Chapter 3 - THE MAN AT THE GATE
Sal had silver hair.
Perfect suits.
A calm smile.
He carried himself like a man who had spent forty years walking into rooms he believed already belonged to him.
Maya watched him approach.
“I saw him before.”
Luca looked at her.
“Where?”
“At our apartment.”
Elena froze.
“What?”
Maya shrugged.
“A few weeks ago.”
Elena stood.
“You never told me that.”
“I thought he was from work.”
Sal reached the porch before anyone could ask another question.
His smile widened.
“Luca.”
Then he noticed Elena.
Then Maya.
The smile did not disappear.
But it changed.
Only slightly.
Luca noticed.
“So this is the famous child destroying your landscaping.”
Maya frowned.
“I don’t destroy it.”
“You come through a hedge.”
“There’s a gap.”
Sal chuckled.
Luca watched him carefully.
“What brings you here?”
“Business.”
“Call first.”
Sal lifted an eyebrow.
“I’ve been walking into this house without calling for twenty-five years.”
“Things change.”
The silence lasted half a second too long.
Sal looked at Elena.
“Ms. Harper.”
Elena stiffened.
“You know my name?”
“You work in Luca’s home.”
“I know everyone who works here.”
Maya stepped closer to her mother.
Luca saw it.
So did Sal.
“What business?” Luca asked.
“The docks.”
“Not today.”
Sal looked at the wheelchair.
Then at Luca’s face.
“I heard you brought new doctors in.”
There it was.
Too fast.
Too specific.
Luca kept his expression flat.
“You monitor my appointments now?”
“I worry.”
“How touching.”
Sal’s smile disappeared.
Only for a moment.
“I’ve kept this organization standing while you dealt with problems most men wouldn’t survive.”
Luca leaned back.
“And I appreciate that.”
Sal relaxed slightly.
“But my medical decisions remain mine.”
“Of course.”
Sal glanced toward Maya again.
“You should be careful with sudden changes.”
Maya looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Sal smiled at her.
“Adults make complicated decisions.”
Maya’s face remained serious.
“I hate adult answers.”
Luca almost laughed.
Sal did not.
“Inside,” Luca told Marco, who had appeared silently near the doors.
Marco guided Elena and Maya toward the house.
Maya turned once.
She looked at Sal.
Then at Luca.
“I really did see him.”
“I believe you.”
When they were gone, Sal’s face hardened.
“Who is that child?”
“You already know.”
Sal did not answer.
Luca watched him.
“You were at Elena’s apartment.”
Sal’s eyes sharpened.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Maya saw you.”
“Children misunderstand things.”
“She doesn’t.”
Sal walked closer.
“You’ve always had one weakness.”
“What’s that?”
“You confuse instinct with evidence.”
Luca smiled.
“And you confuse my wheelchair with stupidity.”
Sal’s jaw tightened.
Then he laughed.
“That sounded like your father.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Sal placed both hands in his coat pockets.
“The captains are nervous.”
“They shouldn’t be.”
“They hear doctors are coming.”
“They hear old records are being reopened.”
“They hear you’re questioning decisions made twelve years ago.”
Luca looked at him.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“I haven’t told the captains any of that.”
Sal went silent.
A small mistake.
But a mistake.
Luca let him feel it.
“You should go.”
Sal stared at him.
Then turned toward the driveway.
Halfway down the path, he stopped.
He looked back.
“Luca.”
“Yes?”
“Some graves should stay closed.”
Luca’s expression did not change.
“That depends on who put the body there.”
Sal left.
Marco stepped back onto the porch.
“You heard?”
“Every word.”
Marco handed Luca a tablet.
“I found the old medical storage inventory.”
Luca scrolled.
“What am I looking for?”
“Boxes from the year you collapsed.”
“There were seventeen.”
“Yes.”
“Now there are sixteen.”
Luca looked up.
“Which one is missing?”
May you like
Marco’s face tightened.
“The one containing your original blood samples.”
