Chapter 11 - Nico Went Back for the Girl He Once Nearly Got Killed
The photograph changed everything.
Sofia had not died when Gabriel was told she did.
For at least forty minutes, she remained alive somewhere inside St. Catherine.
Room 614.
The hidden ward.
What happened afterward was still unknown.
Helen Price knew.
Which was why Victor took her.
The investigation shifted from fraud to kidnapping and historical homicide.
Gabriel remained under federal guard.
Nico wanted to go after Victor.
Of course he did.
This time, I stopped him before he reached the elevator.
“You learned nothing?”
“He took the nurse who cared for my mother.”
“And you think running into whatever building he chooses will help?”
“You went into the church.”
“That was also stupid.”
“Finally.”
“Not an endorsement.”
Mia had improved enough to sit upright.
She watched us argue from her room.
Then quietly said:
“I know Helen.”
We both stopped.
“What?”
“My mom took me to her house.”
“When?”
“Last summer.”
Mia remembered a yellow house.
A dog named Pepper.
A barn nearby.
Not Pittsburgh.
Somewhere with water.
Helen owned a second property.
We searched county records.
A lakeside cabin in the Poconos.
Police mobilized.
Nico insisted on going.
Torres refused.
Good.
He went anyway.
Less good.
By the time I learned, he had taken one car and disappeared.
His phone went dark near the Pennsylvania line.
Gabriel called me from federal custody.
“Find him.”
“You're giving me orders again.”
“Please.”
That one word changed everything.
Torres and I went with state police.
The cabin appeared empty.
Back door broken.
Inside, signs of struggle.
Helen wasn't there.
Neither was Nico.
But we found his phone smashed on the floor.
I wanted to kill him myself.
Then a noise came from outside.
A child coughing.
Mia.
No.
Impossible.
She was in St. Catherine.
I turned.
A recording played through a portable speaker hidden near the porch.
Victor's voice followed.
“You people are remarkably predictable.”
Torres swore.
Then her radio crackled.
Hospital security.
Mia was gone.
My entire body went cold.
A woman wearing my old hospital badge had signed her out for imaging.
My badge.
Again.
Victor had timed everything.
He lured Nico away.
Then moved Mia.
But why?
We found the answer in the cabin basement.
Helen Price.
Alive.
Bound.
Dehydrated.
Terrified.
She grabbed my arm.
“He took the girl.”
“Where?”
“Back.”
“Back where?”
Helen began crying.
“St. Catherine.”
We stared.
Victor wasn't running from the hospital.
He was returning to it.
Because whatever happened to Sofia had happened there.
Room 614.
We raced back.
Police surrounded St. Catherine.
The hidden ward had been sealed.
No Mia.
No Victor.
Then a nurse reported seeing Nico.
He had returned independently.
Of course.
We found him in the basement service corridor.
Blood on his shirt.
Not his.
He had tackled one of Victor's men near the old ambulance entrance.
For once, his recklessness had helped.
“Where's Mia?”
He pointed.
“Old operating wing.”
We moved.
Police first.
Nico behind them.
I should have stayed.
Didn't.
The corridor opened into a decommissioned surgical suite.
Mia sat tied to a chair.
Victor stood beside her.
A handgun pressed against her shoulder.
Marco stood near the door.
So he had never fled the country.
Nico stopped.
Marco looked at him.
“Kid.”
Nico's face twisted.
“You knew me since I was sixteen.”
“I did.”
“You helped him use me.”
Marco shrugged.
“You made it easy.”
That sentence again.
The truth Nico hated most.
Victor smiled.
“Bring Helen.”
Torres answered from behind cover.
“No.”
Victor's eyes found me.
“Elena.”
I hated when criminals knew my name.
“You should have let my nephew cut the line that first night.”
I stared.
“What?”
“If you'd treated Nico first, Mia would have died quietly.”
There it was.
The entire story.
My refusal had broken their plan.
Victor continued.
“You turned one triage decision into a war.”
“No.”
I looked at Mia.
“You did that when you tried to kill a child.”
Victor's smile vanished.
Nico moved slowly.
“Let her go.”
“Why?”
“Because you want me.”
Victor laughed.
“I never wanted you.”
That hurt.
But Nico kept moving.
“You wanted Dad.”
“Yes.”
“And Elena.”
“Yes.”
“So Mia is useless.”
Mia looked at him.
Nico looked back.
Something passed between them.
Then he did the first truly selfless thing I'd seen him do.
He stepped into the open.
“Take me instead.”
Victor raised the gun.
Mia screamed.
Marco hesitated.
That hesitation saved everyone.
Nico charged.
Marco grabbed Victor's arm.
The shot hit the ceiling.
Police surged forward.
I ran to Mia.
Victor escaped through a service passage.
Again.
Marco surrendered.
Nico lay on the floor holding his shoulder.
I reached him.
He looked at me.
“I think I'm actually dying this time.”
I checked.
“Still no.”
“Unbelievable.”
Mia began laughing and crying at once.
Nico looked toward her.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
He closed his eyes.
“Good.”
At the hospital, I sat beside him while his wound was treated.
“You went back for her.”
He shrugged.
“She almost died because of me.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“She almost died because Victor used you.”
I let the distinction settle.
“But what you did today was yours.”
Nico swallowed.
“Think my dad would be proud?”
“Yes.”
He looked away before I could see him cry.
Then Helen Price finally told us the truth about Sofia.
Carlo Moretti ordered Sofia moved into Room 614 after she survived the crash.
He wanted to know what evidence she'd collected.
Victor administered sedation.
Sofia fought.
Helen tried to intervene.
Sofia died twenty-three minutes later.
Carlo ordered the records changed.
Gabriel's father had not merely allowed his daughter-in-law's death.
He had covered it up.
Victor had helped.
Gabriel listened by secure phone from federal custody.
No reaction.
Then he asked:
“Did my father order her killed?”
Helen shook her head.
“No.”
“Who did?”
Her voice trembled.
“Victor did.”
A pause.
“Your father wanted information.”
Another pause.
“Victor wanted control.”
And suddenly we knew exactly why Victor had spent twelve years staying close to Gabriel.
May you like
He wasn't protecting the empire.
He was waiting to inherit it.
