Chapter 8 - THE MAN AT THE GATE
Gabriel intercepted the visitor before he reached the house. The man's identification named him Owen Pike, a process server. The badge on his dashboard belonged to a private security firm contracted by Luca.
"Mr. Pike," Gabriel asked, "what business do you have with Rosa?"
"Wrong address," Pike said. He turned the car around so fast its tires spat gravel.
That night, Gabriel showed Marina something else: the hallway camera outside her room had been connected to a separate recorder in Luca's office.
"Why didn't you tell Dante sooner?" she asked.
"Because Luca pays my sister's medical bills. Her son is sick. He said if I lost his trust, their coverage disappeared."
Marina felt anger rise, then saw the shame in his face.
"That doesn't excuse the camera."
"I know. I took it down. I kept the original recording and the access logs. I'll give them to investigators."
"Tell Dante. Not after we need you. Now."
In the study Gabriel confessed everything. Dante listened without interrupting.
"You let someone spy on the people in my home," he finally said.
"Yes."
"Then your badge stays on this table until you decide whose safety matters more than your paycheck."
Gabriel placed it down. "I'm sorry."
After he left, Dante opened a photograph of himself standing beside Luca as boys at a summer carnival.
"I thought he'd run the company until I got better. Not make sure I never did."
Marina touched the desk, not his hand. "We have a witness willing to speak. That's something."
A sharp alarm sounded from the treatment wing.
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When they arrived, the door was wide open and every medication shelf had been emptied.
On the floor, beside a broken lamp, lay Rosa's silver hair clip.
