
Luca stared at her.
“Which son?”
Clara hesitated.
Then whispered:
“The boy he'd already decided would inherit the Moretti name.”
Luca felt his stomach drop.
Clara reached beneath her sweater and removed an old silver watch from a chain.
Its face was scratched.
The hands had stopped at 2:17.
“Elizabeth gave me this,” she said. “She told me that if anyone ever came asking, I should show them the engraving.”
Luca took the watch.
On the back were three letters.
E.M.L.
Beneath them:
FOR THE CHILD WHO STAYED.
Luca looked up.
“What does that mean?”
Clara shook her head.
“I never knew.”
Then she looked directly at him.
“But Elizabeth told me something that night, Mr. Moretti.”
“What?”
Clara's voice broke.
“She said, 'Tell Sofia I couldn't take both of them.'”
Luca stopped breathing.
“Both?”
Clara nodded.
“She wasn't talking about two babies born to different women.”
Hannah stared at her mother.
May you like
Clara finally spoke the words she'd kept buried for thirty-nine years.
“Elizabeth told me she'd given birth to twins.”
