Chapter 2 - The Man in Room 407

The clinic was twenty-three minutes away.

Marco drove.

Dr. Samuel Grant sat beside him.

I sat in the back.

Claire Hayes.

Maid.

Twenty-eight.

Vanessa followed in another car.

Her father followed too.

Marco had not invited either of them.

They came anyway.

The consent form rested on Marco’s lap.

Signed.

PATIENT: DANIEL RINALDI.

NEXT OF KIN: MARCO RINALDI.

Seventeen years.

One line.

Marco stared at it.

“He knew where I was.”

Dr. Grant nodded.

“Yes.”

“For all seventeen years?”

“Most of them.”

Marco’s jaw tightened.

“And he never called.”

“He tried.”

Marco looked at him.

“When?”

“Three times.”

Silence.

“The first?”

“When you turned twenty-one.”

“What happened?”

“Your uncle intercepted the message.”

“The second?”

“Five years ago.”

“And?”

“Robert stopped him.”

Marco looked toward the car behind us.

Vanessa’s father.

“Why?”

“Because Daniel threatened to expose the old accounts.”

Marco laughed quietly.

“Of course.”

“The third?”

Dr. Grant looked at him.

“Six months ago.”

Marco froze.

“The same time Vanessa found out.”

“Yes.”

“Did my father call me?”

“No.”

“He asked Robert to arrange it.”

“And Robert told Vanessa.”

“Yes.”

Marco looked at the road.

“Everyone became a gatekeeper.”

Dr. Grant did not disagree.

The clinic was private.

Glass.

Stone.

Silent hallways.

Too expensive to look sick.

Room 407.

Dr. Grant opened the door.

Daniel Rinaldi sat upright in bed.

Sixty-three.

Gray hair.

Thinner than Marco expected.

Scar near his collarbone.

Monitor beside him.

He looked at Marco.

Not at Grant.

Not at me.

Only Marco.

“Son.”

Marco stopped.

“You don’t get to start with that.”

Daniel nodded.

“Fair.”

Marco entered.

The X-ray hung on a light board.

The bullet was visible.

Small.

Bright.

Still there.

Marco stared at it.

“That thing has been inside you since I was seventeen.”

“Yes.”

“Because of my uncle.”

“Yes.”

“Because of Robert.”

Daniel looked toward the hallway.

“Partly.”

Marco’s expression changed.

“Partly?”

Daniel sighed.

“Robert helped move money.”

“He did not order the shooting.”

“Who did?”

Daniel looked at him.

“My brother.”

Marco nodded.

“I know.”

“No.”

Daniel shook his head.

“You know he pulled the trigger.”

Marco stared.

Daniel continued.

“You don’t know why.”

Dr. Grant closed the door.

Marco sat.

“Then tell me.”

Daniel looked at the ceiling.

“I found out your uncle had been moving money through three companies.”

“Family companies?”

“Yes.”

“Illegal?”

“Yes.”

“Whose names?”

Daniel looked at Marco.

“One of them was yours.”

Silence.

Marco froze.

“I was seventeen.”

“Yes.”

“He used my name?”

“Yes.”

“For what?”

“Shell ownership.”

“Transfers.”

“Accounts.”

Marco’s face hardened.

“So if he was caught—”

“It could point to you.”

Marco looked down.

“That’s why you disappeared.”

“Partly.”

“There it is again.”

Marco leaned forward.

“What else?”

Daniel looked at Dr. Grant.

Grant said nothing.

Daniel continued.

“I had proof your uncle wasn’t working alone.”

Marco looked toward the hallway again.

“Robert.”

“Yes.”

“And?”

Daniel hesitated.

Marco noticed.

“There was someone else.”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

Daniel closed his eyes.

“Vanessa’s mother.”

Silence.

Marco stared.

“Her mother died ten years ago.”

Daniel nodded.

“Yes.”

“What did she do?”

“She controlled the hospital charity network.”

Marco frowned.

“And?”

“She moved money through medical foundations.”

Dr. Grant looked away.

Marco noticed.

“You knew.”

Grant nodded.

“I knew some of it.”

Marco looked back at Daniel.

“Why does nobody ever know all of it?”

Daniel smiled sadly.

“Because that’s how everyone survived.”

Marco’s face went cold.

“No.”

“That’s how everyone hid.”

Daniel accepted it.

Marco stood.

“Did Vanessa know about her mother too?”

Daniel answered:

“No.”

A voice came from the doorway.

“I do now.”

Vanessa stood there.

Dark red gown.

No coat.

Eyes wet.

Robert behind her.

Marco stared.

Vanessa looked at her father.

“You said Mom died because of cancer.”

Robert closed his eyes.

“She did.”

Daniel whispered:

“After she tried to leave the scheme.”

Vanessa looked at him.

“What?”

Daniel continued.

“Your mother wanted out.”

“She kept records.”

“She planned to give them to me.”

Robert’s face changed.

Vanessa saw it.

“You knew.”

Robert whispered:

“Yes.”

“Did you stop her?”

“No.”

“Did my father?”

Robert shook his head.

Then Daniel said:

“Someone did.”

Marco’s eyes narrowed.

“Who?”

Daniel looked at Dr. Grant.

The old surgeon went pale.

Marco turned.

“Doctor?”

Grant took one step backward.

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Daniel spoke quietly.

“Samuel knows.”