Chapter 6 - The Traitor's Nest
Twelve hours later, Bruno's lead vehicle returned, sliding to a halt in the courtyard.
Within minutes, Bruno dragged a dismayed, shivering woman into the grand foyer. It was Mrs. Gable, the permanent night nurse. Her hair was disheveled, her coat half-zipped, and her face pale with absolute terror as she was shoved onto her knees in front of the marble fireplace.
"Please!" Mrs. Gable wept, clutching at her coat. "Please, Mr. Marchetti, I didn't mean to kill him! They made me do it!"
Rocco stepped forward, looking down at her like an executioner inspecting a condemned criminal. "Who made you do it?"
"I don't know his name!" she sobbed. "A man in a gray suit. He gave me twenty thousand dollars in cash and said if I didn't put the drops in the humidifier, my daughter's gambling debts would be exposed and she'd go to federal prison. He said it would only make the baby sick, just enough to make you look for a new medical staff!"
Arya stepped out from the shadows of the staircase, her eyes narrowing. "A gray suit? Did he leave a business card? A burner phone?"
Mrs. Gable shook her head frantically. "No! But... but he had a distinctive cufflink. Silver, shaped like a serpent eating its tail. And... and he mentioned he flew in from Baltimore on private charter."
Arya's breath caught in her throat.
capital.
The serpent cufflink. There was only one man in the entire medical and corporate elite of Baltimore who wore that exact custom-made heirloom piece.
"Dr. Richard Sterling," Arya whispered, the name dropping like a lead weight in the room.
Rocco his turned head slowly to look at her. "Your former chief of surgery?"
"He didn't just frame me to cover up a bad clinical trial," Arya realized, the terrifying puzzle pieces finally snapping together in her mind. "When I disappeared, my research papers and proprietary valve designs were locked in my secure home vault. Sterling couldn't access them without my biometric key."
"And how does my son fit into a medical patent war?" Rocco asked, his voice dangerously low.
"Because six months ago, you invested fifty million dollars in pediatric biomedical research through an anonymous venture fund," Arya said, her eyes widening as she connected the financial dots. "Sterling's startup company was trying to secure that exact funding to save his failing venture. But your background check requirements were sententious—you only wanted to invest in projects with unblemished ethical histories. If Sterling wanted your money, he had to eliminate any competition..."
"...or leverage me," Rocco finished for her, a dark, terrifying grin spreading across his face. "If my son fell critically ill and was saved by a miracle pediatric surgeon trained under Sterling's former staff... Sterling planned to step in as my personal medical consultant, win my trust, and secure the fifty-million-dollar investment."
He looked down at Mrs. Gable, who was shaking uncontrollably.
"Bruno," Rocco said softly.
May you like
"Boss?"
"Lock her in the basement holding room until local authorities arrive to pick her up on attempted murder charges," Rocco ordered. Then, he turned to Arya, extending his hand. "Pack a bag, Dr. Vance. We're going to Baltimore."
