Chapter 8 - Someone Inside the Hospital Was Watching
By the time Mommy reached the church doors, three black SUVs had appeared.
So much for invisible security.
Damian was not inside any of them.
That frightened her more than if he had been.
Marco opened the rear door.
“Get in.”
“Where’s Damian?”
“At the house.”
“With the girls?”
“Yes.”
“Are they safe?”
“For now.”
Samantha stepped backward.
“I’m not going.”
Marco looked at her.
“You should.”
“No.”
Mommy grabbed her hand.
“If they know you met me, you’re in danger.”
“I’ve been in danger for seven months.”
“Then stop running alone.”
Samantha hesitated.
Marco said, “Ms. Reed, if Mr. Cross wanted to force you into that car, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
Mommy glared.
“That is not reassuring.”
“It wasn’t intended to be.”
Samantha got in.
They drove.
Damian had discovered the breach thirty seconds after unlocking Evelyn’s files.
Someone using internal credentials had accessed his home security system.
Not the cameras.
Not the doors.
The personnel schedule.
They knew who was working.
Who was armed.
Who was stationed where.
They knew Lily was inside.
Damian immediately changed every guard assignment.
Then he locked down the property.
The stolen credentials belonged to a man named Thomas Keene.
Keene had worked for Damian for six years.
Former military.
Trusted.
Quiet.
He had driven Lily to school.
He had eaten Christmas dinner in Damian’s kitchen.
And according to Evelyn’s files, someone had been paying him through a company connected to Marcus Vale.
When confronted, Keene denied everything.
Then he ran.
He made it as far as the garage.
Damian caught him there.
No shouting.
No dramatic fight.
Just Damian standing between Keene and the exit.
Keene stopped.
“You going to kill me?”
Damian’s face showed nothing.
“No.”
Keene almost looked disappointed.
“Then you’ve changed.”
“Yes.”
“Your father wouldn’t have.”
“My father is dead.”
“And his enemies aren’t.”
Damian stepped closer.
“Did you give Vale access to my security?”
Keene looked away.
“Thomas.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Money.”
“Not good enough.”
“It was for me.”
“No.”
Damian knew him.
“Who?”
Keene’s jaw tightened.
Damian understood.
“Your son.”
Keene’s eyes changed.
His eighteen-year-old son had been arrested the previous year.
Damian had helped keep him out of prison.
But there were other debts.
Gambling.
Private loans.
Vale owned them.
“He said he’d hurt Nathan,” Keene whispered.
“You should have come to me.”
“I was ashamed.”
“You endangered my daughter.”
“I never gave him anything about Lily.”
“You gave him my security.”
“I thought it was business.”
Damian’s restraint cracked.
“Everything around me is about Lily.”
Keene lowered his eyes.
“What did Vale want?”
“Your movements. Meetings. Travel.”
“And Anna?”
“I didn’t know about her until yesterday.”
“What happened yesterday?”
“Vale called.”
Damian went still.
“What did he say?”
“That the nurse found Evelyn’s drive.”
“How would he know?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Vale?”
“I swear I don’t know.”
“Caleb?”
“Vale uses him.”
“For what?”
“Messages. Pressure.”
“Did Caleb kill Evelyn?”
Keene looked up.
“No.”
“You know that?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because Vale was furious when she died.”
Damian stared.
“What?”
“He wanted her alive.”
“Why?”
“She had something.”
“The drive?”
“No.”
“What?”
Keene shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Damian remembered the brass key.
417-B.
The drive.
The music box.
Maybe there was still another piece.
When Mommy returned, she ran directly inside.
She found me in the library eating crackers with Lily.
She hugged me so tightly I complained.
“I can’t breathe.”
She loosened her arms.
“Sorry.”
“You always say that and then squeeze harder.”
Lily giggled.
Damian stood at the doorway.
His eyes met Mommy’s.
She walked toward him.
“Keene?”
“Contained.”
“What does that mean?”
“Waiting for police.”
She searched his face.
“You called the police?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Try not to sound surprised.”
“I’m adjusting.”
Samantha was brought inside.
When she saw Lily, she stopped.
Lily looked at her.
“You worked at the hospital.”
Samantha’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“Were you my nurse?”
“No, sweetheart.”
“Did you give me the music box?”
Samantha froze.
Everyone noticed.
Mommy stepped closer.
“Samantha?”
She looked at Lily.
“No.”
“Do you know who did?”
Samantha’s breathing changed.
“Yes.”
Damian’s voice became very quiet.
“Who?”
Samantha sat down.
“You won’t like the answer.”
“Tell me anyway.”
She looked at Lily again.
“Dr. Nora Whitcomb.”
The pediatric fellow.
The doctor who ordered Lily’s toxicology screen.
Mommy frowned.
“Why?”
“I think she knew something was wrong before anyone else did.”
“Then why hide evidence in a child’s music box?”
“She needed to get it out of the hospital.”
Damian folded his arms.
“Why not go to police?”
“She tried.”
Everyone went still.
“What happened?” Mommy asked.
“She contacted a detective.”
“Name?”
“Daniel Mercer.”
Marco immediately started searching.
Samantha continued.
“Two days later, Hale knew about it.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was Mercer corrupt?” Damian asked.
“I thought so.”
“Thought?”
“He disappeared too.”
Mommy stared.
“How many people disappeared around this hospital?”
“Enough that I ran.”
Damian looked toward Marco.
“Find Mercer.”
Marco nodded.
Samantha reached into her bag again.
“I kept one thing.”
She pulled out a photocopy.
A personnel access log.
Someone had entered Room 417 seventeen minutes before Lily’s first cardiac event.
Mommy scanned it.
One badge.
Dr. Nora Whitcomb.
Another.
Dr. Warren Hale.
And a third.
No name.
Administrative override.
Damian pointed.
“Who had that access?”
“Only four executives.”
“Could Vale?”
“Not officially.”
Mommy studied the times.
Then frowned.
“This is wrong.”
“What?” Damian asked.
“Nora couldn’t have entered at 10:14.”
“Why?”
“She was with me.”
Samantha blinked.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. We were admitting a child down the hall. She didn’t leave until after ten-thirty.”
“So someone used her badge.”
Mommy nodded.
Damian’s eyes hardened.
“To make it look like she entered Lily’s room.”
“Which may be why she ran.”
Samantha shook her head.
“Then who actually went inside?”
They checked old camera records.
Most had been deleted.
But Evelyn had saved one still.
A person wearing hospital scrubs entered 417 at 10:14.
Face turned away.
Height approximately six feet.
Male.
A watch visible beneath the sleeve.
Mommy stared at it.
Damian did too.
The watch was distinctive.
Square black face.
Silver band.
He had seen one just like it.
On Caleb Voss.
Damian stood.
“It was him.”
Mommy looked sick.
“What did he do in that room?”
Nobody knew.
But Lily, who had been quietly coloring at the table, suddenly spoke.
“The orange juice.”
Every adult turned.
Damian crouched.
“What orange juice, bug?”
“At the hospital.”
“What about it?”
Lily looked confused by all the attention.
“The man spilled it.”
Mommy came closer.
“What man?”
“I don’t remember.”
“What happened?”
“He brought my juice.”
Damian’s face drained.
“Nurses brought your drinks.”
Lily shook her head.
“No. The man did.”
Mommy knelt.
“Sweetheart, do you remember what he looked like?”
Lily squeezed her crayon.
“He had blue clothes.”
“Scrubs?”
“Yes.”
“Did you drink the juice?”
“A little.”
“And then?”
Lily thought.
“My heart hurt.”
Nobody moved.
Samantha covered her mouth.
Damian slowly stood.
His eyes had become terrifyingly calm.
Caleb Voss had entered Room 417 disguised in scrubs.
He had brought Lily a drink.
Minutes later, she became critically ill.
But before Damian could say anything, Marco’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed immediately.
“We found Dr. Whitcomb.”
Mommy stood.
“Where?”
Marco looked at Damian.
“She’s been living under another name in Maine.”
“Can we contact her?”
“We already did.”
“And?”
Marco hesitated.
“She said she’ll talk.”
Mommy exhaled.
Then Marco added:
“But she wants police present.”
Damian nodded.
“Good.”
“There’s one more thing.”
“What?”
“She said she knows what Caleb put in Lily’s orange juice.”
The room went silent.
May you like
“And she says it wasn’t meant to kill her.”
---
