Chapter 7 - THE GRANDFATHER WHO SOLD A LIE
“Find my father.”
Luca's voice was dangerously quiet.
Detective Donovan looked at the drawing.
“We need to determine whether Sofia wrote this recently.”
Marco examined the paper.
“The handwriting matches her note from the medical center.”
Luca stared at the gray-haired figure.
His father had spent six years telling him Sofia was gone.
He had offered rewards.
Paid investigators.
Attended memorial services.
And watched his son slowly lose hope.
Now Sofia's drawing suggested Vittorio had been visiting her.
Perhaps recently.
Perhaps all along.
“Where is he?” Luca demanded.
Donovan checked her radio.
“He was escorted from the family estate thirty minutes ago. Our officers are taking him to an interview location.”
“Then I want to see him.”
“Not until we've established whether contact could compromise the search.”
Luca turned away.
He was accustomed to giving orders.
But no amount of power could change the fact that the police were now responsible for an investigation involving children.
Emma watched his shoulders tighten.
“Mr. Moretti.”
He turned.
“Please don't let your father become more important than finding Mia and Sofia.”
Luca stared at her.
Then his expression softened.
“You're right.”
Emma swallowed.
“I understand wanting answers. But the girls are still out there.”
He nodded.
“Then we keep searching.”
Marco returned to the abandoned ambulance report.
The vehicle had been left outside an old agricultural supply warehouse.
A security camera at a neighboring property showed a dark green station wagon pulling alongside it.
Three people transferred into the station wagon.
Two appeared to be children.
The third was an older woman.
Rachel.
But the driver remained hidden.
Donovan requested the vehicle's route.
Meanwhile, a pediatric specialist examined the empty medication container.
It belonged to a drug used to manage neurological symptoms.
Emma recognized the label.
“Mia's medication.”
The doctor looked concerned.
“Someone appears to have obtained the correct prescription.”
Emma looked confused.
“How?”
Vanessa spoke quietly.
“Rachel has access to Mia's treatment records.”
Emma turned on her.
“You knew that?”
“I knew Rachel worked with the neurological program.”
“You let my daughter go there?”
“Emma, I didn't know Rachel planned to take Mia.”
Emma's voice rose.
“But you knew who Sophie was.”
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
“Yes.”
“And you watched Mia become friends with her while keeping me in the dark.”
“I was trying to protect Sofia.”
“What about protecting my child?”
Vanessa had no answer.
Luca stepped between them.
“Vanessa, you're going to tell Detective Donovan everything you know. Not what you think makes you look innocent. Everything.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“And after that?”
“We'll deal with us after the girls are safe.”
Her face crumpled.
But she nodded.
In a separate interview room, Vanessa began describing her father's private medical foundation.
Anthony Bellini had established it years earlier to finance treatment for vulnerable children.
At first, the organization had helped families who couldn't afford specialized care.
But over time, its administration changed.
Children were transferred between facilities.
Medical guardianship arrangements became difficult to trace.
Financial records were concealed behind nonprofit partnerships.
Vanessa had discovered inconsistencies while preparing a charitable donation connected to her wedding.
One account repeatedly paid for a girl named Sophie Hart.
The girl had the same birthday as Sofia Moretti.
Vanessa investigated.
And eventually found Rachel.
“She told me Sofia was alive,” Vanessa said. “But she believed Luca was dangerous.”
“Did you correct her?” Donovan asked.
“Yes. She didn't believe me.”
“Why not?”
“Because she had documents showing Luca ordered Isabella's hospitalization.”
Luca stared.
“I signed the insurance authorization. Isabella needed emergency treatment.”
Vanessa nodded.
“I know that now.”
Donovan leaned forward.
“Did your father alter the documents?”
“I believe so.”
“Do you have proof?”
Vanessa reached into her purse.
From a hidden compartment, she removed a small flash drive.
“My father kept copies of the financial records. I copied them.”
Luca looked at her.
“You've had that the entire time?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you give it to me?”
Vanessa's eyes filled.
“Because I was afraid you'd kill him before we could find Sofia.”
Silence followed.
Luca wanted to deny it.
But he couldn't honestly say he had never imagined hurting the people responsible.
Donovan took the flash drive.
“We'll examine it.”
Then Marco entered.
“Boss, the station wagon stopped at a private roadside chapel.”
Luca frowned.
“A chapel?”
“Yes. St. Agnes. It was built on property that once belonged to the Moretti family.”
Luca remembered the place.
His mother had gone there every Sunday when he was a boy.
After she died, Vittorio had donated money to maintain it.
“Why would Rachel take the girls there?”
Emma spoke.
“Maybe it's somewhere Sofia feels safe.”
Luca looked at her.
Emma continued.
“Mia goes to the same library whenever she's frightened. She says it smells like home. Children remember places differently from adults.”
Donovan nodded.
“We have officers moving toward the chapel.”
The drive took less than half an hour.
Luca rode beside Emma.
Her ankle rested on a cushion.
Neither spoke much.
Finally, Luca looked at her.
“Your daughter helped Sofia begin questioning the lies.”
Emma nodded.
“Mia likes making friends.”
“She may have saved my daughter's life.”
Emma shook her head.
“They saved each other.”
When they arrived, the chapel doors stood open.
An elderly priest waited beside the entrance.
Father Daniel had known Luca since childhood.
He looked surprised to see him.
“Luca.”
“Father, did two girls come here?”
The priest nodded.
“Yes.”
Emma leaned forward.
“Where are they?”
“They were here with Rachel Bennett.”
“Were they hurt?”
“The younger girl was frightened. The older one kept holding her hand.”
Emma began crying with relief.
“Where did they go?”
The priest looked toward the sanctuary.
“Rachel said someone was coming to take them home.”
Luca frowned.
“Who?”
The priest hesitated.
“Your father.”
Luca felt his stomach drop.
Donovan immediately asked when Vittorio had arrived.
“About twenty minutes ago,” the priest answered.
“He wasn't supposed to be here,” Marco said.
Donovan checked her radio.
The officers assigned to escort Vittorio reported that he had asked to stop for medical assistance.
During the stop, he had left through a service exit.
An accomplice had been waiting.
Luca stared at the priest.
“Did he take the girls?”
Father Daniel shook his head.
“No. Rachel wouldn't let him.”
“Then where are they?”
The priest reached inside his robe.
He removed a small silver pocket watch.
Luca recognized it.
His grandfather's watch.
Vittorio had carried it for more than forty years.
“The older girl gave me this,” the priest said.
“She told me to give it to her father.”
Luca took the watch.
The back had been opened.
Inside was a folded scrap of paper.
He carefully removed it.
Sofia had written one sentence.
DADDY, GRANDPA KNOWS WHERE MOMMY'S BLUE BOOK IS.
Luca stared at the message.
Then Father Daniel spoke again.
“There's something else.”
He looked toward the empty pews.
“Rachel told me the girls weren't running from your father anymore.”
Luca frowned.
“What do you mean?”
May you like
The priest's voice lowered.
“She said they were going to make him tell the truth.”
