Chapter 1

Five years after I inherited the Vitali Family, Aurora Wing opened its third maternity center.

Alba was five.

She was the first abandoned newborn registered under the foundation, and the only child who had ever walked into my office without knocking.

That morning, she stole a strawberry from my breakfast plate and left for school with two guards.

At 8:17, Matteo entered the library without knocking.

“The school car never arrived.”

I stood.

He placed three photographs on the desk.

The first showed the armored car under an overpass.

The second showed both guards dead in the front seats.

The third showed Alba’s red backpack on the road.

“No ransom call,” Matteo said. “No message.”

“Traffic cameras?”

“Erased from three intersections.”

“Ports.”

“We’re checking.”

I removed the Vitali ring from my finger and handed it to him.

“Seal every private runway from Florence to Naples. Nobody leaves Italy with a child.”

My phone rang.

A distorted voice said, “Don Vitali, your daughter is already at sea.”

The call ended.

Matteo traced it for eleven seconds.

“Burner. Bari.”

A shipping manifest appeared on his tablet.

One refrigerated container had left Bari under a false medical license.

Destination: Piraeus, Greece.

Owner of the receiving terminal: Drakos Maritime.

Matteo looked at me.

“Nikos Drakos controls that port.”

I put the ring back on.

“Prepare the plane.”