Chapter 4 - THE HOUSE WITH NO ADDRESS
The safest house I had ever entered had no visible address.
That should have frightened me.
Instead, the thing that frightened me most was how quickly Maya relaxed.
The property stood beyond tall stone walls outside Rome.
Olive trees lined the driveway.
Cypress trees rose behind the main house.
Nothing about it looked like the headquarters of a criminal empire.
It looked like somewhere rich people went to avoid reality.
Maya pressed her face to the car window.
“Mommy, look.”
A fountain stood in the courtyard.
Water spilled from the mouths of carved stone lions.
“Can I touch it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because we've been here twelve seconds.”
She sighed dramatically.
Alessandro was waiting on the steps.
He had changed clothes.
Dark trousers.
White shirt.
No jacket.
Luca slept against a woman's shoulder beside him.
The woman was perhaps fifty.
Thin.
Dark hair pulled tightly behind her head.
Her eyes moved over me without warmth.
“This is Teresa,” Alessandro said.
“She has cared for Luca since he was born.”
Teresa gave a polite nod.
“Signora Bennett.”
“Claire is fine.”
Her gaze moved toward Maya.
Then to the small suitcase Enzo removed from the car.
“Only one?”
“That’s all we have.”
Something unreadable crossed her face.
Alessandro noticed.
“Prepare the east guest rooms.”
“They are already prepared.”
“Good.”
Teresa turned away.
I watched her carry Luca inside.
Something about the baby's posture bothered me.
His arm hung too loosely.
“When did he eat?”
Alessandro looked at me.
“About an hour ago.”
“How much?”
“Perhaps sixty milliliters.”
“Formula?”
“Yes.”
I followed Teresa inside.
Luca stirred.
His face tightened.
Then he made a weak sound.
I stopped.
“Wait.”
Teresa turned.
“Yes?”
“Can I see him?”
“He needs sleep.”
“I know.”
I touched the back of Luca's neck.
Warm.
Not feverish.
His skin felt slightly clammy.
“When was his diaper changed?”
Teresa's mouth tightened.
“I know how to care for him.”
“That wasn't an accusation.”
“It sounded like one.”
“Teresa.”
Alessandro’s voice was quiet.
She looked at him.
“Answer her.”
“Forty minutes ago.”
“Wet?”
“Yes.”
“Any vomiting?”
“No.”
“Diarrhea?”
“No.”
Teresa stared at me.
“Anything else, nurse?”
“Former nurse.”
Her expression did not change.
I looked at Luca.
His breathing was slower than I expected.
“Was he like this before the flight?”
“Tired.”
“Tired or lethargic?”
Alessandro stepped closer.
“What is the difference?”
“Tired babies fight sleep.”
I gently touched Luca's foot.
He barely moved.
“Lethargic babies don't.”
Teresa's face hardened.
“He has been screaming for days.”
“He is exhausted.”
Maybe she was right.
I wanted her to be right.
Then Luca's eyes fluttered open.
His pupils looked unusually small.
Something inside me tightened.
“Call his pediatrician.”
Teresa scoffed.
“He was examined yesterday.”
“Call again.”
Alessandro did not hesitate.
“Enzo.”
Enzo pulled out his phone.
Teresa looked furious.
“You bring a stranger into this house and suddenly my care is questioned?”
Alessandro looked at her.
“My child comes before your pride.”
She went pale.
“I have cared for Luca since his first breath.”
“Then help us understand what is happening.”
Teresa said nothing.
The pediatrician arrived forty minutes later.
Dr. Ricci was in his sixties and looked irritated until he examined Luca.
Then he stopped looking irritated.
“How much formula?”
Teresa answered.
“Sixty.”
“When?”
“Perhaps ninety minutes ago now.”
“Which bottle?”
“The usual.”
“Show me.”
Teresa hesitated.
I noticed.
So did Alessandro.
“Teresa.”
She turned and walked toward the kitchen.
We followed.
The Moretti kitchen was larger than my childhood home.
Copper pans hung above a marble island.
A row of prepared bottles stood inside the refrigerator.
Teresa opened it.
“Those.”
Dr. Ricci took one.
“What brand?”
She told him.
“Who prepared them?”
“I did.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
I looked toward the trash bin.
A small glass bottle lay near the top.
It did not look like infant formula.
I stepped closer.
Teresa moved quickly.
Too quickly.
She grabbed the trash bag.
“I'll clear this.”
“Stop.”
My voice surprised even me.
Everyone looked over.
I pointed.
“What is that?”
Teresa followed my finger.
Her face changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Enzo reached into the bin.
He removed the small bottle.
The label had been torn away.
Dr. Ricci took it.
He smelled the opening.
Then looked at Teresa.
“What was in this?”
“Nothing.”
“Something was in it.”
“I don't know.”
“You threw it away.”
“So?”
Alessandro stepped between them.
“What was in the bottle?”
Teresa looked at him.
“I don't know.”
“Answer me.”
“I said I don't know.”
Luca made another weak sound.
The rage that crossed Alessandro's face frightened me.
I stepped closer.
“Not here.”
He looked at me.
“Maya is in the next room.”
His jaw clenched.
He stepped back.
Dr. Ricci handed the bottle to Enzo.
“Have this tested.”
Alessandro nodded.
“How fast?”
“A preliminary analysis can be done within hours.”
Teresa crossed her arms.
“This is insulting.”
“No,” I said.
“This is medicine.”
Her eyes snapped toward me.
“You arrive on an airplane and feed him once.”
“Now you think you're his mother?”
The words landed harder than she intended.
Everyone went silent.
I looked at her.
“No.”
I kept my voice calm.
“I know exactly who I'm not.”
For the first time, uncertainty appeared in her eyes.
Alessandro spoke.
“Teresa, go home.”
Her face emptied.
“What?”
“Until we understand what happened.”
“I have been with this family for twenty-two years.”
“And Luca is five months old.”
“You choose.”
Tears filled her eyes.
Not sad tears.
Furious ones.
“You are letting Sofia destroy this family even after her death.”
Alessandro froze.
“What does that mean?”
Teresa realized her mistake.
“Nothing.”
“You said Sofia.”
“I was upset.”
“What did Sofia destroy?”
Teresa grabbed her handbag.
“Ask your wife.”
“She is dead.”
Teresa looked directly at him.
“Then perhaps ask why.”
Nobody moved.
She walked out.
The front door slammed.
Alessandro immediately turned to Enzo.
“Do not let her leave the property.”
But Enzo's phone rang before he could move.
He answered.
His face went hard.
“What?”
He listened.
Then looked at Alessandro.
“Teresa's car just went through the west gate.”
“Who opened it?”
“Nobody.”
“What?”
“The gate opened automatically.”
“Someone used an authorized access code.”
Alessandro's eyes narrowed.
“Whose?”
Enzo looked at his phone.
Then slowly raised his head.
“Sofia's.”
The dead woman's access code had just opened the gate.
May you like
And suddenly the question was no longer who had tampered with Luca's bottle.
The question was whether Alessandro's wife had really died at all.
