Chapter 3 - THE INHALER
By the following morning, the laboratory had confirmed that Lucas's inhaler had been tampered with.
The report was brief and cautious. The cartridge contained an unidentified contaminant that could have interfered with the medication. The doctor could not establish who had altered it or when.
Lucas read the report twice.
“Who had access?” he asked.
Daniel stood across the desk. “House staff, security, medical personnel, and anyone who entered your private rooms.”
“Names.”
Daniel placed a list on the desk.
Lucas scanned it. Victor Romano's name appeared near the top.
That did not surprise him. Victor had access to almost everything.
“What about the hallway cameras?”
“Someone disabled the camera outside the west corridor for eleven minutes.”
“When?”
“Seven minutes before you collapsed.”
Lucas leaned back. “Who disabled it?”
“We're checking the system logs.”
“Quietly.”
Daniel nodded.
A few minutes later, a smaller figure appeared at the doorway.
Lily.
She wore a yellow cardigan and held a drawing in both hands.
“Mr. Moretti?”
Lucas looked up. “Come in.”
She approached his desk.
“I made you something.”
He accepted the paper.
It showed a tall man lying on a blue floor, a little girl beside him, and a large pink cloud above them. The man had a smile made of three crooked lines.
“Is this me?”
“Yes.”
“And the pink cloud?”
“That's your breath coming back.”
Lucas stared at the picture.
“It's very good.”
Lily climbed into the chair opposite him.
“Are you better?”
“I am.”
“Do you still feel sick?”
“Not right now.”
She nodded seriously.
“My doctor says you have to use your own medicine. Not mine.”
Lucas raised an eyebrow. “Your doctor is right.”
Lily looked at the picture. “Can you keep it?”
He placed it beside the laboratory report. “I will.”
A moment later, Elena appeared.
“Lily, sweetheart, you were supposed to wait in the family room.”
“I did. Then I brought the picture.”
Elena apologized, but Lucas raised a hand.
“It's fine.”
He looked at Lily. “Would you like some breakfast?”
She glanced at her mother. “If Mommy says yes.”
Elena gave a reluctant nod.
Lucas pressed the desk phone. “Ask the kitchen to prepare breakfast for three.”
Elena looked alarmed. “Sir, that's not necessary.”
“I didn't ask whether it was necessary.”
For the first time, Lily smiled at him.
***
That afternoon, Daniel returned with the camera footage.
The west corridor camera was disabled from a terminal in the security office. The access card belonged to Victor.
Lucas watched the footage without moving.
Victor entered the corridor at 6:41.
He left at 6:47.
Lucas collapsed at 6:52.
“Did you confront him?” Lucas asked.
“No.”
“Good.”
Daniel placed another photograph on the desk.
It showed a small envelope beneath Victor's office door.
“We found this in the waste bin. It's a receipt from a private laboratory.”
Lucas looked at it.
The laboratory was in Queens. The payment had been made through a company that had no connection to the Moretti organization.
“Who owns the company?”
“An old associate of Victor's. A man named Peter Sloane.”
Lucas folded the paper.
“Find him.”
Daniel hesitated. “There is something else.”
“What?”
“The laboratory receipt is dated three days ago. But the envelope was delivered to the mansion yesterday morning.”
Lucas looked at him.
“Someone was planning this before I collapsed.”
“Yes, boss.”
Lucas's gaze moved to Lily's drawing.
A pink cloud. Three crooked lines.
A little girl who had heard him fall.
“Daniel, no one tells Victor what we found.”
“Understood.”
“And keep Elena and her daughter away from the security office.”
Daniel frowned. “Do you think they're in danger?”
“I think someone may have noticed that Lily was in the hallway.”
As if summoned by the thought, a guard appeared at the door.
“Boss, Victor Romano is asking to see you.”
Lucas folded the laboratory report.
“Tell him I'm resting.”
May you like
He looked at Daniel.
“Let's find out how long my brother has been trying to kill me.”
