Chapter 6 - The Hand on the Nursery Door.
Emily stared at Luca as if he had become a stranger again.
"Your family?"
Luca set the engraved paperclip on the table.
"The symbol belonged to my father."
"You said nothing about your father."
"Because he has been dead for six years."
Emily looked at the crown inside the circle.
"Then who left it?"
"Someone who wants me to know they understand exactly what I just stepped into."
Dr. Hale closed the door.
"Mr. Morelli, is your family connected to Cole Meridian?"
Luca's answer came too slowly.
"It used to be."
Emily crossed her arms.
"Used to be what?"
Luca looked toward Grace before speaking.
"My father owned a private security company."
"That's not what everyone in the hallway was afraid of."
"No."
"So tell me the part you're hiding."
Luca exhaled through his nose.
"My father protected dangerous people until he became one of them."
Emily went quiet.
"And you?"
"I spent ten years cleaning up what he left behind."
That was not enough for her.
"Are you dangerous?"
Luca met her eyes.
"To the person trying to reach your daughter, yes."
The answer should have frightened her.
Instead, it was the first thing all night that made her feel safer.
Dr. Hale arranged for an off-duty police officer to remain outside Emily's room.
Luca took the chair nearest the door.
For almost an hour, nothing happened.
Emily fed Grace.
The hallway quieted.
The fluorescent lights hummed.
Then the fire doors at the far end of the wing closed automatically.
The police officer stood to investigate.
A maintenance announcement sounded overhead.
The officer walked twenty feet away.
At that exact moment, Emily's door handle moved.
Slowly.
Luca was standing before the latch fully turned.
The door opened two inches.
A gloved hand appeared through the gap.
Luca caught the wrist.
The person on the other side jerked backward.
Luca pulled the door open.
A hospital orderly in a surgical mask stood outside holding an empty infant transport bassinet.
The orderly tried to run.
Luca drove him against the wall with one forearm across his chest.
"Who sent you?"
The man shook his head wildly.
The police officer returned at a sprint.
"Let him go."
Luca released the orderly only after the officer took control.
Dr. Hale arrived seconds later.
She tore the mask from the man's face.
"You don't work here."
The fake orderly began crying.
"I was paid."
Emily stood inside the doorway with Grace against her chest.
"Paid to do what?"
The man's eyes shifted toward the baby.
"Take her downstairs."
Luca's voice became almost emotionless.
"To who?"
"I don't know."
The officer tightened the cuffs.
"Try again."
The man swallowed.
"A woman."
Emily whispered, "Vanessa?"
The fake orderly shook his head.
"Older."
"Name?"
"She never gave one."
He looked at Luca.
"But she told me if a tattooed man was in the room, I should leave the baby and run."
Luca's face hardened.
"What else did she say?"
The man looked at the engraved paperclip on the table.
"She said the crown would make him understand."
Emily looked at Luca.
"Understand what?"
May you like
The fake orderly answered for him.
"That this started before the baby was born."
