Chapter 7 - THE THREE MONTHS NOBODY SPOKE ABOUT
“My mother lived with Anthony for three months?”
Matteo stared at Evelyn.
“Then she knew where he was.”
Evelyn nodded.
“And she came home without him.”
Matteo struggled to understand.
For fifteen years, Isabella had grieved as though she'd never seen her youngest son again.
But she had apparently spent three months living with him after his disappearance.
“Why would she leave him there?” he asked.
Evelyn's eyes filled.
“She believed staying would put you in danger.”
Matteo felt the words like a physical blow.
“Me?”
Evelyn reached for his hand.
“Richard told your mother that if she tried to bring Anthony home, he would accuse you of something terrible.”
Matteo frowned.
“I was sixteen.”
“Yes.”
“What could he accuse me of?”
Evelyn looked down.
“The night Anthony disappeared, one of Richard's employees was seriously injured.”
Matteo searched his memory.
He remembered police visiting the estate.
He remembered his father arguing with an investigator.
But those events had become tangled with the terror of losing Anthony.
“Who was injured?”
“A driver named Peter Wallace.”
Matteo stared.
He remembered Peter.
A quiet man who occasionally drove Richard to the mansion.
“What happened to him?”
“Someone struck him with a heavy object near the east service entrance. He survived, but he suffered permanent injuries.”
“And Richard blamed me?”
“He threatened to.”
Matteo shook his head.
“I wasn't there.”
“I know.”
“Then how could he?”
“Richard claimed he had photographs placing you nearby.”
Matteo remembered sneaking out to meet friends that evening.
He had returned through the east gate because he didn't want his father to catch him.
He'd never understood why his mother had questioned him so carefully afterward.
Now he did.
Richard had used an innocent teenager's secret to blackmail her.
“Mom believed him?”
“She believed Richard could manufacture enough evidence to destroy your life.”
Matteo sat back.
He wanted to be angry with his mother.
Part of him was.
But another part remembered how powerful Richard had been.
He had controlled judges, police officials, and business associates.
Isabella had been trapped between two sons.
And Richard had convinced her that saving one meant abandoning the other.
“Why didn't she tell Dad?”
“She tried. But your father was hiding something too.”
Matteo looked toward the pocket watch.
The silver case reflected the lamplight.
“What was Dad hiding?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“Money.”
“Richard's payments?”
“Yes. Lorenzo had discovered that Richard was moving foundation funds through false accounts. Your father helped establish the system years earlier, believing the money was supporting children's programs.”
Matteo frowned.
“Why would Dad approve payments he didn't understand?”
“Because Richard convinced him the arrangement protected the families' business interests and provided discreet help for troubled children.”
“But it didn't.”
“No.”
“What was the money really doing?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I don't know everything. Laura believed the foundation was being used to finance a private guardianship operation.”
Matteo went still.
“A guardianship operation?”
“Children were placed with adults who had powerful connections. Some arrangements were legitimate. Others weren't.”
Matteo stared at her.
Anthony hadn't merely been taken to protect Richard's reputation.
He may have been used to demonstrate that Richard could make a child disappear into a new identity.
The implications were horrifying.
“Did Dad know?”
“Not at first.”
“And when he found out?”
“He threatened to expose Richard.”
Matteo closed his eyes.
His father had died six years after Anthony disappeared.
Officially, Lorenzo Bellini had suffered a heart attack.
Matteo had never questioned it.
Now he wondered whether the pressure of what he'd discovered had contributed to his decline.
Before he could ask more, Sophie entered carrying a small jewelry box.
“Evelyn, I found this inside the coat pocket you showed me.”
Evelyn's eyes widened.
“Laura's necklace.”
Inside lay a silver pendant shaped like a small rose.
The chain was broken.
Sophie placed it in Matteo's hand.
“There's an engraving.”
He turned it over.
For Tony, always. L.M.
Matteo remembered Anthony wearing the pendant beneath his shirt.
Their mother had told him it was a gift from a family friend.
He'd never known it came from his birth mother.
Evelyn touched the broken chain.
“Laura gave it to him when he was ten. She wanted him to know someone loved him, even if he didn't understand why.”
Matteo stared at the necklace.
Laura had spent years fighting to reclaim a place in her son's life.
Richard had spent the same years teaching Anthony to fear her.
The difference between those two kinds of love suddenly seemed painfully clear.
At the edge of the room, Marco appeared.
“Sir, I've traced the old train ticket.”
Matteo stood.
“What did you find?”
“The house in Pittsburgh belonged to a woman named Margaret Ellis.”
“Who is she?”
“A retired nurse. She worked at a private pediatric clinic that received payments from the Bellini Foundation.”
Matteo frowned.
“Is she still alive?”
“Yes. Eighty-two. Living with her daughter near Harrisburg.”
“Can we speak to her?”
“She agreed. But she insisted Evelyn come with us.”
Evelyn looked startled.
“Why?”
Marco hesitated.
“Because she says Evelyn knows what happened to Anthony during those three months.”
Matteo turned toward the elderly housekeeper.
“Is that true?”
Evelyn began trembling.
“I know some of it.”
“Then why haven't you told me?”
“Because your mother made me promise.”
Matteo looked at her.
“Evelyn, that promise has kept my brother away from us for fifteen years.”
Tears ran down her cheeks.
“I know.”
“Then help me bring him home.”
Evelyn lowered her head.
After a long silence, she nodded.
The next morning, Matteo, Sophie, Evelyn, and Marco drove to Harrisburg.
Margaret Ellis welcomed them into a modest home filled with family photographs.
Her hands shook as she poured tea.
When Matteo showed her Daniel's drawing, she began crying.
“That poor boy,” she whispered.
“You remember him?”
“Every day.”
Matteo leaned forward.
“What happened in Pittsburgh?”
Margaret looked toward Evelyn.
“Did you tell him about the medicine?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Matteo felt the room grow cold.
“What medicine?”
Margaret spoke carefully.
“Anthony was given sedatives that interfered with his memory. Not every day, but often enough that he became confused.”
Matteo gripped the arms of his chair.
“Who ordered that?”
“Richard's private physician.”
“Did my mother know?”
“She discovered it. That's why she came.”
Matteo swallowed.
“Then why didn't she take him home?”
Margaret began crying harder.
“Because Anthony was already afraid of her.”
Matteo stared.
Margaret continued.
“Richard told him Isabella had abandoned him. When she tried to explain, the boy panicked.”
Evelyn covered her mouth.
“And Laura?” Matteo asked.
Margaret's expression changed.
“Laura tried to intervene. She was taken away.”
“By whom?”
“I never saw who drove her.”
Matteo looked toward the broken necklace.
“Did Anthony ever recover enough to remember his family?”
Margaret nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
Matteo leaned forward.
“When?”
“On the night Isabella left.”
“What happened?”
Margaret looked at him with unmistakable sorrow.
“Anthony remembered you.”
Matteo could barely breathe.
“What did he say?”
“He asked his mother to bring you.”
Matteo closed his eyes.
Margaret reached into a drawer.
She removed an old cassette tape.
“Isabella made this recording because she was afraid Anthony would forget again.”
Matteo stared at the cassette.
Margaret placed it in his hand.
On its yellowing label were two handwritten words.
For Matteo.
They found a player in Margaret's storage cabinet.
Matteo inserted the tape.
Static filled the room.
Then a little boy's voice emerged.
“Mom?”
Matteo's heart stopped.
It was Anthony.
Eleven years old.
Exactly as Matteo remembered him.
“Mom, when Matteo comes, tell him I'm sorry I broke his watch.”
A woman's voice answered softly.
“He knows you didn't mean to.”
Anthony sniffled.
“Is he mad at me?”
“No, sweetheart.”
A pause.
May you like
Then Anthony whispered something that made Matteo go completely still.
“Mom, don't let Richard take the other kids. He said I'm supposed to help him choose.”
