Chapter 5 - The Badge That Opened Every Door
Renzo did not enter.
He stood outside the glass wall for nearly a minute, looking at Luca.
Then he slowly removed the black badge from his neck.
He placed it on the security desk.
Marco watched him do it.
“Why?” he asked through the intercom.
Renzo replied, “Because every person wearing one has become a question.”
Luca closed his eyes.
Tessa checked his blood pressure.
“Enough investigation for now.”
Marco’s attention remained on Renzo.
“I need answers.”
“And he needs oxygen.”
Luca opened one eye.
Tessa pointed at him.
“Don’t start.”
The corner of his mouth moved faintly.
It was the first sign of humor she had seen.
For some reason, that tiny expression affected her more than it should have.
She stepped back.
“Sleep.”
Luca stared at her.
“Now.”
His eyes closed.
Marco muttered, “Nobody talks to him like that.”
“Maybe that’s part of the problem.”
Marco actually smiled.
While Luca rested, hospital security reconstructed the path of the duplicated badge.
At 1:54 a.m., it had opened the employee entrance.
At 2:03, the surgical supply corridor.
At 2:27, the equipment room.
At 2:41, the ventilator closet.
At 3:46, the service elevator.
At 3:49, Luca’s floor.
The false physician had known exactly where he was going.
But one detail bothered Tessa.
“Why the supply corridor?”
Marco looked at her.
“What?”
“He entered the building at 1:54. He didn’t touch the ventilator until 2:41. What happened during the thirty-seven minutes between?”
Security had no answer.
So Tessa asked the hospital technician to pull additional camera angles.
At first they found nothing.
Then one hallway camera showed the false physician entering a medication preparation room.
He remained there for eleven minutes.
When he emerged, he carried nothing.
Tessa froze the image.
“He prepared the syringe inside the hospital.”
Marco nodded slowly.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning whoever sent him didn’t need to smuggle medication past security.”
She turned to the pharmacist.
“What medication did the syringe contain?”
The pharmacist named it.
Tessa’s stomach tightened.
“Is it stocked here?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Automated dispensing cabinets.”
“Access controlled?”
“Always.”
Marco understood.
“Another badge.”
“Not enough,” Tessa said. “Medication cabinets require a badge and personal credentials.”
The pharmacist checked the log.
Her face changed.
“What?”
“The drug was removed at 2:11 a.m.”
“By whom?”
She swallowed.
“Tessa Morgan.”
The room went silent.
Tessa stared at her.
“That’s impossible.”
Marco’s expression became unreadable.
“I never entered that medication room.”
The pharmacist turned the screen toward them.
The log showed her name.
Her employee number.
Her credential.
2:11 a.m.
Medication removed.
Tessa felt suddenly cold.
Someone had not merely gained access to Luca.
They had prepared a trail.
A trail that led directly to her.
Marco took one step back.
Tessa noticed.
“Don’t.”
He looked at her.
“Don’t what?”
“Start looking at me like I’m suddenly the obvious answer.”
“The record—”
“Can be manipulated. You already have duplicated badges.”
“Credentials are different.”
“I know.”
Marco’s jaw tightened.
Tessa’s fear became anger.
“I was in another patient’s room at 2:11.”
“Proof?”
“Yes.”
She marched toward the nursing station.
The electronic chart showed a medication administration she had documented at 2:09.
Not enough.
Documentation could be entered remotely.
Then she remembered.
Room 714 had required a bedside barcode scan.
The hospital system logged the scanner location.
The IT technician checked.
At 2:10:52, Tessa’s credentials were used physically in Room 714.
At 2:11:08, the same credentials removed medication forty yards away.
Sixteen seconds.
Impossible.
Marco looked at her.
“I’m sorry.”
“Save it.”
She was trembling now.
Not from fear.
From the realization of how carefully someone had planned this.
They had intended Luca to die.
Then intended suspicion to fall on the temporary nurse caring for him.
Tessa.
The disposable employee.
The woman without permanent relationships at the hospital.
The person easiest to explain away.
Marco saw something on her face.
“Tessa.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.”
“Don’t analyze me.”
“I’m not.”
“Good.”
She walked back toward Luca’s room.
Marco followed.
“Why would they choose you?”
Tessa stopped.
“Because I was convenient.”
The word hurt.
For years she had made herself temporary deliberately.
No attachments.
No roots.
No expectations.
For the first time, she saw the danger in being forgettable.
If Luca had died and the electronic record implicated her, how many people would have fought to prove she hadn’t done it?
Very few.
Perhaps nobody.
Inside the room, Luca was awake.
His eyes moved from her to Marco.
He knew immediately something was wrong.
Tessa began checking his IV.
Luca reached toward the communication board.
She tried to ignore him.
He tapped the board.
T.
E.
S.
S.
A.
“Yes?”
He pointed.
W.
H.
A.
T.
She hesitated.
Marco answered.
“Someone used her credentials.”
Luca’s entire body seemed to sharpen.
Tessa watched his pulse climb.
“Calm down.”
He spelled:
W.
H.
O.
“We don’t know.”
He pointed toward the door.
Then spelled:
S.
T.
A.
Y.
Tessa frowned.
“Stay?”
Luca blinked.
“You want Marco to stay?”
No blink.
He pointed at her.
Then spelled it again.
S.
T.
A.
Y.
The meaning reached her slowly.
He wanted Tessa to stay.
Marco looked away, perhaps to hide amusement.
Tessa folded her arms.
“I have twelve minutes left in my shift.”
Luca stared at her.
“That look won’t work.”
He continued staring.
“You’re medically stable enough for another qualified nurse.”
His jaw tightened.
“Tessa,” Marco said.
“Don’t help him.”
Luca lifted the board again.
S.
A.
F.
E.
Tessa’s humor disappeared.
He pointed at her.
Then at himself.
SAFE.
The man who controlled hundreds of people, guards, drivers, businesses and alliances believed he was safest with a temporary nurse he had known less than one night.
Tessa looked down.
Something about that terrified her more than threats.
Attachments created promises.
Promises created responsibility.
Responsibility made leaving harder.
She had built her life to avoid exactly this.
Marco’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
Then his expression went completely still.
“What?” Tessa asked.
“They found Adrian.”
Luca’s eyes sharpened.
“Where?”
Marco looked at him.
“His apartment.”
“Alive?” Tessa asked.
Marco hesitated.
“Yes.”
Relief crossed Luca’s face.
Then Marco continued.
“But someone tore the place apart.”
Luca stopped breathing for one beat.
Marco lowered the phone.
“And Adrian is gone.”
Tessa looked toward the black badge sitting on the security desk.
Someone had tried to frame her.
Someone might also be framing Luca’s oldest friend.
The traitor was no longer simply attacking Luca.
May you like
They were deciding who everyone should distrust.
And they were very good at it.
