Chapter 3 - The Student They Needed to Discredit
Vale recovered quickly.
“Sadie.”
His voice was warm enough to fool anyone who had never been trapped across a conference table from him.
“Dr. Vale.”
Dominic stepped between them without touching either person.
Vale noticed.
“Mr. Castile.”
“Doctor.”
Rosa said, “Stephen, this is not a good time.”
“I heard you were injured.”
“You heard quickly.”
Vale smiled. “Hospital gossip.”
Sadie watched his eyes move to her bandaged hands.
“Another accident?”
The word landed deliberately.
Sadie felt herself becoming twenty-four again.
Tired.
Ashamed.
Defending herself to people who had already chosen what to believe.
Then Dominic said, “Careful.”
Vale looked at him.
“Excuse me?”
“You know exactly what you are doing.”
Vale’s expression remained polite.
“I’m checking on an old student.”
“You’re provoking her.”
Sadie touched Dominic’s sleeve.
“Don’t.”
He looked at her.
“This is mine.”
He stepped back.
Sadie faced Vale.
“You said I stole medication.”
“I said the access logs raised concerns.”
“You recommended dismissal.”
“A committee made that decision.”
“You chaired the committee.”
Vale sighed.
“Sadie, if you want to revisit old grievances, there are procedures.”
“I want to know what I saw.”
For the first time, his eyes changed.
Only slightly.
Enough.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Rosa said, “I do.”
Vale turned.
Rosa stared at him.
“You called me.”
His jaw tightened.
“I have made many calls.”
“Not like that one.”
Dominic quietly took out his phone.
Vale noticed.
“Are you recording?”
Dominic answered, “Yes.”
“Then I’m leaving.”
“Good,” Sadie said.
Vale looked at her.
For one moment, the kindness vanished.
“You always were impulsive.”
Sadie smiled.
“And you always confuse poor with powerless.”
Vale walked out.
Dominic’s gaze followed him.
“Carmine.”
Carmine was already moving.
Sadie grabbed Dominic’s arm.
“No intimidation.”
He looked down at her hand.
“What?”
“No men following him home. No threats. No mysterious broken windows.”
Dominic seemed offended.
“I was going to have Carmine identify his car.”
“Legally?”
Carmine looked at the ceiling.
Dominic said, “Fine.”
Sadie narrowed her eyes.
“Say it like you mean it.”
“Legally.”
Rosa laughed until she coughed.
Later, Sadie tried to reconstruct the rotation Vale had referenced.
Two years earlier, she spent three nights assisting on patient transfers between St. Catherine’s and a private rehabilitation facility.
On the second night, North Shore Medical Transport delivered a man who was not listed on the digital schedule.
He had a wound near his ribs.
No police report.
No insurance information.
The paperwork used a false name.
Sadie remembered because the man had grabbed her wrist while half-conscious.
He whispered, “Castile.”
She had thought he was asking for someone.
The next morning, Vale ordered her to forget the transfer.
Two days later, the fentanyl disappeared.
Sadie stared at Dominic.
“That man was connected to you.”
“Maybe.”
She gave him a look.
He corrected himself.
“Probably.”
“Who?”
Dominic asked for the date.
Carmine checked old records.
The answer came back in ten minutes.
A Castile lieutenant named Anthony Ferretti.
Missing for two years.
Sadie felt sick.
“What happened to him?”
“We thought he ran.”
“Maybe he didn’t.”
Dominic’s face darkened.
Carmine said, “Ferretti had been investigating Moretti payments through the docks.”
Rosa closed her eyes.
“God.”
Sadie looked at her.
“What?”
Rosa whispered, “Anthony came to me.”
Dominic turned.
“When?”
“A week before he disappeared.”
“What did he say?”
“That someone inside our family was selling names.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Who?”
“He did not know.”
Sadie asked, “And Vale?”
Rosa looked at her.
“Vale treated him because Anthony didn’t trust the usual doctors.”
That connected everything.
Anthony arrived secretly.
Sadie saw him.
Vale panicked.
A medication accusation destroyed Sadie’s credibility.
Anthony disappeared.
North Shore remained untouched.
And now a vehicle from the same company had been outside Sadie’s apartment.
Dominic wanted to move her to his penthouse.
Sadie refused.
They compromised on Rosa’s temporary residence in a secure hotel suite while her house was repaired.
Rosa was delighted.
“I always wanted a daughter.”
Sadie pointed at her.
“Do not start.”
Dominic actually laughed.
That night, Sadie could not sleep.
She stood by the hotel window looking over Chicago.
Dominic appeared in the doorway.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Useful answer.”
She glanced at him.
“You steal lines from women often?”
“Only the good ones.”
She returned to the window.
“What happened to Anthony?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does that bother you?”
“Yes.”
“You hide it well.”
“That is not a compliment.”
“No.”
Silence stretched.
Sadie finally asked, “Why do people fear you?”
Dominic did not pretend not to understand.
“Because I have done things worth fearing.”
She looked at him.
“What things?”
His eyes met hers.
“Things I will not romanticize for you.”
That answer mattered.
She asked, “Do you regret them?”
“Some.”
“Only some?”
“All would be dishonest.”
Sadie appreciated the honesty and hated the content.
“You are complicated.”
“So are you.”
“I work at a diner.”
“You ran into a burning house.”
“That was stupid.”
“That is not what I meant.”
Sadie turned away.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Dominic stiffened.
She answered on speaker.
A man breathed heavily.
Then whispered.
“Sadie Brooks?”
“Yes.”
“Anthony Ferretti.”
Dominic’s face changed.
Sadie nearly dropped the phone.
The voice continued.
“You don’t know me, but you saved my life once.”
Sadie’s heart pounded.
“Where are you?”
“Not safe.”
Dominic stepped closer.
Anthony heard him.
“Castile?”
“Yes.”
“You took your time.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
Anthony continued.
“Vale knows I’m alive.”
Sadie whispered, “How?”
“Because I made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“I called Rosa.”
Rosa entered from the hallway.
She heard her name.
Anthony said, “They burned the house because of me.”
The room went still.
Sadie stared at Dominic.
May you like
Anthony’s voice broke.
“And they’ll burn another one unless you stop looking for me.”
