Chapter 4 - The Woman With the Perfect Smile.
Within ten minutes, Luca had the secure wing sealed to everyone except authorized maternity staff.
Leah hated the feeling of being hidden.
She hated even more that hiding suddenly felt necessary.
Nora sat at the small desk near the window and called hospital information technology while another nurse checked Emma's vitals.
Luca stood beside the door reading the forged transfer request on a tablet.
"It used Nora's credentials at 9:17 this morning."
Nora shook her head.
"I was in surgery recovery at 9:17."
"Does anyone else know your password?"
"No."
Luca looked at her.
"Has anyone watched you enter it?"
Nora's face changed.
"Yesterday, a woman asked me for directions while I was logging into the nurses' station."
Leah already knew the answer.
"What woman?"
Nora looked at her apologetically.
"Blonde."
Leah closed her eyes.
"Victoria."
The name had barely left her mouth when the intercom beside the room door buzzed.
A security officer's voice came through.
"Mr. Moretti, Mrs. Victoria Sloan is requesting access."
Luca did not react.
"Denied."
A different voice came over the intercom.
Smooth.
Female.
Controlled.
"Luca, don't be childish."
Leah's eyes snapped toward the speaker.
Victoria Sloan had found a way onto the security channel.
"I am here with counsel, and Leah is clearly being pressured by a man she does not know."
Luca pressed the call button.
"She knows me now."
Victoria laughed softly.
"A name is not a character reference."
Leah felt anger rise through the fear.
She reached for the button herself.
Luca looked at her but did not stop her.
"Victoria, go home."
There was a pause.
Then Victoria's tone changed instantly into practiced concern.
"Leah, sweetheart, I only want to make sure you're safe."
Leah almost laughed.
"Your son just tried to grab my baby."
"Derek was frightened for you."
"He put his hands on me."
"He says you became confused."
The sentence landed exactly as Luca had warned it would.
Victoria was already rewriting what had happened.
"I was standing in a hallway full of cameras."
"Then we should all be comfortable reviewing them."
Luca looked up sharply.
Leah noticed.
"What?"
Luca muted the intercom.
"She's too comfortable."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning she thinks the cameras help her."
Nora rose from the desk.
"I can pull the footage."
Luca shook his head.
"Not from here."
"Why?"
"Because if someone accessed your account, we assume every hospital system may have been touched until proven otherwise."
Victoria's voice continued faintly through the muted speaker.
Leah walked to the bedside table and picked up Ethan's envelope.
Her hands trembled as she opened it.
Inside was one sheet of paper and a small brass key taped to the bottom.
She read the first line.
Leah, if you are reading this, then I was right to be afraid.
Her knees weakened.
She sat on the bed.
The letter continued.
Derek will make you doubt yourself before he ever tries to take anything from you.
Victoria will make other people doubt you first.
Trust Nora Green.
Trust Luca Moretti, even when you are angry that I never told you about him.
Leah looked up.
"He knew Nora too?"
Nora stared back at her.
"I never met Ethan."
Luca stepped closer to the letter.
"What else does it say?"
Leah looked down again.
The final sentence stopped her cold.
May you like
The key opens box 314 in the hospital's old records archive.
Do not let Victoria get there first.
