Chapter 7 - The Red Door
The address in the ledger did not lead directly to the harbor.
It led to an abandoned maternity clinic three miles away.
A red door stood beneath a rusted sign that read SAINT AGNES FAMILY CENTER.
Liana recognized the crescent moon carved above the entrance.
It matched her locket.
She entered with Matteo, Dante and two federal agents.
Dust covered the reception desk.
Old bassinets stood upside down in the hallway.
Every official record claimed the clinic had closed thirty years earlier.
The electricity was still running.
They found a hidden elevator behind the pharmacy.
It descended to a basement filled with locked cabinets.
Inside were thousands of birth records.
Names had been crossed out and replaced.
Death certificates had been prepared for babies who had never died.
Adoption documents listed families who did not exist.
Liana found a file marked GRAVES TWINS.
The first page contained a photograph of her mother holding two newborn girls.
Margaret Graves looked exhausted but happy.
Two crescent lockets rested against the babies’ blankets.
The next page recorded a payment from Aldo’s father.
Twin A had been returned to Margaret.
Twin B had been transferred to a wealthy couple under the name Elena Warren.
Liana touched her sister’s infant photograph.
“She spent her whole life being treated like a transaction.”
Matteo stood beside her.
“Elena refused to let anyone own her.”
A sound echoed upstairs.
Dante raised his weapon.
The lights went out.
A shot shattered the cabinet behind Matteo.
Federal agents returned fire as footsteps moved through the darkness.
Liana crouched behind a desk with the file against her chest.
A masked man rushed toward her.
Matteo intercepted him and drove him into the wall.
The attacker dropped a phone.
Rachel picked it up after the building was secured.
A live audio connection remained open.
Aldo Varric’s voice came through the speaker.
“Matteo.”
Matteo lifted the phone.
“Where is my wife?”
“Closer than you think.”
“Where is Samuel Graves?”
“Safe for now.”
Liana stepped forward.
Aldo heard her breathing.
“Ah,” he said.
“The spare sister.”
Liana’s face hardened.
“I’m coming for my son.”
Aldo laughed softly.
“That is exactly what I need you to do.”
The connection ended.
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On the phone’s screen, a timer appeared.
Four hours remained before dawn.
