Chapter 5 - The Woman with Red Gloves
The disposable phone received a call at two thirteen in the morning.
Daniel answered without speaking.
A woman whispered, “Mr. Moretti?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Elena Rossi. I was the nurse who brought the children to the lake.”
“Where is Claire?”
A long silence followed.
“I cannot tell you over the phone.”
“Then tell me where to meet you.”
“They are watching the roads.”
“Who?”
“Ethan has people at the clinics and train stations. Your mother has access to the security company.”
Daniel looked toward the sleeping twins.
“You left two barefoot children beside an abandoned building.”
“I had no choice. Ethan’s driver was behind us. Claire said you still walked near the old boathouse when you were troubled.”
Daniel had not known Claire remembered that.
“How did she know I was at the estate?”
“She saw your return announced on television.”
Daniel glanced at the dark window.
His family’s business network had reported his arrival for the foundation’s annual ceremony.
Claire had known he would be at the mansion for only two days.
She had taken the risk because there might not be another chance.
“Where are you?” Daniel asked.
“At the Church of Santa Lucia. Come alone before sunrise.”
“If this is a trap—”
“It may be. But not mine.”
The call ended.
Daniel informed Paolo and Sofia before leaving. He did not obey Elena’s instruction to come entirely alone. Paolo followed in another vehicle without headlights, remaining half a mile behind.
The Church of Santa Lucia stood in a small village south of the lake. Its stone bell tower was visible through the morning fog.
Daniel entered through a side door.
Elena waited near the altar.
She was in her forties, with tired eyes and red leather gloves. One glove was torn near the thumb.
“You came,” she said.
“You have three minutes to convince me not to call the police.”
“The local police chief attends your mother’s foundation dinners.”
“Then I will call someone outside the district.”
Elena nodded.
“That is what Claire wanted.”
She handed Daniel a small metal key.
“There is a clinic called Villa Serena near the Swiss border. Officially, it treats patients who need privacy. Unofficially, it hides people whose families pay enough to make them disappear.”
“Claire is there?”
“She was.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What do you mean?”
“Two nights ago, Ethan ordered her moved.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why did you leave the twins?”
“Because Claire woke after being heavily medicated for weeks. She heard Ethan discussing a transfer. She feared the children would be separated from her permanently.”
Daniel’s voice hardened.
“Why were children living in a clinic?”
“They were kept in a guest cottage. The staff were told Claire suffered from delusions and that the girls were under court protection.”
“Did you believe that?”
“At first.”
Elena removed one glove. Bruises circled her wrist, but Daniel did not ask how they happened.
“Claire was admitted under the name Clara Bell. The file said she had attempted to steal from a powerful family and had become dangerously obsessed with their son. But she never behaved irrationally. She asked for newspapers, legal assistance, and access to a telephone. Every request was denied by Ethan’s authorization.”
“How long was she there?”
“Almost four years.”
Daniel turned away.
The church candles blurred.
Four years.
While Daniel attended ceremonies and expanded the family empire, Claire had been kept behind a locked door.
“Why didn’t she escape?”
“She tried twice. After the second attempt, they threatened to take the twins to another country.”
“Margaret knew?”
“Elena,” a voice called from the church entrance.
Both of them turned.
Ethan stood in the doorway.
He was not alone.
Two men in dark coats entered behind him.
Ethan looked at Daniel.
“You continue to make poor decisions when Claire is involved.”
Daniel moved in front of Elena.
“You kept her imprisoned.”
“I protected this family from a woman who intended to destroy it.”
“You forged her letter.”
“My aunt wrote the words. I arranged the handwriting.”
Daniel’s hands curled into fists, but he remained still.
“Where is she?”
“She is ill.”
“Where?”
“You should focus on the children. They can be placed somewhere appropriate.”
“They are my daughters.”
“Perhaps.”
Ethan smiled without warmth.
“But Claire had relationships you knew nothing about.”
Daniel remembered the twins’ eyes, their dimples, the photograph, the ultrasound.
Ethan was trying to reopen an old wound because it had worked before.
It did not work now.
Daniel took out his phone.
“I recorded everything you just said.”
Ethan’s smile faded.
One of the men moved toward Daniel.
The church bell began ringing above them.
Paolo entered through a side aisle with two former military security officers.
The men beside Ethan stopped.
Daniel stepped forward.
“Tell me where Claire is.”
Ethan looked toward Elena.
“She betrayed an agreement.”
“She was never part of your family agreement,” Daniel said.
“No,” Ethan replied. “But her sister was.”
Daniel paused.
Claire had never spoken about a sister.
Ethan noticed his confusion.
“You still know almost nothing about the woman you are trying to save.”
He moved toward the doorway.
Paolo blocked him.
Daniel held up a hand.
“Let him leave.”
Paolo looked surprised.
Ethan gave Daniel a cautious glance.
Daniel continued.
“He will lead us to whoever he is protecting.”
Ethan walked out of the church.
Elena watched him disappear.
“You should not have let him go.”
Daniel looked at the metal key in his hand.
“I didn’t.”
Paolo showed Elena a tracking device attached beneath Ethan’s car earlier that evening.
A signal appeared on the screen.
May you like
Ethan was driving north.
Toward a property not listed under the Moretti name.
