Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN WHO CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD
Lucas reached Isabella before her head struck the floor.
“Bella. Look at me.”
Her skin was cold. A thin scar ran from her hairline to her cheek, disappearing beneath her collar. She opened her eyes, and for a moment neither of them spoke.
Then she touched his face.
“You’re alive,” she whispered.
Lucas let out a sound that was almost a laugh and almost a sob. “I could say the same.”
Elena called for the doctor while Marco secured the hallway. Lily stood frozen beside the piano, staring at the woman who had come back from a photograph.
“Are you the lady in the picture?” she asked.
Isabella managed a faint smile. “I am.”
“Your little boy is Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Lucas misses him.”
Isabella’s smile broke. “I know, sweetheart.”
Dr. Bennett arrived and examined her. Isabella was dehydrated, exhausted, and suffering from an infection. He wanted to take her to the hospital, but she gripped Lucas’s wrist.
“Not a public hospital. Victor has people everywhere.”
Lucas looked at Marco. “Bring the medical team here. No outside calls.”
When they were alone, Isabella told him what had happened.
The night of the fire, a driver had pulled her and Daniel from the nursery wing through an old service tunnel. The driver was Thomas Carter. He had been working security at the estate and had discovered that Victor was moving money through shell companies. Thomas had found evidence linking Victor to the warehouse ambush.
“He got us out,” Isabella said. “But Victor’s men followed. Thomas hid Daniel with a family he trusted. He took me in the opposite direction. They caught us near the river.”
Lucas’s hands tightened. “What did they do to you?”
“They wanted to know where Daniel was. I told them I didn’t know. Thomas had taken him before they reached us.”
“And Thomas?”
“He was killed that night. Victor made it look like a traffic accident later. His wife and daughter were given a small payment and told to keep quiet.”
“Elena,” Lucas said.
She nodded. Tears slid down her face. “Thomas never told me what he was involved in. After he died, I found a key and a note in his toolbox. It said that if anyone asked about a little harbor, I should find the Moretti piano.”
Lucas looked at the recorder. “You came here because of the note?”
“I came because I saw your name in the newspaper. I wanted to know whether you were still alive. I didn’t know Victor was still in the house.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
“Because he told me you had ordered the fire. He showed me a photograph of you standing outside the warehouse. He said you had chosen your empire over your family.”
Lucas’s face hardened. “He lied.”
“I know that now.”
Lily moved closer to Elena. “Did Mr. Lucas’s bad man hurt you?”
Isabella looked at the child. “Yes. But he doesn’t get to decide what happens next.”
A knock sounded at the door.
Marco entered with a tablet. “We recovered the footage from the old security server. There’s something you need to see.”
The video showed the mansion’s east corridor on the night of the fire. A guard opened a service door. Victor walked through, carrying a small metal case. Minutes later, smoke drifted beneath the nursery door.
Lucas watched without blinking.
“Can you identify the guard?” he asked.
Marco enlarged the image. The guard’s face appeared.
“Peter Voss,” Marco said. “He’s still on the payroll.”
Lucas looked toward the doorway. “Find him.”
Marco hesitated. “He’s in the east wing.”
A crash came from downstairs.
Then a voice shouted, “The girl! Get the girl!”
Lucas turned.
Lily was gone.
Elena screamed her name.
On the tablet, the footage continued. A second figure entered the corridor behind Victor. He wore a medical uniform and carried a small oxygen tank.
Lucas recognized him.
Dr. Bennett.
May you like
The same doctor who had treated him after the warehouse attack.
The same doctor who had just examined Isabella.
