Chapter 4 - THE DEAD WOMAN ON CAMERA
Lorenzo watched the footage seventeen times.
Nobody stopped him.
The woman appeared at 12:07 a.m. beside Victor Crane in the basement corridor.
Dark coat.
Hair partly hidden.
Face visible for less than three seconds.
But Lorenzo knew that face.
He had kissed it thousands of times.
He had watched it disappear beneath a white sheet eight months earlier.
“Elena.”
Maya stood several feet behind him.
She didn’t tell him he was wrong.
Marco did.
“That cannot be Elena.”
Lorenzo replayed the footage.
“It is.”
“Boss—”
“I know my wife.”
Marco fell silent.
Maya approached the screen.
“Can you enlarge it?”
Marco did.
The image pixelated.
Still, the resemblance was extraordinary.
Same eyes.
Same cheekbones.
Same mouth.
Maya studied Lorenzo.
“You saw her body?”
His gaze remained fixed on the screen.
“Yes.”
“You’re certain?”
His eyes moved to hers.
“What kind of question is that?”
“A necessary one.”
“I held her hand after she died.”
Maya waited.
Lorenzo looked back at the image.
“She died during surgery. Crane was there.”
That changed everything.
“Crane pronounced her dead?”
“Yes.”
“Who handled the body afterward?”
Lorenzo went still.
Marco answered.
“Private funeral arrangements. Closed casket.”
Maya looked between them.
“Why closed?”
Lorenzo’s voice was rough.
“Complications during surgery.”
A terrible possibility entered the room.
Maya did not say it.
Lorenzo did.
“If Elena survived…”
He couldn’t finish.
Maya understood.
If Elena had survived, then Lorenzo had buried someone else.
And if Elena was alive, why had she stayed away from her son for eight months?
Why was she helping the doctor who had been involved in poisoning him?
At 1:30 a.m., Nico was stabilized again.
The puncture had delivered the same compound found in his blood before.
The timing had been deliberate.
Someone had wanted them to keep believing the bottle was responsible.
That meant the poisoning method had changed after Maya discovered the compartment.
Their suspect knew they were investigating.
At dawn, Lorenzo summoned every member of the household staff to the main hall.
Maya expected shouting.
Instead, he was calm.
That frightened everyone more.
“No one leaves the property.”
A housekeeper raised her hand nervously.
“My children—”
“Arrangements will be made.”
Another employee protested.
Lorenzo’s gaze silenced him.
“Someone entered my son’s room and injected him with a substance that could have killed him. Until I know who helped them, nobody leaves.”
Maya stepped closer.
“People who have urgent family responsibilities should be allowed supervised calls.”
Lorenzo glanced at her.
Marco looked horrified that she was correcting him in front of forty employees.
Lorenzo considered it.
“Fine.”
Maya nodded.
That small exchange did not go unnoticed.
Especially by Isabella.
Later that morning, Maya found her in the kitchen.
“You have influence over my brother.”
“I told him people needed to call their families.”
“He listened.”
“He’s capable of listening.”
Isabella gave a bitter smile.
“You’ve known him one day.”
“And you’ve known him your whole life.”
“Exactly.”
Maya poured coffee.
“What are you trying to tell me?”
“That Lorenzo destroys anything he thinks threatens his family.”
“Someone is poisoning his son.”
“I’m aware.”
“Then maybe destruction is understandable.”
Isabella’s expression changed.
“You like him.”
Maya nearly laughed.
“I barely know him.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Maya set down the coffee.
“Your nephew is sick. Your family physician escaped through a secret passage with a woman who looks exactly like your dead sister-in-law. This seems like a strange time to discuss my personal life.”
Isabella’s smile disappeared.
“You think that woman was Elena?”
“I think we need to find out.”
“She’s dead.”
“You sound very certain.”
“I watched her die.”
Maya looked at her.
“You were in the operating room?”
Isabella froze.
Only for half a second.
But Maya saw it.
“No.”
“Then you didn’t watch her die.”
“I was at the hospital.”
“That’s different.”
Isabella stepped closer.
“You should be careful.”
There it was.
Not warmth.
Not grief.
A warning.
“About what?”
“About believing you understand this family.”
Maya held her gaze.
“I’m not trying to understand your family. I’m trying to keep Nico alive.”
Isabella walked away.
Maya waited until she disappeared.
Then she looked down.
Isabella had left her phone on the counter.
The screen lit up.
One incoming message.
No name.
Only a number.
Maya saw six words before the screen went dark.
YOU SHOULD HAVE STOPPED THE NURSE.
Maya’s pulse jumped.
She didn’t touch the phone.
Instead, she walked directly to Lorenzo’s study.
He was alone.
She closed the door.
“Your sister is communicating with someone.”
His face hardened.
“What did you see?”
Maya told him.
He stood.
“Where is she?”
“Wait.”
Again, that word.
Again, the dangerous look.
“You enjoy telling me that.”
“And you enjoy reacting before thinking.”
“I’ve survived twenty years because I react.”
“Your son needs you to investigate.”
That stopped him.
Maya stepped closer.
“If Isabella is involved, she may lead us to Crane.”
“And Elena.”
“Yes.”
Lorenzo looked away.
Maya lowered her voice.
“What was your marriage like?”
His eyes snapped back.
“That is none of your business.”
“It became my business when your dead wife appeared on a security camera beside the doctor poisoning your child.”
Silence.
Then Lorenzo walked toward the window.
“I loved her.”
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
He stared outside.
“We fought.”
“About?”
“My life.”
“The organization?”
“Yes.”
“She wanted you out?”
“She wanted Nico born somewhere else. Away from Chicago.”
“Did you agree?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because leaving isn’t as simple as people think.”
Maya understood enough about organized crime to believe him.
“Did Elena have family?”
“A sister.”
Maya’s attention sharpened.
“What?”
“Her twin.”
Every instinct in Maya screamed.
“Identical?”
Lorenzo turned.
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
His face darkened.
“Dead.”
Maya felt the chill crawl over her skin.
“How?”
“Car accident. Six years ago.”
“Did you see her body?”
Lorenzo said nothing.
Maya already had the answer.
That afternoon, Marco reopened records surrounding Elena’s twin sister, Adriana Rossi.
The accident report existed.
The death certificate existed.
But there was no autopsy.
No dental confirmation.
No DNA.
The body had been badly burned.
And the physician who signed the final identification paperwork had been a young emergency consultant working at the hospital at the time.
Victor Crane.
By evening, they understood one thing.
There were two dead women.
And Victor Crane had certified both deaths.
At 9:17 p.m., Isabella disappeared from the mansion.
She never passed a camera.
Never opened an exterior door.
Never triggered an alarm.
She simply vanished.
Marco searched her bedroom.
Inside her closet, behind a false panel, they found a staircase descending into an old tunnel beneath the estate.
Lorenzo stared into the darkness.
Maya stood beside him.
“You’re not coming,” he said.
“Yes, I am.”
“No.”
“If that tunnel leads to whoever poisoned Nico, I’m coming.”
“This isn’t a hospital.”
“And you’re not a doctor.”
He almost argued.
Then stopped.
“Stay behind me.”
They descended.
The tunnel ended beneath an abandoned greenhouse half a mile from the mansion.
Inside, they found Isabella’s coat.
A disposable phone.
A medical cooler.
And a photograph.
Lorenzo picked it up.
It showed Elena.
Pregnant.
Smiling.
Beside her stood Adriana.
On the back, someone had written a date.
Three weeks before Nico’s birth.
And beneath it:
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, DON’T TRUST ISABELLA.
Lorenzo read the sentence twice.
Then a gunshot shattered the greenhouse window.
Maya hit the floor.
Lorenzo pulled her behind a stone planter.
A second bullet struck the wall.
Marco’s men returned fire.
Outside, an engine roared.
The shooter escaped.
But something had been left behind.
A phone began ringing inside the medical cooler.
Lorenzo opened it.
The screen displayed a video call.
He answered.
Victor Crane appeared.
And beside him sat Isabella.
Her wrists were tied.
Blood ran down her forehead.
Crane smiled.
“You’re finally asking the right questions, Lorenzo.”
Then another figure stepped into view.
The woman from the security footage.
Elena’s face.
Elena’s voice.
But when she spoke, she said:
May you like
“My name is Adriana.”
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