Chapter 4 - The Child Who Was Erased from the Family
Roman read the sentence three times.
Roman is not the oldest child.
His father had always told him he was the firstborn son.
The heir.
The one expected to carry the Castellano name.
Daniel had been six years younger, the boy Roman had protected through school fights, thunderstorms, and their father's temper.
There had never been another child.
At least, not one Roman knew about.
“Where did your father get this?” he asked Claire.
She looked at the hospital identification card.
“I don't know.”
“Did he ever explain the message?”
“He tried once.”
Roman leaned forward.
“When?”
“Two weeks before his stroke.”
Claire swallowed.
“He was sitting at our kitchen table, looking at that card. He said he'd done something terrible a long time ago.”
“What terrible thing?”
“He said he'd helped someone disappear on paper.”
Roman felt a chill.
“Disappear?”
“He said a person could be alive and still have no legal identity if the wrong people controlled the records.”
Claire's eyes filled.
“I thought he was confused. He'd been having headaches for months.”
Roman looked toward Aaron.
“Find every connection between Sullivan and St. Agnes. Payroll, financial records, hospital closures. Everything.”
Aaron nodded.
Then Roman looked back at Claire.
“I'm going to find your father.”
She gripped the armrest.
“Please don't make promises because you feel guilty.”
The words surprised him.
Claire lowered her eyes.
“People make promises when they feel bad. Then they go home, and the people who need help are still waiting.”
Roman said nothing.
Because she was right.
Finally, he pulled a chair closer.
“Then I won't ask you to trust a promise. I'll show you what I do.”
Claire studied him.
For the first time, she didn't call him Mr. Castellano.
“Roman?”
“Yes?”
“If my father knew something about your family, maybe somebody hurt him because of it.”
Roman met her eyes.
“That possibility is why I'm not leaving you alone in this.”
An hour later, Aaron located an old employee directory from St. Agnes Hospital.
It listed Claire's father, Patrick Sullivan, as the chief financial controller.
The hospital had received millions through charitable foundations connected to Roman's father.
One organization appeared repeatedly.
The Eleanor Cross Children's Trust.
Roman stared at the name.
Eleanor.
The woman who had raised him.
Natalie's aunt.
He had spent decades believing she was Elena Castellano.
Why would his father create a charity using her real name?
Aaron opened another record.
“There's something else.”
A hospital payroll note referenced a woman named Elizabeth Mercer.
Roman looked up.
“Who is she?”
“An administrator. She was assigned to a private maternity program.”
“Still alive?”
Aaron nodded.
“She lives outside Erie. Seventy-three years old.”
Roman rubbed his forehead.
He was exhausted.
Every answer created another contradiction.
“Arrange a visit tomorrow.”
Aaron hesitated.
“Boss, Thomas Reed has been located.”
“Where?”
“At his home. He's been afraid to answer the door because someone threatened his wife.”
Roman looked at Claire.
Then at the bandage covering her wrist.
He was beginning to understand how the people behind this operated.
They didn't threaten their enemies directly.
They threatened the people their enemies loved.
“Get Thomas somewhere safe,” Roman ordered. “And keep him with his wife.”
Before leaving, Roman asked Claire a question.
“Did your father ever mention Daniel?”
She thought for a moment.
“Only once.”
Roman stopped.
“What did he say?”
“He asked whether your brother was a good man.”
Roman swallowed.
“What did you tell him?”
“I said I'd only met Daniel twice. But both times, he treated the staff like people.”
Roman looked away.
That sounded like Daniel.
“He was a good man,” Roman said quietly.
Claire watched him.
“Then maybe he was trying to help my father.”
Roman had spent six months mourning Daniel.
Now he was discovering that his brother's final weeks had been filled with secrets and fear.
Perhaps Daniel had been trying to warn him.
Perhaps Roman had missed every sign.
Back at the mansion, Natalie was waiting in the library.
She had changed out of her evening dress.
Without the expensive jewelry and perfect makeup, she looked younger.
More frightened.
Roman placed the hospital card on the table.
“Have you seen this woman?”
Natalie stared at the photograph.
“Yes.”
“Who is she?”
“My mother used to call her Anna.”
“Anna what?”
“I don't know.”
Roman studied her face.
“Did your mother ever tell you about Eleanor?”
Natalie nodded.
“She said Aunt Eleanor went away to protect someone.”
“Protect whom?”
“She never said.”
Roman leaned forward.
“Why did you agree to marry me?”
Natalie recoiled.
“Because I loved you.”
“Loved?”
She looked wounded.
“I still do.”
“Then why did you never tell me our families were connected?”
“Because the first time I recognized the photograph of your mother, I thought I was imagining things.”
“And after?”
Natalie's silence answered him.
Roman shook his head.
“You had three years.”
“I know.”
She wiped her face.
“At first, I wanted to tell you. Then Sophie got sick. And somebody began sending me things.”
“What things?”
“Pictures. Names. Old records.”
She opened a drawer and removed a small blue envelope.
“I kept one.”
Roman examined its contents.
A photograph of Sophie sitting in a hospital bed.
Beside her was a middle-aged man wearing a doctor's white coat.
On the back was a handwritten message.
If Roman learns who Sophie is, she'll lose everything.
Roman looked at the man's face.
He recognized him.
Dr. Calvin Price.
The physician who had signed Daniel's death certificate.
Roman's pulse quickened.
Price had examined Daniel's body after the boating accident.
Roman himself had thanked the man.
“Where is Price now?”
Natalie shook her head.
“He retired last month.”
Roman showed Aaron the photograph.
“Find him.”
Aaron studied it.
“Boss, there may be another problem.”
“What?”
“Dr. Price also treated Patrick Sullivan before his stroke.”
Roman felt the pieces shifting.
Patrick's stroke.
Daniel's death.
Sophie's condition.
All connected to the same physician.
Roman looked at Natalie.
“Tell me everything you know about Price.”
But before she could answer, Aaron's tablet displayed newly recovered security footage from six months earlier.
Daniel stood outside the archive.
He was arguing with Dr. Price.
The camera had no audio.
But Daniel's face was unmistakably furious.
Then Daniel pointed toward the staircase.
A woman stepped into view.
Roman leaned closer.
It was Claire.
Except Claire had sworn she had only entered the archive that morning.
Roman turned toward the hospital card in his hand.
And Aaron whispered something that made his blood run cold.
“Boss, the woman in that footage isn't Claire.”
May you like
He enlarged the image.
“She looks exactly like her.”
