Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
The tape was twelve minutes long.
The firefighters would not let Kira near the building.
The hospital corridor felt endless.
Before they left the hospital, Kira returned to her mother's room.
Isabella reached for her hand.
"I wanted you to have a normal life."
Kira smiled through tears.
"You gave me a life. Normal was never promised."
Her mother laughed weakly.
"That's my girl."
Kira kissed her forehead.
Then she noticed the silver pendant around Isabella's neck.
It carried the same crest as Lorenzo's family.
"Mom, why did you keep this?"
"Because it reminded me that not everyone in that family was cruel."
Kira understood.
Lorenzo had not been the mistake.
He had been the exception.
Kira sat beside Ethan while Lorenzo spoke quietly with the investigators.
She noticed how people reacted to him.
Doctors stepped aside.
Security officers listened.
Even strangers seemed to sense that he was dangerous.
Yet when he returned, he carried a cup of hot chocolate for Ethan.
"You remembered."
"Ethan mentioned he likes it."
Ethan looked surprised.
"Thanks."
Lorenzo nodded.
Kira watched them.
For a moment, they looked like an ordinary family.
Then the elevator doors opened.
A nurse stepped out.
She looked directly at Lorenzo.
"Mr. Moretti?"
"Yes."
"I found something in your mother's records."
She handed him an old photograph.
Lorenzo stared.
His father stood outside the same clinic eleven years earlier.
Beside him was Isabella.
And beside Isabella was Kira's mother.
Kira felt dizzy.
"They knew each other."
"Apparently."
The nurse pointed to a date.
"Two days before the fire."
Lorenzo's expression changed.
"My father wasn't supposed to be there."
Kira looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because he was already dead."
They stared at the photograph.
Then Ethan noticed writing on the back.
He read it aloud.
"Ask the daughter."
Kira frowned.
"Which daughter?"
Lorenzo looked toward Isabella's room.
"Maybe she meant you."
Kira's stomach tightened.
Her mother had left clues.
Her mother had expected someone to survive.
And now every clue was leading them toward the same question.
What had happened to the Moretti family before everyone started lying?
She stood behind the barrier, watching the roof collapse.
Lorenzo came back from speaking with the fire captain.
"Someone started the fire from three different locations."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning they wanted the building destroyed quickly."
"To erase evidence."
"Yes."
Kira looked at the smoke.
"Did my mother know she was being watched?"
"Probably."
"How can you say that?"
"Because she left through the emergency exit before the fire reached her room."
Kira turned.
"Then why was she still trapped?"
"Someone locked the outside gate."
Her hands curled into fists.
"Someone wanted her alive."
Lorenzo nodded.
"That matters."
"Why?"
"Dead witnesses are simple. Living witnesses can be controlled."
A paramedic approached.
"She's asking for Kira."
Kira ran.
Inside the ambulance, Isabella was conscious but weak.
"Kira."
"I'm here."
"I need you to listen."
"I'm listening."
"Do not trust Adrian."
Kira frowned.
"Who is Adrian?"
Isabella looked toward Lorenzo.
He answered.
"My brother."
Kira stared at him.
"You never told me you had a brother."
"Because I thought he was dead."
Isabella closed her eyes.
"Adrian wasn't dead."
"Where was he?"
"Everywhere."
The answer made no sense.
Isabella continued.
"He changed names. He built contacts. He watched the family from a distance."
"Why?"
"Because he believed your father betrayed him."
Kira's father.
Another missing piece.
"Who is my father?"
Isabella looked at her.
"Someone I loved before I understood what he was."
Kira's voice softened.
"Did he hurt you?"
"He threatened you."
The answer was enough.
Kira sat back.
Lorenzo stood outside the ambulance doors.
Isabella watched him.
"Tell him."
"Tell me what?" Lorenzo asked.
"Your father wasn't murdered."
Lorenzo froze.
"What?"
"He disappeared."
"That's impossible."
"I saw him leave."
"When?"
"Two days before the funeral."
Lorenzo stared at her.
"Then whose body was buried?"
"No body."
He looked stunned.
"An empty coffin."
Isabella nodded.
"Walter convinced everyone the remains were destroyed."
Lorenzo's voice became dangerously quiet.
"Why would my father disappear?"
"Because he discovered the Crown."
Kira looked between them.
"Then all these years..."
"Were built on a lie," Isabella whispered.
Lorenzo listened without moving.
Kira sat across from him in a private office above one of his downtown restaurants, while Ethan remained beside the door with two security men.
The recording began with static.
Then their mother's voice.
"Lorenzo, if you're hearing this, then I couldn't get back to you."
Kira closed her eyes.
Her mother's voice was younger.
Stronger.
"I need you to believe one thing. I never betrayed you."
Lorenzo's hands tightened.
"I found the ledger. It proves Walter wasn't acting alone. Your uncle knew about the shipments. Your accountant knew about the payments. And someone in the police department was protecting them."
A pause.
"I was going to bring it to you."
The recording crackled.
"But Walter found out."
Kira covered her mouth.
Her mother continued.
"He told me he would kill my children."
The tape went silent for several seconds.
"I chose to disappear."
Kira's eyes filled.
Not because she blamed her mother.
Because suddenly every strange childhood memory made sense.
The unfamiliar apartments.
The fake surnames.
The rule about never answering questions about their father.
The way their mother used to freeze whenever a black car slowed near the house.
Lorenzo stared at the recorder.
"Why didn't she come back?"
Kira whispered, "Because she thought you were dead too."
He looked at her.
"What?"
"She told us our father died before Ethan was born."
Lorenzo shook his head.
"Your father wasn't the man you think he was."
Kira's stomach dropped.
"What does that mean?"
"Your mother married someone who worked for Walter."
Ethan stepped forward.
"Was he involved?"
Lorenzo looked at him.
"Yes."
Silence.
Ethan's face hardened.
"Did he hurt her?"
Lorenzo didn't answer immediately.
Then he said, "He tried."
Kira felt something inside her break.
Their father had always been a blank space in their family history.
Their mother had never spoken his name.
Now Kira understood why.
Lorenzo continued.
"Your mother escaped him. She took the ledger. She disappeared. Walter told everyone she died in a fire."
"But she didn't."
"No."
"Where is she now?"
Lorenzo looked at Kira.
"I don't know."
Kira stared.
"You said she was supposed to be dead."
"I believed she was."
"Then how can you help us?"
"I can start with the man who has been watching you."
The office door opened.
A young security officer entered.
"We found the SUV."
"And?"
"Abandoned two blocks away."
Lorenzo nodded.
"Anything inside?"
"A burner phone."
He placed it on the desk.
The phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Lorenzo answered.
A distorted voice said, "You should have let the girl keep walking."
Lorenzo's eyes went cold.
"You touched my family."
"They aren't your family."
Kira felt a chill.
The voice continued.
"They belong to the past."
Lorenzo leaned back.
"You have thirty seconds to tell me where Walter is."
A laugh.
"You still think Walter is the problem."
The call ended.
Kira looked at Lorenzo.
"What did he mean?"
Lorenzo stared at the dead phone.
"I don't know."
Ethan's phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
Then went pale.
Kira noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Show me."
He hesitated.
Lorenzo held out his hand.
Ethan gave him the phone.
There was a photograph.
Their mother.
Alive.
Standing outside a small clinic.
The timestamp was three days earlier.
Kira couldn't breathe.
"Where is that?"
Lorenzo enlarged the image.
"Indiana."
Kira stood.
"We're going."
"No."
"She's my mother."
"And someone wants you to go there."
"Then I'll go anyway."
Lorenzo looked at her for a long moment.
"You have no idea what you're walking into."
Kira's voice shook.
"Neither did she when she left us."
That silenced him.
Finally, Lorenzo stood.
"Fine."
Ethan looked between them.
"You're coming?"
Lorenzo nodded.
"I don't let people bait me twice."
The drive began before sunset.
Three vehicles left Chicago.
Lorenzo's SUV carried Kira, Ethan, and two guards.
For the first hour, nobody spoke.
Then Kira looked out the window.
"Why did you smile when I hugged you?"
Lorenzo glanced at her.
"What?"
"You said it was the best mistake I'd ever made."
A faint smile appeared.
"Because everyone in my life is afraid of me."
"And I wasn't."
"You were terrified."
"I was embarrassed."
"Exactly."
She laughed softly.
For the first time, the tension eased.
Then Lorenzo's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
"Stop the car."
The driver braked.
"What happened?" Kira asked.
Lorenzo looked at her.
"The clinic is on fire."
Kira's heart stopped.
"And my mother?"
"We don't know."
Lorenzo opened the door.
"Stay here."
Kira grabbed his sleeve.
"No."
He looked down at her hand.
She let go.
"I've spent eleven years being told my mother was dead."
Her voice broke.
"I'm not sitting in another car while someone decides whether I lose her again."
Lorenzo looked into her eyes.
Then nodded.
"Stay beside me."
They ran toward the smoke.
And somewhere across the road, a man lowered binoculars and smiled.
He had wanted Lorenzo to find Isabella.
May you like
Because the clinic was only the first trap.
The real target was Kira.
