Chapter 8 - The Doctor's Note.
Dr. Clare Benton arrived at Luca's house before breakfast carrying a locked medical-record case.
She had not slept much either.
After hearing the recovered vehicle audio, she had gone back through Sophia's original rehabilitation intake notes.
Most were digital.
One was not.
Clare placed a yellow legal pad on the kitchen table.
"I wrote this during the first week because the hospital system went down for maintenance."
Luca read the date.
Six days after the crash.
Sophia had been awake but heavily medicated.
Her memories came in bursts that did not follow sequence.
Clare's handwriting recorded simple phrases.
Water cold.
Red coat lady.
Car yelling.
Uncle voice?
Luca stopped.
"What is this?"
Clare sat across from him.
"I don't know."
"You wrote 'uncle voice.'"
"Because Sophia said she heard Uncle Matt."
Luca felt his heartbeat in his throat.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Clare's expression tightened.
"I tried."
The answer had become horribly familiar.
She explained that she mentioned the phrase during a multidisciplinary meeting.
Victor was present as the family security liaison.
He told the medical team Sophia had spoken to Matteo by phone earlier that day and was probably blending memories.
That explanation made sense at the time.
Sophia had been confused about dates, rooms, and faces.
Clare placed a second document on the table.
"Then this appeared in the chart."
It was an instruction from Moretti family counsel requesting that staff avoid questioning Sophia about crash details because repeated questioning might worsen trauma.
Naomi, who had joined them by video call, examined the signature block.
"This didn't come from my office."
"Whose signature is that?"
Luca asked.
Naomi's face hardened.
"Mine."
The document carried her name and electronic signature.
She had never seen it.
Clare stared at the screen.
"I thought you ordered it."
"I did not."
Luca turned the page.
The metadata printout showed the document originated from Victor's executive account.
Another forged instruction.
Another closed door.
Sophia entered the kitchen using a walker, moving carefully under a physical therapist's supervision.
She noticed the papers immediately.
"Are those about me?"
Clare slid the legal pad closer to herself.
"Old therapy notes."
Sophia looked suspicious.
"Did I complain about you?"
"Constantly."
"Good."
Luca tried to smile.
Sophia saw through him.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing you need to fix."
She frowned.
"That's what Elias used to say."
The room went silent.
Luca crouched beside her.
"What do you remember about Elias?"
Clare gave him a warning look.
Luca did not push further.
Sophia answered on her own.
"He looked in the mirror."
"At you?"
"At the black car."
She touched the walker grip.
"Then Uncle Matt called."
Luca's lungs seemed to forget how to work.
"You remember his voice?"
Sophia nodded uncertainly.
"Maybe."
Clare moved closer.
"Soph, you don't have to figure it out right now."
Sophia looked frustrated.
"I hate when my brain hides things."
Hannah entered from the hall carrying a paper cup and stopped when she heard that sentence.
"Brains are annoying like that."
Sophia looked relieved to see her.
"Mine is extra annoying."
Hannah sat beside her.
"Mine forgot where I put my keys three times last week."
"That's different."
"True."
Hannah lowered her voice.
"But remembering slowly still counts as remembering."
Sophia nodded.
Luca watched Hannah redirect the conversation without making Sophia feel dismissed.
He understood again why the child's trust in her had survived nine months of fragmented memory.
Later, after Sophia returned to therapy, Luca told Hannah about Matteo.
She did not react the way he expected.
"You don't know he's guilty."
"Rainer saw him with Victor."
"Rainer wants a deal."
"Sophia remembered his voice."
"Sophia also said maybe."
Luca stared at her.
"Whose side are you on?"
Hannah's eyes flashed.
"Sophia's."
The answer stopped him.
"And Sophia needs adults who don't turn her memory into a weapon because they're desperate for answers."
Luca looked away.
She was right.
He hated that she was right.
Hannah softened slightly.
"Find evidence that doesn't require a seven-year-old to carry your case."
Luca nodded once.
"Agreed."
At noon, Renee provided exactly that possibility.
Federal analysts had examined cellular-tower records for Victor and Matteo around the crash.
Victor's company phone had been near Ashwood Road.
No surprise.
He claimed to have been checking on a disabled fleet vehicle in the area.
Matteo's primary phone appeared in London.
But a second device, registered to a shell consulting company linked to Matteo, connected to a tower three miles from Ashwood Bridge twenty minutes before the crash.
The device went offline six minutes afterward.
Naomi looked at Luca.
"That's much better than a child's memory."
Renee cautioned them again.
"It is evidence of a device, not a person."
Luca repeated the phrase.
"Evidence of a device."
"Exactly."
The dinner with Matteo remained scheduled for seven.
Renee wanted it to proceed.
She did not ask Luca to record anything illegally.
New York law allowed one-party consent for many conversations, but Renee refused to build strategy on a legal shortcut that might complicate prosecution.
Instead, she instructed Luca to observe and avoid accusations.
"Let him believe you suspect Victor alone."
Luca disliked deception when it involved family.
Then he remembered the forged medical instruction carrying Naomi's signature.
The concern disappeared.
Matteo arrived at Luca's home at 6:57 p.m. with a bouquet for Sophia and a bottle of wine for Luca.
He looked exactly as he always did.
Tall.
Silver beginning at his temples.
Warm smile.
Perfect manners.
Sophia greeted him from the living room using her walker.
Matteo stopped dramatically.
"Look at you."
Sophia smiled.
"I can do five steps without this."
"Your father told me three."
"He lies when he's nervous."
Matteo laughed.
Luca watched his brother embrace her.
If Matteo felt guilt, he hid it beautifully.
During dinner, Hannah remained in the kitchen with Clare under the excuse of helping Sophia with therapy afterward.
Matteo noticed her coat by the hall bench.
"You have company?"
Luca cut into his steak.
"Hannah Carter."
Matteo's knife stopped.
Only for a fraction of a second.
Then he continued.
"The waitress from the gala?"
"The woman who pulled Sophia from the river."
Matteo looked at Sophia.
"They found her?"
Sophia corrected him.
"I found her."
Matteo smiled.
"Of course you did."
Luca sipped his wine.
"Victor seems bothered by her."
Matteo's face remained neutral.
"Victor is bothered by weather."
"He blocked her calls."
Matteo looked up.
"Did he?"
"Apparently."
"Why?"
"He says she was unstable."
Matteo leaned back.
"Was she?"
Luca almost heard Victor's exact phrasing in the question.
"She seems sane to me."
"Then Victor made a poor call."
"Maybe more than one."
Matteo studied him.
"What does that mean?"
Luca shrugged.
"I'm reviewing how the accident was handled."
For the first time, Matteo's smile disappeared completely.
"Why?"
"Sophia remembers another vehicle."
Sophia looked between them.
Matteo's gaze shifted to her.
"Do you?"
His tone was gentle.
Too gentle.
Sophia suddenly went pale.
Her fork slipped from her hand and struck the plate.
Hannah appeared in the doorway before Luca could move.
"Sophia?"
Sophia stared at Matteo.
Her breathing became shallow.
"You said that before."
Matteo did not move.
"Said what?"
Sophia's face crumpled with concentration.
"Do you?"
Luca's skin turned cold.
Sophia pressed both hands to her temples.
"On the phone."
Matteo looked at Luca.
"She's confused."
Hannah stepped beside Sophia.
"Don't tell her what she is."
Matteo's eyes moved to Hannah.
For one second, the warmth vanished.
Hannah saw it.
So did Luca.
Then Sophia whispered the sentence Clare had written nine months earlier.
"Uncle Matt was in the car."
Everyone froze.
Sophia shook her head violently.
"No."
She corrected herself.
"In the phone."
Then she looked at Luca.
"He told Elias you changed cars."
After Matteo left, Clare took Sophia upstairs and made the rest of the evening deliberately boring.
They sorted socks, watched a cooking show, and argued about whether pancakes counted as dinner.
Clare later explained why.
"After a memory spike, normal tasks tell the nervous system the danger is not happening again."
Luca nodded.
"I should be doing that too."
"Probably."
"What counts as a normal task for me?"
Clare looked toward his study.
"Not investigating attempted murder."
Hannah, standing beside them, said, "Try dishes."
Luca stared at her.
"I have a dishwasher."
"Congratulations. You can load it."
Ten minutes later, one of the wealthiest men in the city was standing at the kitchen sink rinsing plates while Hannah dried them.
The absurdity helped.
"You missed a spot,"
she said.
"I employ people for this."
"Tonight you don't."
He handed her the plate.
"You are enjoying this too much."
"Nine months of being called opportunistic earns me one evening of managerial authority."
Luca laughed.
The sound surprised him.
Then Hannah became serious.
"Sophia watched Matteo's face before she remembered the phone."
"I saw."
"Don't make her see him again until she asks."
"She won't."
May you like
Hannah nodded.
That was the first time she accepted one of his promises without challenging it.
