Chapter 2 - THE MAID WHO REFUSED TO RUN
Elena Marchetti arrived seven minutes later.
She entered my bedroom with Giulia pressed against her side.
Her face was pale.
“Mr. Castellano, I'm so sorry. I told her to stay in the laundry room.”
“Close the door.”
She obeyed.
“Lock it.”
Her hand hesitated.
Then the lock clicked.
I looked at Giulia.
“Tell your mother what you told me.”
The little girl stared at the carpet.
Elena knelt beside her.
“Sweetheart?”
Giulia swallowed.
“The doctor comes when the lights are off.”
Elena went still.
“What doctor?”
“The one with the shiny hair.”
Bellini.
Giulia continued.
“He goes into the big bedroom. He carries something little. Sometimes it makes a tiny clicking noise.”
I watched Elena's expression change.
Recognition.
Fear.
Then something more complicated.
“Mr. Castellano,” she whispered, “I need to tell you something.”
“Go ahead.”
She looked toward the door.
“Two weeks ago, I found a medical wrapper in the wastebasket.”
“What kind?”
“A small transparent sleeve. It wasn't from the hospital supplies we normally receive.”
I waited.
“I showed it to Doctor Bellini.”
“And?”
“He told me to throw it away.”
“Did you?”
Elena hesitated.
“No.”
For the first time that morning, hope moved through me.
“Where is it?”
“In my locker.”
I looked at her.
“Why did you keep it?”
She swallowed.
“Because my mother was a nurse. She taught me that when something seems wrong in a sickroom, you don't ignore it.”
I closed my eyes.
A maid had noticed something my doctors hadn't.
A child had noticed something my guards hadn't.
And the men I'd paid fortunes to protect me had noticed nothing.
Or worse.
They'd chosen not to.
“Listen carefully,” I said. “I need an independent doctor. Not someone Bellini recommends.”
Elena nodded.
“And a lawyer.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Call both from your own phone. Don't use the house lines.”
She stared.
“Mr. Castellano, if someone finds out—”
“They might already know.”
Giulia squeezed her mother's hand.
I looked at the child.
“Can you do something for me?”
She nodded.
“Stay with your mother. Don't go anywhere alone.”
“Okay.”
“And Giulia?”
“Yes?”
“You did the right thing telling me.”
Her little face brightened.
Then she asked:
“Are you going to die?”
The question struck harder than any bullet ever had.
I looked at Elena.
Then back at Giulia.
“I don't know.”
She considered that.
Then stepped closer.
“My mommy says when you don't know something, you have to keep trying.”
I smiled faintly.
“Your mommy sounds smart.”
“She is.”
Elena's eyes filled.
An hour later, Elena returned with the medical wrapper.
I couldn't read the tiny print without my glasses.
But I recognized one thing.
The manufacturer's logo.
It belonged to a company that produced hospital infusion supplies.
Bellini had told me my condition was neurological.
He had never explained why I needed so many intravenous treatments.
At noon, Aldo Manfredi arrived.
He wore a charcoal suit and carried the leather succession folder.
“Dario,” he said. “We need to discuss the eastern terminals.”
I looked at him.
“Later.”
His eyes moved toward Elena.
“Why is the maid here?”
“Because I asked her to be.”
Aldo frowned.
“We have serious business.”
“So do I.”
He placed the folder on my bed.
“The captains are nervous.”
“Let them be.”
“Dario—”
I raised my hand.
It shook.
Aldo noticed.
His expression softened in a way I suddenly hated.
“Brother,” he said, “we need to prepare for the inevitable.”
I stared at him.
“Do we?”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
I looked at the folder.
Then at the man I'd trusted for twenty years.
“Tell me something, Aldo.”
“Anything.”
“Who recommended Bellini to me?”
Aldo's expression changed for less than a second.
Then he smiled.
“I did.”
I nodded.
“Of course you did.”
After Aldo left, Elena looked at me.
“Do you think he's involved?”
I stared at the closed door.
“I think the man who brought Bellini into my life is now trying to inherit everything I own.”
Elena swallowed.
“And what are you going to do?”
May you like
I looked at Giulia, who was sitting on the carpet drawing a crooked yellow sun.
“For once,” I said, “I'm going to ask for help before I make a mistake.”
