Chapter 3 - The Tracker in Her Pocket
Emma tore off her coat so fast one sleeve caught around her wrist.
Alexander caught it before it hit the broken glass.
“Don’t touch anything inside.”
“I’m not wearing it for another second.”
Emergency lights flickered red along the diner floor.
Luca used his phone flashlight and checked each pocket with gloved fingers.
He found a second relay beacon sewn beneath the inner lining.
The stitching was neat.
Professional.
Emma stared at it.
“I bought that coat at a thrift store in Milwaukee.”
“When?” Alexander asked.
“Four months ago.”
Vittorio’s eyes hardened.
“Then they have had your trail for at least four months.”
Emma’s knees weakened.
Every apartment she had slept in.
Every bus she had taken.
Every prenatal appointment.
She had not escaped.
She had simply been allowed to move.
Alexander removed his own coat and wrapped it around her shoulders.
She almost refused on instinct.
Then she felt the warmth trapped in the lining and hated how badly she needed it.
A crash sounded from the kitchen.
One of Vittorio’s men spoke through an earpiece.
“Movement in the alley.”
Alexander looked at Luca.
“Customers clear?”
“Last group just crossed the service road.”
“Good.”
Vittorio moved toward the back.
Alexander blocked him.
“You stay where I can see you.”
His father gave him a tired look.
“This is not the evening for wounded pride.”
“This isn’t pride.”
Alexander pointed at Emma.
“She spent seven months believing I ordered her death. You knew she was alive. You let me believe she stole from us. Do not confuse restraint with forgiveness.”
Vittorio’s jaw flexed.
Before he could answer, a shape appeared beyond the rain-streaked kitchen window.
Luca raised his weapon.
“Hold.”
The back door opened.
Pete stumbled inside with his hands raised.
“Don’t shoot. Please don’t shoot.”
His face was gray.
“There’s a guy out there asking for Emma.”
Emma stopped breathing.
“What guy?”
Pete swallowed.
“He says his name is Dr. Nolan.”
Emma’s fingers dug into Alexander’s coat.
Dr. Nolan was her obstetrician.
Alexander saw her face.
“You know him.”
“He’s my doctor.”
Vittorio cursed under his breath.
Luca looked through the back window.
A man in green hospital scrubs stood beneath the alley awning, soaked from the knees down, holding both hands visible.
“He’s alone.”
Emma shook her head.
“He doesn’t even know I work here.”
Alexander opened the door only after two men searched the alley.
Dr. Nolan rushed inside.
“Emma, thank God.”
She recoiled.
“How did you find me?”
He stopped.
“A nurse called me. Someone accessed your chart, then changed your induction order.”
“My what?”
“You don’t have an induction order.”
His words came quickly.
“But the system now says you do. Tomorrow. Six a.m. A private transfer team is scheduled to pick you up.”
Emma’s stomach turned.
“I’m only thirty weeks.”
“I know.”
Alexander’s voice dropped.
“Transfer to where?”
Dr. Nolan looked at him, recognized him, and visibly reconsidered every life choice that had brought him into the diner.
“A private maternity clinic outside Rockford.”
Vittorio spoke from behind Alexander.
“There is no Moretti clinic outside Rockford.”
Dr. Nolan shook his head.
“It’s called Saint Helena Women’s Center.”
Luca was already typing.
He looked up ten seconds later.
“Closed three years ago.”
Nobody spoke.
Emma pressed both hands over her belly.
The baby kicked again.
Hard.
Dr. Nolan stepped closer.
“Are you having contractions?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
He watched her carefully.
“Your pulse is too fast.”
“People keep trying to schedule my kidnapping. I’m doing my best.”
For one split second, the doctor almost smiled.
Then his expression changed.
He noticed the laboratory report on the counter.
“Where did you get that?”
Alexander turned.
“You recognize it?”
Dr. Nolan picked it up.
“This formatting is from Saint Mary’s genetics lab.”
Vittorio folded his arms.
“That is where the sample was processed.”
“No.”
The doctor pointed at a code in the top-right corner.
“This is a fetal anomaly panel, not a paternity panel.”
Alexander stared at him.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning someone changed the labels after the test was run.”
Emma’s eyes went to Vittorio.
He looked genuinely surprised.
That frightened her more than if he had smiled.
Dr. Nolan turned the page over.
“There should be a specimen ID.”
He read it.
Then he went silent.
“What?” Emma asked.
The doctor’s throat worked.
“This specimen isn’t yours.”
Alexander took the page.
“Whose is it?”
“I can’t know from the number alone.”
Luca snapped a photo and sent it to someone.
Thirty seconds later, his phone buzzed.
He read the reply.
His eyes lifted slowly to Alexander.
“The specimen belongs to a male patient.”
Vittorio’s expression went stone still.
Alexander spoke quietly.
“Name.”
Luca swallowed.
“Damien Moretti.”
Emma frowned.
“Why would Damien have a genetic test?”
Nobody answered.
Then Vittorio sat down.
Not slowly.
Not gracefully.
He simply dropped into the nearest booth as if his legs had failed.
Alexander stared at his father.
“You know.”
Vittorio rubbed one hand across his mouth.
“I know why Damien would never want that report compared to yours.”
“Then say it.”
Vittorio looked at Emma first.
Then at Alexander.
“When Damien was born, I was told there had been a mistake at the hospital.”
Alexander’s face emptied.
“What kind of mistake?”
Vittorio’s next words were almost inaudible.
“The kind where a Moretti child went home with the wrong family.”
A phone began ringing on the counter.
It was Emma’s.
Unknown number.
She answered before anyone could stop her.
Marcus’s voice came through the speaker.
“Emma.”
Her blood turned cold.
“You should ask Alexander which baby was switched.”
May you like
Then the line went dead.
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