Chapter 2 - The Woman He Buried Without a Body
“Isabella!”
Alessandro struck the glass with his palm.
Her eyes remained closed.
“Giovanni!”
“Ambulance is coming.”
“Not fast enough.”
Luca examined the wreck.
“We need to stabilize the car.”
“Do it.”
The little girl whimpered.
Alessandro moved toward the rear window.
“Hey.”
Her frightened eyes found him.
“What's your name?”
She didn't answer.
“I'm Alessandro.”
The German Shepherd pushed his nose against the broken glass.
The girl's face changed.
“Bruno.”
The dog whined.
“That's Bruno?”
She nodded.
“Good. Bruno found us.”
“Mommy won't wake up.”
Alessandro looked toward Isabella.
“We're going to help her.”
“Promise?”
The question struck harder than Alessandro expected.
“Yes.”
Sirens eventually reached the road.
Firefighters descended into the ravine.
The next twenty minutes became noise, lights, commands and cutting metal.
Alessandro refused to leave.
When Isabella was finally lifted from the vehicle, a paramedic stopped him.
“Sir, you can't ride with—”
Alessandro looked at him.
The paramedic reconsidered.
“Actually, there's room.”
Luca almost smiled.
At the hospital, doctors took Isabella into surgery.
The girl was examined separately.
Minor concussion.
Bruising.
Nothing life-threatening.
Alessandro stood outside her room when Luca approached.
“You haven't answered me.”
Alessandro stared through the glass.
“Six years ago Isabella Romano disappeared.”
“Romano?”
Luca's face tightened.
“The Romano family?”
“Yes.”
Everyone in their world knew the story.
Isabella Romano had been the daughter of Carlo Romano, one of the few men powerful enough to challenge Alessandro's father.
And she had secretly loved Alessandro.
Their relationship had nearly ended a war.
Then Isabella's car had been found abandoned near the Hudson.
Blood inside.
Her purse.
Her coat.
No body.
Three weeks later, Carlo Romano told Alessandro his daughter was dead.
“You believed him?” Luca asked.
“I had no reason not to.”
“You never found a body.”
“I spent two years looking.”
Luca glanced toward the child.
“And then?”
“My father was murdered. I inherited everything. Survival became more important than ghosts.”
A nurse stepped outside.
“The little girl keeps asking for Bruno.”
“He's downstairs.”
“Hospital policy doesn't allow—”
“Change the policy.”
The nurse stared at him.
Luca cleared his throat.
“Perhaps we could arrange something.”
Twenty minutes later, Bruno entered through a service corridor wearing a temporary veterinary bandage around one paw.
The little girl's face brightened.
“Bruno!”
He climbed carefully beside her.
Alessandro remained near the doorway.
She hugged the dog's neck.
Then looked at Alessandro.
“You really brought him.”
“I said I would.”
“My mommy says promises matter.”
Alessandro swallowed.
“Your mother is right.”
“Do you know her?”
Silence.
“I used to.”
The girl studied him.
“My name is Sofia.”
“Sofia.”
Something about the name hurt.
“How old are you?”
“Five.”
Alessandro's expression changed.
Five.
Isabella disappeared six years ago.
Luca noticed immediately.
So did Alessandro.
“Sofia,” he said carefully, “where's your father?”
Her answer came without hesitation.
“I don't have one.”
Alessandro felt Luca watching him.
Before he could ask another question, the surgeon entered.
“Mr. Moretti?”
Alessandro turned.
“How is she?”
“She survived surgery.”
Sofia hugged Bruno tighter.
“But,” the doctor continued, “there's something you need to understand.”
“What?”
“The crash wasn't an accident.”
Alessandro became very still.
The surgeon held out a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a severed brake line.
May you like
“Someone wanted that woman dead.”
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