Chapter 7 - THE BOY WHO INHERITED A CRIME
"They put my eleven-year-old son's name on a property trust?"
I stared at Nora Finch's computer.
She nodded grimly.
"According to this filing, Marcus is listed as the beneficiary."
I shook my head.
"That's impossible. He doesn't even have a bank account."
Detective Vega leaned forward.
"A child can be named as a trust beneficiary. That doesn't mean this arrangement is valid."
"But someone had to approve it."
Nora clicked another document.
"There's a purported parental authorization attached."
My signature appeared at the bottom.
Except it wasn't mine.
The letters were close.
The shape was familiar.
But whoever had copied it didn't know I always placed a small loop at the end of my last name.
I pointed at the screen.
"That's forged."
Detective Vega photographed the filing.
"We'll obtain the underlying records and compare the signatures."
Luca was silent.
Then he asked Nora, "What happens if the transfer goes through?"
"The building may become part of a complicated chain of ownership. Reversing it could take months."
"Who lives there?"
"Sixty-two households. Many are older tenants."
I looked at the building's address.
It was on the east side of the city, near the neighborhood where Thomas and I had lived when Marcus was born.
I knew that street.
I knew the brick apartment buildings with their narrow porches and window air conditioners.
Those weren't numbers on a financial statement.
They were people's homes.
Luca looked at Detective Vega.
"Tell me what you need to stop it."
"Evidence and lawful cooperation. The prosecutor can seek emergency relief while investigators contact the relevant financial institutions."
"Then you'll have both."
Nora studied him.
"Your father said something similar once."
Luca met her eyes.
"I intend to finish what he started."
By midafternoon, investigators had obtained the initial records needed to challenge the suspicious transfer.
An emergency request was being prepared to prevent the property from changing hands while the fraud allegations were examined.
But that didn't make me feel safe.
Carlo had known Marcus's birth date.
His address.
His school.
He'd already obtained a photograph of my child.
I couldn't stop imagining him standing outside our apartment.
Waiting.
Watching.
Detective Vega noticed my hands shaking.
"Delilah, your son is safe with Mrs. Alvarez and the officers assigned to his protection."
I nodded.
"I know."
"You're allowed to be frightened."
I looked at her.
"I'm angry."
"That, too."
I stared through the senior center window.
"My husband spent his life trying to give Marcus something better. He worked overtime. He saved money in a coffee can because he didn't trust himself not to spend it."
My voice broke.
"He wanted our boy to go to college."
Luca listened without interrupting.
"And now the people who killed him are using his son's name to steal from elderly tenants."
Nora reached across the desk and squeezed my hand.
"Then we make sure the boy gets something better than stolen money."
"What?"
"The truth about his father."
Back at the hospital, Luca received confirmation that Eleanor was responding well to treatment.
Her breathing had improved.
Doctors expected her to recover, though she would remain under observation.
When I entered her room, she held out her hand.
"Marcus?"
"He's safe."
She closed her eyes with relief.
"I was afraid."
"Did Carlo threaten him before?"
Eleanor hesitated.
"Vanessa showed me a photograph last week."
I went still.
"Of Marcus?"
She nodded.
"She said I should think about how frightened a little boy would be if his mother lost her job."
I felt my face grow hot.
"She threatened my son to keep you quiet?"
"She said she was trying to prevent something worse."
Luca stood at the foot of the bed.
"What could be worse than threatening a child?"
Eleanor looked toward him.
"Your death."
The room fell silent.
"Vanessa told me her father would destroy anyone who exposed him," Eleanor whispered. "She said he'd already killed two men."
Luca's eyes hardened.
"Did she believe him?"
"Yes."
"Then why was she still helping him?"
Eleanor shook her head.
"Because being afraid of a terrible man doesn't mean you stop wanting his approval."
I thought about that.
It didn't excuse Vanessa.
But it explained something I'd never understood.
She hadn't simply been jealous of Eleanor.
She had been terrified that the older woman would expose the life Vanessa had built around Luca.
That evening, Detective Vega returned with new information.
The clinic records indicated that Eleanor's sedative refills had been requested through an account associated with Carlo's medical company.
Investigators were also examining discrepancies in Giorgio's historical treatment records.
But there was still a problem.
"The current evidence raises serious questions about the medication," Vega explained. "It doesn't yet establish exactly what caused Giorgio's death."
Luca folded his arms.
"What about Thomas?"
"We're reviewing the crash investigation and seeking the records from the repair businesses involved. We can't assume the crash was staged solely because there was financial fraud."
I appreciated her caution.
But every careful sentence felt like another hour my husband remained officially forgotten.
"How much longer?" I asked.
Vega looked at me.
"I won't give you a promise I can't keep."
At least she was telling the truth.
Vanessa was questioned again that evening, this time with her attorney present.
She had not been charged in connection with Thomas's death.
But she was under investigation for her conduct at the pool and her possible involvement in Eleanor's medication.
When I saw her in the interview-room doorway, she looked smaller than she had at the engagement party.
The beautiful gown had been replaced by a plain gray sweater.
She looked toward me.
"Is the boy all right?"
I stopped.
"Don't say his name."
Vanessa nodded.
"I'm sorry."
"You're sorry because you got caught."
Her eyes filled.
"Some of it, yes."
The admission surprised me.
She continued.
"I wanted Luca. I wanted the life he could give me. I told myself my father would eventually stop interfering."
Luca stood behind me.
"Did you ever love me?"
Vanessa looked at him.
"Yes."
"Did you know your father was using you to gain control of my businesses?"
She swallowed.
"I suspected."
"And you stayed."
"Yes."
Luca turned away.
Vanessa began crying.
"My father made me believe that if I walked away, I'd lose everything."
I looked at her.
"You stood beside a pool and told people to watch an old woman drown."
Her tears stopped.
For a long moment, she said nothing.
Then she whispered, "I know what I did."
"Then start telling the whole truth."
She looked toward Detective Vega.
"I want to correct my statement."
Her attorney leaned forward.
Vanessa continued anyway.
"I knew the tablets made Eleanor weak. I didn't know exactly what they contained, but I knew they were affecting her."
Luca shut his eyes.
"And at the pool?"
"I thought she'd frighten everyone into believing she was in danger."
"She was in danger," I said.
Vanessa nodded.
"I know."
"Did you push her?"
"No. But I stopped people from helping. I wanted her humiliated and discredited."
I looked at her for a long time.
She wasn't asking to be forgiven.
For once, she seemed to understand forgiveness wasn't something she could demand.
Just before nine that evening, I returned to Eleanor's room.
Luca had gone downstairs to speak with investigators.
A hospital nurse was checking the monitors.
Eleanor was awake, looking at the little brass key on her bedside table.
"I should have told you about Thomas years ago," she whispered.
"You were frightened."
"That doesn't make it right."
I sat beside her.
"No. It doesn't."
She nodded, accepting the answer.
For several minutes, we sat quietly.
Then the door opened.
A man in dark-blue scrubs entered carrying a silver medical case.
His identification badge was turned backward.
"I'm here to prepare Mrs. Moretti for a medication adjustment," he said.
The nurse frowned.
"We don't have an order for that."
The man smiled.
"Dr. Mercer requested it."
I stood.
"Her physician hasn't mentioned any adjustment."
"It's a routine authorization."
The nurse stepped toward the computer.
"Then I'll verify it."
The man's smile disappeared.
He moved toward Eleanor's IV line.
I stepped between them.
"Don't touch her."
He reached into the case.
Inside was a syringe.
The nurse pressed the staff emergency button.
The man grabbed my arm.
For one terrible second, we struggled beside the bed.
Then hospital security rushed through the doorway.
The man tried to pull away.
The syringe struck the floor.
Eleanor began screaming.
Not because she was frightened of the needle.
Because she'd recognized his face.
"Luca!"
I caught her trembling hands.
"Mrs. Moretti, look at me. You're safe."
But she was staring at the man security had pinned against the wall.
Her voice shook.
"I know him."
I looked up.
"Who?"
May you like
She pointed at his face.
"THAT'S THE MAN WHO BROUGHT ME GIORGIO'S MEDICINE."
