Chapter 3 - My Mother Knew His Father
Mom refused to explain until we locked every door.
That should have told me enough.
Twenty years earlier, Eleanor Hart had been a billing supervisor at St. Vincent Medical Center.
Carlo Moretti sat on the hospital foundation board.
Salvatore Moretti controlled a medical-supply company that sold products to the hospital.
"I found invoices," Mom said. "Huge ones. Supplies that never arrived. Drug charges that didn't match inventory."
Adrian leaned forward.
"What company?"
"Bellador Medical."
His face changed.
"My uncle owned Bellador through a trust."
Mom nodded.
She had reported the numbers internally.
Carlo Moretti appeared before the police did.
He had already found evidence that Salvatore was using hospital contracts to move money.
"Your father gave me copies and told me to leave town for a while," Mom said. "He promised he'd handle Salvatore."
"Did he?"
"For a time."
Then, years later, Carlo died in a highway crash.
Adrian's voice turned flat.
"The police ruled it an accident."
Mom looked at him.
"I know."
I hated the silence that followed.
Then I thought about the medication reaction.
"Bellador still exists?"
Adrian checked his phone.
"Not under that name."
Dr. Rice had left the treatment package from Mom's infusion in a sealed bag.
I brought it to the table.
The distributor label read Meridian Therapeutics.
Adrian searched corporate records.
Meridian's parent company was registered in Delaware.
The ownership trail disappeared into a holding company.
He called someone.
Thirty seconds later, he ended the call.
"Meridian is connected to Salvatore."
My stomach turned.
Mom's reaction suddenly felt less random.
"Are you saying your uncle tried to poison my mother?"
"No," Adrian said immediately. "I'm saying we don't know enough."
Then Mom pushed herself up from the chair.
"There is something you should see."
She went upstairs and returned with a sealed brown envelope.
Across the front, in faded ink, were four words.
FOR CARLO MORETTI'S SON.
Adrian stared at it.
"How long have you had that?"
May you like
Mom answered quietly.
"Since the week your father died.
