Chapter 2 - The Purple DrinkLucas was asleep when they entered.
Six years old.
Pale.
Thin.
A monitor beside his bed tracked every heartbeat.
Tubes ran from his small arm to an IV.
The room was filled with machines that hummed softly in the darkness.
Emma stopped at the doorway.
She looked at Lucas.
Then at the purple cup beside his bed.
“That one.”
Lorenzo's eyes moved toward it.
“What's in there?”
“Bad.”
He approached.
The cup contained a thick purple liquid.
A nutrition drink.
Lucas had been taking it every morning for nearly four months.
The doctors believed it helped him maintain his weight.
Lorenzo stared at it.
“Who prepared this?”
“Vivian.”
Emma's voice was barely audible.
Lorenzo didn't touch the cup.
“Daniel.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Seal this room.”
Daniel nodded.
Within minutes, Mara Quinn arrived.
Mara was not a doctor.
She was Lorenzo's most trusted investigator.
Forty-two.
Sharp-eyed.
Uncompromising.
She entered wearing a dark coat and carrying a medical evidence case.
“What happened?”
Lorenzo pointed.
“Emma found this inside Lucas's pillow.”
Mara looked at the packet.
“Did anyone touch it?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She sealed it.
Then examined the cup.
“Has Lucas had this tonight?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Lorenzo looked at Emma.
“How did you find the packet?”
Emma hugged her doll.
“Lucas's pillow was lumpy.”
“Lumpy?”
She nodded.
“So I fixed it.”
“You opened the pillow?”
“Only a little.”
She demonstrated with her fingers.
“I pulled the string.”
Lorenzo looked at the pillow.
There was a tiny section of stitching near the corner.
Recently repaired.
Mara examined it.
“Someone opened this.”
Lorenzo's jaw tightened.
“Recently?”
“Very recently.”
He looked toward the door.
“Vivian.”
Mara didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
The evidence was beginning to form a picture.
Then Lucas stirred.
His eyes opened.
“Dad?”
Lorenzo immediately sat beside him.
“I'm here.”
Lucas looked past him.
“Emma?”
The little girl ran forward.
“Hi.”
Lucas smiled weakly.
“You found it.”
Lorenzo froze.
“What did he say?”
Emma looked at Lucas.
Lucas looked frightened.
“Lucas.”
The boy swallowed.
“Don't tell.”
“Tell me what?”
Lucas looked at the door.
Then whispered:
“Miss Vivian says I'm sick because my body is broken.”
Lorenzo's hand tightened around the bedrail.
“She said that?”
Lucas nodded.
“She says nobody can fix me.”
Lorenzo looked at Mara.
She was already recording everything.
“What else?”
Lucas hesitated.
“She says I have to drink it.”
“What happens when you drink it?”
“My heart hurts.”
Lorenzo felt something inside him break.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Lucas looked down.
“She said you'd be angry.”
“I would never be angry with you.”
Lucas looked at him.
“Not at me.”
“No.”
“Then at her?”
Lorenzo didn't answer.
Because he didn't know what he would do to the woman who had been poisoning his son.
Mara took the cup.
“We need to test this.”
“Tonight.”
“Yes.”
Lorenzo looked at Daniel.
“Find Vivian.”
Daniel left.
Five minutes later, he returned.
“She's gone.”
Lorenzo turned.
“What?”
“Her room is empty.”
“When?”
“About ten minutes ago.”
Lorenzo's eyes narrowed.
Someone had warned her.
But how?
Mara checked her phone.
“Lorenzo.”
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
She showed him a security feed.
Vivian was walking through the underground garage.
She carried one suitcase.
And someone was waiting for her.
A man in a dark coat.
Lorenzo recognized him immediately.
His brother.
Matteo Duca.
The man who had spent three years telling Lorenzo to accept that Lucas was dying.
The man who had insisted the doctors were right.
The man who had always been there whenever Lorenzo was weakest.
Lorenzo stared at the screen.
“Get the car.”
Daniel looked at him.
May you like
“Boss?”
“Bring my brother back.”
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