Chapter 4 - The First Movement
Dr. Vale disappeared before Luca’s men reached his house.
His phone was off.
His clinic had been emptied.
His wife claimed she believed he was attending a medical conference in Boston.
No conference had his name registered.
Luca ordered no one to chase him outside the law.
That surprised Marcus.
It surprised Luca too.
Twelve years earlier, he would have solved fear with more fear.
But Maya was watching now.
And Luca had begun to understand that becoming her father meant deciding what she would eventually learn about him.
The neurologist returned that afternoon.
Dr. Helen Warren was direct and unimpressed by Luca’s reputation.
“Twelve years of disuse cannot be reversed because you’re angry.”
“I’m aware.”
“No, you aren’t.”
She positioned his feet against the therapy platform.
“You believe determination will make your nervous system obey.”
Luca looked at her.
“It usually works on people.”
“Nerves aren’t employees.”
Maya laughed from the doorway.
Elena immediately told her not to interrupt.
Dr. Warren smiled.
“She can stay.”
Physical therapy began with humiliation.
Luca could not lift his foot.
Could not stabilize his knee.
Could not hold his weight.
His body shook with effort while nothing visible happened.
Then Maya sat on the floor in front of him.
“Try again.”
“Maya.”
“You told me dead things don’t try.”
“That was your line.”
“I’m letting you borrow it.”
Luca closed his eyes.
He tried again.
His right foot moved less than an inch.
Everyone saw it.
Elena covered her mouth.
Marcus turned away as if suddenly fascinated by the window.
Maya jumped up.
“I told you.”
Luca stared at his foot.
For twelve years, specialists had told him there was nothing to wait for.
Now his toe had moved because a child refused to believe them.
That night, something else moved.
Money.
Marcus discovered seventeen million dollars had been transferred from a Costello reserve account.
The authorization carried Luca’s electronic signature.
Luca had never approved it.
The receiving company had been created nine years earlier.
Its director was Dr. Peter Vale.
And the person who had authorized Vale’s first contract with Luca’s household twelve years ago was Dominic Costello.
The war was no longer about suspicion.
May you like
It had begun leaving fingerprints.
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