Chapter 12 - The Hospital List

The transplant audit widened fast.

Three hospitals suspended seven employees.

Gerald Pike disappeared.

Paul Castellano took administrative leave.

Richard issued a statement through his attorney denying “any intentional manipulation of patient data.”

Natasha read it once.

Then she stopped reading news about him.

Instead, she worked with Brooks.

Adrian’s access ledger contained timestamps, login IDs, score changes, and payment references. Richard’s credentials appeared thirty-two times.

Brooks pointed to one entry.

“Patient Sofia Marquez.”

Elena sat across the table.

Her hands were folded tightly.

Original score: 34.

Modified score: 22.

The note responsible had been entered from Richard’s account.

“Was he physically at the hospital?” Elena asked.

Brooks slid over a shift record.

“Yes.”

Elena stared at it.

Natasha said, “You don’t have to stay.”

“I do.”

“No.”

Elena looked at her.

“You can choose to stay. That is different.”

The words seemed to land.

Elena nodded.

“I choose to stay.”

Brooks continued.

A wealthy patient named Kenneth Vale moved above Sofia the same night.

Vale’s family foundation donated $2.4 million to Castellano Foundation three days later.

Matteo’s records showed $600,000 of that amount routed through a Rossi-controlled port company.

Elena closed her eyes.

“Did Vale know?”

“We don’t know yet.”

“Did he live?”

“Yes.”

“And Sofia died.”

“Yes.”

Elena stood and walked to the window.

No one followed.

After a while, she said, “I spent eleven years being angry at a system.”

Brooks waited.

“I thought systems were faceless. That made it bearable.”

Natasha understood.

A faceless system could not look you in the eye and choose someone else.

Richard could.

Brooks’s phone rang.

She listened.

“Where?”

Her expression changed.

“When?”

She hung up.

“Gerald Pike was found at a motel in Homestead.”

“Alive?” Natasha asked.

“Yes. Scared.”

“Talking?”

“He asked for counsel and federal protection.”

Elena turned.

“From whom?”

“Salvatore Rossi.”

Matteo arrived an hour later at Brooks’s request.

When she told him, he frowned.

“My father would not threaten Pike personally.”

Natasha said, “You still sound certain about him.”

Matteo looked at her.

“Fair.”

Brooks asked, “Who would he use?”

“Twenty years ago? Men I knew. Today? I don’t know.”

“Find out.”

“I will.”

Brooks placed a photo on the table.

Security footage from the motel.

A man leaving Pike’s room.

Matteo went still.

“You know him.”

“Yes.”

“Name.”

“Marco Bell.”

Brooks wrote it down.

“Relation?”

“Enzo Bell’s younger brother.”

The man Matteo had killed.

Natasha said, “Why would Enzo’s brother work for your father?”

“Because after I killed Enzo, my father took care of Marco’s family.”

Brooks stared at him.

“That is either loyalty or leverage.”

“In my family, often both.”

The room was quiet.

Natasha asked, “Could Marco know what Enzo knew?”

Matteo looked at her.

“Yes.”

“About Luca’s murder.”

“Yes.”

“And my father.”

“Possibly.”

Brooks said, “We find Marco.”

They did not have to.

At 4:18 p.m., Marco Bell walked into an FBI field office in Fort Lauderdale.

He brought a duffel bag.

Inside were three ledgers, two burner phones, and a revolver.

He asked for immunity.

Brooks refused to promise it.

He talked anyway.

Natasha was not allowed in the interview, but Matteo was brought in for identification.

Three hours later he emerged looking older.

“What did he say?” Natasha asked.

Brooks answered.

“Enzo did not kill Luca.”

Matteo sat.

“Then who did?”

“Paul Castellano shot Luca.”

Natasha’s breath caught.

Brooks continued. “Enzo was there. He was paid to move the body and tell the Rossis that Vittorio ordered the hit.”

Matteo whispered, “My father knew?”

“According to Marco, yes.”

“Why?”

“Because Salvatore ordered Luca detained until he revealed what he had copied. Paul panicked when Luca fought back.”

Matteo covered his face.

Natasha felt no triumph.

Only the ugly shape of truth.

“And my father?” she asked.

Brooks hesitated.

“Marco says Paul arranged the car crash.”

The room disappeared around Natasha.

She had imagined this answer for days.

For nine years, some part of her had imagined it without knowing.

Still, hearing it was different.

“Was Richard involved?”

“Marco does not know.”

Natasha nodded.

Once.

Twice.

Then she stood.

“Where is Paul?”

“Under surveillance.”

“Why isn’t he arrested?”

“We need corroboration.”

“My father is dead.”

“I know.”

“You have the ledger.”

“We have evidence of corruption. For murder conspiracy, we need more.”

Matteo lowered his hands.

“I have it.”

Everyone looked at him.

“What?” Brooks asked.

“My brother used to record calls.”

“You said you gave us everything.”

“I gave you everything I knew existed.”

“Where is it?”

Matteo stood.

“In a safe deposit box in Nassau.”

Brooks stared.

“You have evidence in the Bahamas?”

“I have a key. I never knew what it opened.”

Natasha said, “How convenient.”

Matteo shook his head.

“No. Luca mailed it to me the day he died. I kept it because I could not throw it away.”

Brooks said, “We get a warrant.”

Matteo looked at Natasha.

“If the box contains what Luca wanted me to hear, this ends.”

Natasha shook her head.

“No.”

He frowned.

“It does not end when Paul is arrested.”

“What do you mean?”

May you like

[COMPLETED] My Mafia Boss Husband Spent the Night with His “Little Siste...

[COMPLETED] My Husband Slapped Me at the Country Club While I Was Pregna...

[COMPLETED] My Five-Year-Old Son Went Viral Trading Toys—Then the Billio...

She pointed to the patient list.

“This ends when every name on that page is heard.”