Chapter 3 - The Nurse Who Was Paid to Disappear

Sofia Alvarez was found forty-three minutes later.

Not at the airport.

Not at home.

At a bus terminal in Queens with one suitcase, three thousand dollars in cash and a ticket under a name that was not hers.

Matteo brought her to a private office above Bellarosa.

Luca entered first.

Emma expected to be sent home.

Instead Maria caught her wrist.

“You stay.”

Emma looked at Luca.

He considered it for one second.

Then nodded.

Belini did not like that.

Sofia sat behind a small desk with both hands clenched together.

She was fifty-two.

Gray beginning at her temples.

The face of someone who had spent years caring for other people.

Tonight she looked terrified.

Luca placed the pill organizer in front of her.

“Did you put those tablets inside?”

Sofia shook her head immediately.

“No.”

“Did you pack my mother’s medication this morning?”

“Yes.”

“What was in the evening compartment?”

“Nothing.”

Maria closed her eyes.

Emma felt the answer settle over the room.

Luca remained still.

“Why nothing?”

“Dr. Harris suspended the evening dose.”

“Who knew?”

Sofia looked toward Belini.

Belini’s voice sharpened.

“Don’t look at me.”

Sofia flinched.

Luca noticed.

“Who knew?”

Sofia swallowed.

“Mrs. Moretti. The doctor. Me.”

A pause.

“And Ms. Vescari.”

Belini laughed once.

“That means absolutely nothing.”

Luca ignored her.

“Why were you leaving the city?”

Sofia looked down.

“I was scared.”

“Of whom?”

No answer.

Matteo placed an envelope on the desk.

Inside were thirty crisp hundred-dollar bills.

“We found this in her suitcase.”

Belini folded her arms.

“Then perhaps your nurse is the one you should be questioning.”

Sofia suddenly looked up.

“She gave it to me.”

The room went silent.

Belini’s face changed.

“Excuse me?”

“You gave me the money.”

“That is a lie.”

“Yesterday.”

Sofia’s voice trembled.

“You told me to take a week away after tonight.”

Belini stepped forward.

“I have never paid you anything.”

Sofia looked at Maria.

“I’m sorry.”

Maria’s expression was not angry.

That somehow made Sofia look worse.

“For what?” Maria asked.

“I should have told you.”

“Told me what?”

Sofia’s eyes filled.

“Belini asked questions about your medication.”

Luca’s jaw tightened.

“What questions?”

“Which pills made you tired. Which ones lowered your blood pressure. Which ones could make you dizzy if you stood too quickly.”

Emma felt cold.

Belini snapped, “She is inventing this because she was caught with money.”

Sofia shook her head.

“You asked me what would make an elderly woman look confused without putting her in the hospital.”

Nobody spoke.

Maria’s hand tightened around Emma’s.

Luca looked at Belini.

Not with anger.

With calculation.

“That is a very specific question.”

Belini’s composure held.

Barely.

“I was worried about your mother.”

“Then why pay Sofia to leave?”

“I didn’t.”

Matteo’s phone buzzed again.

He looked at the screen.

“Bank transfer confirms the cash withdrawal came from a Vescari Holdings account.”

Belini froze.

Luca turned back to Sofia.

“Why tonight?”

Sofia looked frightened again.

“I don’t know.”

“Think.”

“She asked what time Mrs. Moretti would arrive at Bellarosa.”

Maria frowned.

“I never told her.”

Sofia nodded.

“I did.”

Belini said nothing.

Luca leaned forward.

“What happens tomorrow?”

Maria looked at him.

For the first time, she seemed reluctant.

“Luca.”

“What happens tomorrow?”

She exhaled.

“The Moretti Shipping vote.”

Emma had no idea what that meant.

Belini did.

Her face changed before anyone explained it.

Luca saw that too.

Maria continued.

“My vote decides whether the Vescari merger goes through.”

Emma slowly turned toward Belini.

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And suddenly the pills were no longer about an elderly woman’s health.

They were about control.