Chapter 17 - Inside the Rabbit BackpackEmma’s rabbit backpack sat on the hospital chair beside Nathan’s bed.
Pink.
Soft.
Worn at the ears.
A child’s thing.
A hunted thing.
Clara unzipped it with trembling hands while Alejandro, Nathan, and Detective Shaw watched.
Inside were crayons, a small stuffed rabbit, a folded clinic paper, two crackers, and the empty EpiPen case.
Nothing else.
Clara’s heart dropped.
“She lied.”
Emma looked up from Nathan’s lap. “Mommy?”
Clara forced her voice gentle. “Baby, did anyone touch your backpack yesterday?”
Emma thought.
“The pretty lady.”
“Sofia?”
Emma nodded. “She said my rabbit was cute.”
Clara knelt. “Did she put anything in it?”
Emma looked at the backpack.
Then she reached for the left ear.
“My bunny has a secret.”
Clara frowned.
Emma squeezed the ear.
A tiny seam opened.
Clara had never noticed it.
Inside was a memory card no bigger than a fingernail.
Detective Shaw swore softly.
Alejandro looked at Emma. “How did you know?”
Emma shrugged. “I hide stickers there.”
Nathan kissed her hair and closed his eyes.
The footage played twenty minutes later on Detective Shaw’s laptop.
The winter garden appeared under moonlight.
Two men stood beside the marble statue of Saint Michael.
Bruno Ricci.
Senator Thomas Halden.
Halden’s face was unmistakable. Silver hair, expensive coat, television smile turned cruel in private.
There was sound.
Clear enough.
Bruno said, “After Moretti dies, Sofia grieves. I find the documents. You open the investigation. His accounts freeze before the families can respond.”
Halden replied, “And the girl?”
“The maid’s child?”
“She called attention to herself at the clinic last month. Too many records.”
Bruno shrugged. “Then she becomes another tragedy.”
Clara covered her mouth.
Nathan tried to stand.
Alejandro grabbed the back of a chair so hard the wood cracked.
On-screen, Halden said, “No loose ends. I lost one son because you underestimated a child once.”
Kiara.
The room went silent.
Detective Shaw closed the laptop.
“This is enough to burn him.”
Alejandro looked at her.
“No,” he said. “It’s enough to make him desperate.”
At that exact moment, every television in the hospital waiting room changed to breaking news.
Senator Halden stood at a podium.
Behind him was a photo of Alejandro Moretti.
And beside it, a photo of Emma Carter.
The headline read:
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MAFIA BOSS ACCUSED OF USING CHILD IN POISONING HOAX.
Clara screamed.
