Chapter 2 - THE DOCTOR WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Nobody moved.
Rain struck the mansion windows in violent sheets.
Outside Luca's bedroom, Dr. Samuel Mercer waited.
Mara could hear the faint click of his shoes against the marble floor.
Daniel's hand moved instinctively toward his jacket.
Luca noticed.
“No weapons.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Boss—”
“No.”
Luca's voice was weak, but it carried authority.
Mara looked at the hidden chamber.
The pump.
The tubes.
The canisters.
The photograph.
Everything suddenly seemed connected.
Dr. Mercer knocked.
“Luca?”
Luca looked at Mara.
She whispered, “Don't tell him what we found.”
Luca nodded.
Daniel quickly pulled the headboard back into place.
Mara replaced the torn wallpaper as best she could.
The hidden tube disappeared behind the furniture.
Daniel closed the service panel.
Then Luca said:
“Come in.”
The door opened.
Dr. Samuel Mercer walked inside carrying a black medical bag.
He was sixty-two, silver-haired, perfectly dressed, and calm.
Far too calm.
His eyes immediately went to the diffuser.
Then to Mara.
Then to the headboard.
Only for a fraction of a second.
But Mara saw it.
Fear.
“You shouldn't be out of bed,” Mercer said.
“I was thirsty.”
“You've been instructed to remain in bed.”
“I wanted air.”
Mercer frowned.
“Windows closed.”
“Why?”
“Your immune system is compromised.”
Mara watched him carefully.
Mercer crossed the room.
He picked up the diffuser.
“Who turned this off?”
“I did,” Mara said.
His eyes sharpened.
“Why?”
“It gives me headaches.”
“It isn't for you.”
“Then who is it for?”
The room became silent.
Mercer smiled.
“Luca's treatment requires a controlled environment.”
Mara held his gaze.
“What treatment?”
“That's between physician and patient.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Not anymore.”
Mercer looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I found equipment inside the wall.”
Mercer's face didn't change.
But his fingers tightened around the diffuser.
Luca saw it.
“So did I,” Luca said.
Mercer slowly put the diffuser down.
“Luca, you're confused.”
“No.”
“You've been ill for months.”
“And you told me I was dying.”
Mercer sighed.
“Because you are.”
Mara felt something inside her go cold.
Mercer continued.
“The neurological deterioration. The cardiac instability. The weakness. Your body is failing.”
“Then why,” Luca asked, “did you install a chemical delivery system behind my bed?”
Mercer stopped breathing for half a second.
Daniel stepped toward him.
Mercer backed away.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Daniel,” Luca said.
The security chief pulled a photograph from his pocket.
The hidden chamber.
The tubing.
The pump.
Mercer stared at it.
Then his expression changed.
Not guilt.
Calculation.
“You shouldn't have opened that wall.”
Luca's eyes hardened.
“Why?”
Mercer didn't answer.
Mara stepped forward.
“Because you knew what was inside.”
Mercer looked at her.
His eyes narrowed.
“You.”
“What about me?”
“You were never supposed to be working upstairs.”
Mara felt the blood drain from her face.
“What does that mean?”
Mercer reached for his phone.
Daniel moved faster.
He grabbed Mercer's wrist.
“Don't.”
Mercer looked at him.
“You have no idea what you're interfering with.”
Luca coughed.
Hard.
His body folded forward.
Mara rushed toward him.
“Luca!”
Mercer smiled.
It was small.
Almost invisible.
But Mara saw it.
The doctor wasn't surprised.
He was satisfied.
That was the moment she knew.
He had done this before.
Maybe many times.
Luca's breathing became ragged.
Mara looked at the diffuser.
Then at Mercer.
“Turn it back on.”
Mercer froze.
“Why?”
“You want him to get worse.”
Mercer's face hardened.
Mara stepped closer.
“So turn it on.”
He didn't.
Daniel understood immediately.
“Everyone out.”
Mercer shook his head.
“You don't understand the consequences.”
“I understand enough.”
Daniel forced him toward the door.
Mercer stopped beside Mara.
He whispered so quietly that Luca couldn't hear.
“Your mother should have kept her mouth shut.”
Mara went completely still.
Mercer walked away.
The door slammed.
Mara stared after him.
Luca looked at her.
“What did he say?”
She didn't answer.
She picked up the photograph.
Her mother's face stared back at her.
Twenty-three years earlier.
Luca's father beside her.
Dr. Mercer beside them.
Why?
And why had her mother warned her about sealed windows?
Mara looked at Luca.
“I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“My mother didn't die from cancer.”
Luca's expression changed.
“What?”
“She was diagnosed with cancer when I was eleven. Three years later, she died.”
“You just said—”
“I believed it.”
Mara turned the photograph over.
“Until tonight.”
There was another line beneath the warning.
It had been hidden under a fold.
Mara carefully flattened the paper.
Her mother's handwriting continued:
If they tell you I was sick, don't believe them.
Luca stared at the sentence.
Daniel pulled out his phone.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“I checked the maintenance records.”
“And?”
“The hidden system wasn't authorized by the mansion.”
“Then who paid for it?”
Daniel looked at Mara.
“The Varelli family trust.”
Silence.
Luca closed his eyes.
“My father died eleven years ago.”
Daniel nodded.
“The payment was made last year.”
Luca opened his eyes.
“By whom?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Your mother.”
Luca's face went completely blank.
“My mother died nine years ago.”
Daniel swallowed.
“That's the problem.”
He held up the phone.
“The payment was made eight months ago.”
Mara whispered:
“Someone is using the identities of dead people.”
Then Luca's phone rang.
The screen displayed an unknown number.
He answered.
Nobody spoke.
Then a woman's voice whispered:
“Luca… don't trust Daniel.”
The line went dead.
Daniel stared at the phone.
May you like
Mara stared at Daniel.
And for the first time that night, Luca looked afraid of the man standing beside him.
