Chapter 5 - The Nurse Who Noticed Everything
Victor recovered quickly.
“Elias North?”
Octavio watched him.
“Consultant.”
“I know dozens of consultants.”
“Neurology.”
Victor glanced toward Dr. Ward.
“I don't involve myself in medical staffing.”
Mina said,
“You signed his authorization.”
Victor looked at her.
“Did I?”
“Yes.”
“Then my office probably processed it.”
“Your signature.”
“My signature appears on thousands of documents.”
Mina had seen men like Victor before.
Not criminals necessarily.
Administrators.
Attorneys.
Surgeons.
People who survived pressure by answering questions without giving answers.
Victor was excellent at it.
But Mina had one advantage.
She spent her life watching people while they were afraid.
Victor was afraid.
Not visibly.
Not enough for Gabriel to accuse him.
But his pulse moved rapidly near his collar.
His breathing had shortened.
And he kept avoiding the syringe evidence bag on the counter.
Octavio remained silent.
Victor finally moved beside the window.
“Seven months, Tav.”
Mina noticed the nickname.
“You know what it was like?”
Octavio said nothing.
“Every morning I expected a phone call telling me you were gone.”
Victor turned.
“I kept everything together.”
“I know.”
“I protected the companies. Your people. Your family.”
Octavio’s expression became difficult to read.
Victor stepped closer.
“Whatever Gabriel is whispering into your ear, remember who stood beside you for thirty years.”
Gabriel stiffened.
Octavio looked from one man to the other.
Then he said,
“Leave.”
Victor frowned.
“Tav—”
“Leave.”
For the first time, anger showed.
Victor’s jaw tightened.
Then he nodded.
“Rest.”
He turned toward Mina.
“Nurse.”
She held his gaze.
He left.
Gabriel waited until the elevator doors closed.
“He knows.”
Octavio replied,
“Yes.”
Mina looked at him.
“You're certain?”
“No.”
“Then why say yes?”
“Because he called me Tav.”
Mina frowned.
“So?”
“He hasn't called me that since we were twenty.”
Gabriel’s expression changed.
“He was performing grief.”
Octavio nodded.
A terrible sadness entered his face.
Mina understood.
Victor had rehearsed the emotional reunion.
He had reached backward for a nickname he thought would create intimacy.
Instead, it created suspicion.
Mina sat beside the bed.
“What happened between you?”
Octavio looked at the ceiling.
“Life.”
That was not an answer.
She waited.
Maybe because he was tired, or maybe because she had already seen him at his most vulnerable, Octavio continued.
“We grew up four blocks apart. His father drank. Mine disappeared.”
“You raised yourselves.”
“Mostly.”
“You became partners.”
“Brothers.”
The word hurt him.
“He ever betray you before?”
“No.”
“Then don’t decide yet.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“You were suspicious of him ten minutes ago.”
“I still am.”
“Then—”
“Suspicion isn't proof.”
Octavio looked at her.
“That's why you kept notes.”
“Yes.”
“Instead of accusations.”
“Yes.”
He studied her for several seconds.
“What?”
Mina asked.
“Nothing.”
“That wasn't nothing.”
“You notice things.”
“That’s my job.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“It's who you are.”
For reasons she did not understand, the observation unsettled her more than the gun had.
She stood.
“You need sleep.”
“So do you.”
“I’m not the patient.”
“You look worse.”
Mina laughed once despite herself.
“You've been unconscious seven months and you're criticizing my appearance?”
His eyes almost smiled.
Gabriel looked uncomfortable.
“I'm going to pretend I wasn't here.”
Mina finally went home under guard.
Not because she wanted protection.
Because Gabriel informed her that Octavio would refuse medication unless he knew she had security.
She called it emotional blackmail.
Gabriel called it efficient management.
Her apartment showed no sign of forced entry.
That frightened her more.
Whoever photographed her door had not needed to enter.
They wanted her to know they could.
She packed a bag.
Clothes.
Toiletries.
Laptop.
Her photographs and documents were transferred to an encrypted drive.
Gabriel arranged a hotel under another name.
Before leaving, Mina stood alone in her kitchen.
Her life looked exactly as it had the day before.
Coffee cup beside the sink.
Mail on the counter.
A plant she kept forgetting to water.
Everything normal.
Except normal had ended at 2:47 a.m.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Mina stared.
Then answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
“Who is this?”
A voice replied.
Female.
Shaking.
“Mina?”
She recognized it.
“Lauren?”
The missing pharmacy technician began crying.
“Oh God.”
“Lauren, where are you?”
“I didn't know.”
“Didn't know what?”
“What they were going to do.”
Mina moved toward the window.
“Tell me where you are.”
“I can't.”
“Lauren, the police are looking for you.”
“I know.”
“You used my badge.”
“They made me.”
“Who?”
Silence.
“Lauren.”
“If I tell you, they'll kill my brother.”
Mina's anger softened.
“What did they make you do?”
“Delete orders. Replace medication labels. Change audit entries.”
“Did you give anyone medication?”
“No. Never. I swear.”
“Then why tonight?”
“They said I had to erase the pharmacy trail.”
“Who said?”
Lauren sobbed.
Mina kept her voice calm.
“You called me for a reason.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I saw something.”
“What?”
“The night Mr. Rain was brought in.”
Mina stopped breathing.
“You were here?”
“I was working agency shifts before they hired me permanently.”
“What did you see?”
“A man come into the trauma bay.”
“Who?”
“He wasn't a doctor.”
“Lauren.”
“He leaned over Mr. Rain while everyone was dealing with another emergency.”
Mina gripped the phone.
“What did he do?”
“He took something from Mr. Rain’s coat.”
“What?”
“A flash drive.”
Mina remembered the original reports.
Octavio had been carrying documents from a business meeting when the SUV was attacked.
“Who took it?”
Lauren whispered,
“Victor Rane.”
The line went dead.
Mina stared at the phone.
Then a sound came from the hallway.
Her guard called out.
“Ms. Strand, stay inside.”
Another voice.
A struggle.
Mina moved backward.
The door handle turned.
Locked.
Then stopped.
Her phone vibrated.
A message from Gabriel.
DO NOT LEAVE THE APARTMENT.
Another message appeared immediately.
VICTOR NEVER LEFT THE HOSPITAL.
Mina frowned.
Then who was outside her door?
A man’s voice spoke softly from the hallway.
“Mina Strand?”
She did not answer.
“We only want the photographs.”
Her blood ran cold.
They knew.
Somehow, they knew about the backup.
Mina quietly moved toward the fire escape window.
Outside, Chicago stretched beneath a gray morning sky.
Behind her, the lock began to move.
And forty minutes away, in Room 1208, Octavio Rain was about to discover that protecting Mina Strand would require more than guards.
May you like
Because the people hunting her were no longer hiding.
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