Chapter 4 - THE ROOM BENEATH THE HOSPITAL
I reached the abandoned facility before the sun came up.
The building smelled of damp concrete, disinfectant, and something metallic that made my stomach turn. Thomas met me near the rear entrance, his expression grim.
“We found traces of blood,” he said. “Not enough to determine whose.”
I pushed past him.
The underground medical room was colder than the hallway above. Stainless-steel equipment stood beside a narrow bed. A heart monitor blinked beside an empty oxygen tank.
Someone had been treating a patient here.
Someone had left in a hurry.
I spotted a bracelet beneath the bed.
A thin silver chain with a tiny moon-shaped charm.
Evelyn had bought it during our first vacation together.
I sank to my knees and picked it up.
“She was here.”
Thomas crouched beside me.
“Yes.”
I closed my fist around the bracelet.
“Then we're close.”
We searched every room. In a locked office, Thomas discovered a collection of medical records documenting patients who had been admitted under false names. Several files had been altered, but one contained Evelyn's photograph.
The notes were brief.
Patient conscious. Memory intact. Refuses to disclose location of evidence.
Then, three days later:
Patient transferred under private authorization.
Destination withheld.
The authorization bore Adrian Vale's signature.
I photographed every page.
“Can you trace the transfer?” I asked.
“I'm working on it.”
A noise came from upstairs.
We both froze.
Thomas drew his weapon.
“Stay behind me.”
Footsteps moved through the corridor.
A man's voice called out.
“Dr. Cross? You in there?”
Thomas motioned for me to move toward the side door.
Then a gunshot rang out.
The sound came from the stairwell.
Thomas pushed me behind a concrete pillar just as a bullet struck the wall.
Three men entered the room.
I recognized the leader immediately.
Michael.
My younger brother looked thinner than I remembered. His expensive suit was wrinkled, his hair disheveled, and a fresh cut crossed his cheek.
He held a pistol in one hand.
“Daniel,” he said, almost sadly. “You really should have stayed away.”
I stepped out from behind the pillar.
“Where is my wife?”
Michael's face tightened.
“I don't know.”
“Don't lie to me.”
“I don't know where she is now!”
His voice cracked on the final word.
For a moment, I saw the little boy who used to hide behind me whenever our father shouted. Then the memory disappeared, replaced by the man who had sold his own family for money.
“Why did you give Adrian access to our security system?”
Michael lowered his gun slightly.
“He promised me it would be temporary.”
“You helped him destroy my life.”
“He said he only wanted the company!”
“And Evelyn?”
Michael looked away.
That was answer enough.
I lunged toward him.
Thomas shouted my name, but I was already moving. Michael stumbled backward, and the gun fell from his hand.
We crashed into a metal cabinet.
I struck him once.
Then again.
“You let them take her!”
Michael covered his face.
“I didn't know they were going to hurt her!”
I grabbed his shirt.
“What did you do?”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I gave Adrian the access codes. That's all. He said he needed to retrieve documents from your office. I didn't know Evelyn was there.”
I released him.
“What night?”
“The night she disappeared.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Michael looked at me desperately.
“She called me from the car. She said Adrian's men were following her. I told her to go to the police.”
“But you didn't.”
He shook his head.
“I was afraid. Adrian said he'd send me to prison if I spoke. He had recordings of me discussing the transfers.”
I wanted to hate him.
It would have been easier than facing the possibility that my brother was both a traitor and a coward who had been manipulated by a man more ruthless than himself.
Thomas secured Michael's hands with plastic restraints.
“We're taking you in.”
Michael didn't resist.
As Thomas led him toward the stairs, Michael suddenly turned back.
“Daniel!”
I looked at him.
“Evelyn left you something. Adrian doesn't know I kept it.”
“What?”
“A key. She gave it to me before everything happened.”
He struggled to reach into his pocket, but Thomas stopped him and retrieved a small envelope.
Inside was a brass key with a blue ribbon.
And a note in Evelyn's handwriting.
If Daniel finds me, tell him the truth about our daughter.
I read the sentence twice.
Then a third time.
Our daughter?
Evelyn and I had never had a child.
May you like
At least, that was what she had told me.
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