Chapter 2 - His Father Did Not Come to Kill Me
The police arrived nine minutes later.
Gabriel's men stepped away from the exits before the first uniformed officer crossed the lobby, which told me he understood exactly how far intimidation could stretch before becoming a criminal charge witnessed by half a hospital.
Nico disappeared into a consultation room with one bodyguard.
Gabriel stayed.
So did I.
Detective Lena Torres interviewed me beside the nurses' station while Dr. Shaw explained Mia's condition. The stranger found inside her room had escaped through a stairwell after shoving a security officer into a wall.
No useful face on camera.
Baseball cap.
Surgical mask.
Scrubs.
The syringe contained potassium chloride.
Enough to stop Mia's heart if injected rapidly.
I stared at Detective Torres.
“So somebody came here to murder a fourteen-year-old girl.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“We're trying to determine that.”
Gabriel stood twenty feet away speaking quietly into his phone.
I looked toward him.
“You should start with him.”
Torres followed my gaze.
“We have.”
“And?”
“You know how conversations with the Morettis go.”
“No.”
She gave me a tired look.
“Mostly lawyers.”
Gabriel ended his call.
He approached us.
Torres straightened.
“Mr. Moretti, this is an active police investigation.”
“I know.”
“Then stop conducting your own.”
“No.”
At least he was consistent.
She glared.
He looked at me.
“May I speak with you?”
“I’m currently speaking with an actual detective.”
Something shifted at the corner of his mouth.
Torres almost smiled too.
“Five minutes,” she said. “Where I can see you.”
Gabriel nodded.
We moved toward an empty family consultation room.
I stayed near the door.
He noticed.
“You think I'll hurt you?”
“I think you arrived with enough men to start a small government.”
“Fair.”
“Why did Victor send Nico here?”
Gabriel's expression cooled.
“You heard that.”
“The whole lobby heard it.”
“Victor Santi is my cousin.”
“What does he do?”
“He manages parts of my organization.”
I folded my arms.
“That clears everything up.”
His eyes held mine.
“My son was injured in one of our clubs tonight. Victor insisted he come here instead of using our private physician.”
“Why?”
“That is what I intend to learn.”
I thought about Mia.
“The crash happened less than an hour before Nico arrived.”
“Yes.”
“You think the events were connected.”
“I think coincidence is usually just information you don't have yet.”
That was annoyingly good.
Gabriel pulled out his phone.
A photograph appeared.
Mia's mother.
Dana Bennett.
I recognized her from the driver's license paramedics had brought in.
“Do you know her?”
“No.”
“She worked for Northstar Medical Supply.”
Again, nothing.
Gabriel continued.
“My logistics company owns thirty percent.”
I stared.
“So her employer is connected to you.”
“Yes.”
“What did she do?”
“Internal accounting.”
Of course.
People rarely tried to murder accountants because their spreadsheets were boring.
Gabriel slid the phone back into his pocket.
“She emailed my office four days ago requesting a private meeting.”
“About?”
“She wouldn't say.”
“And you never met her.”
“No.”
“Now she's dead.”
“Yes.”
“And her daughter nearly received a lethal injection.”
“Yes.”
His calmness began irritating me.
“How are you saying all this like we're discussing weather?”
His eyes sharpened.
“Because if I allow myself to react before I understand what happened, people make mistakes.”
I thought of Nico.
“Apparently restraint isn't hereditary.”
That actually produced a brief smile.
Then it vanished.
“My son is many things.”
“Entitled.”
“Yes.”
“Reckless.”
“Yes.”
“A nightmare for triage.”
“Apparently.”
“But?”
Gabriel glanced through the window toward the corridor.
“But he isn't a killer.”
“You sound uncertain.”
He looked back at me.
“I am certain of very few things tonight.”
That honesty surprised me.
Before I could answer, Dr. Shaw entered without knocking.
“Mia's awake.”
I moved instantly.
Gabriel followed.
“No.”
He stopped.
“You're not family.”
“No.”
“You're also not coming into my patient's room.”
He watched me.
Then nodded.
“Fair.”
Mia looked impossibly small beneath the ICU blankets.
Bruises covered one side of her face.
Her eyes opened when I approached.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
She swallowed.
“My mom?”
My chest tightened.
There are moments in nursing no training prepares you for.
I sat beside her.
“Mia…”
She understood before I finished.
Tears slid silently toward her ears.
I held her hand.
She cried without making a sound.
After several minutes, she whispered something.
I leaned closer.
“What?”
“Mom said… don't let them get the blue folder.”
“What blue folder?”
Her eyelids fluttered.
“In the car.”
Then she went still.
Not dead.
Asleep.
But I felt a cold sensation move down my spine.
I stepped outside.
Gabriel was waiting.
Detective Torres too.
I told them.
Torres immediately called the impound yard.
Twenty minutes later, she received an answer.
No blue folder had been recovered from Dana Bennett's vehicle.
Gabriel asked one question.
“Who accessed the car?”
Torres checked.
Her expression changed.
“One towing employee. Two evidence technicians.”
“And?”
She hesitated.
“A hospital administrator.”
I stared.
“What hospital administrator?”
Torres looked directly at me.
“Dr. Malcolm Reeves.”
Our chief operating officer.
The man who had been preparing my termination.
I laughed once because the alternative was screaming.
Gabriel's phone rang.
He listened for less than ten seconds.
Then ended the call.
“What?” I asked.
“The club security footage from Nico's fight is gone.”
“Accidentally?”
“No.”
“Who controls it?”
Gabriel's face hardened.
“Victor.”
There it was.
Two institutions.
His organization.
My hospital.
Both suddenly had missing evidence.
I looked through the ICU glass toward Mia.
“Somebody wanted her mother dead.”
Gabriel nodded.
“And somebody wanted your son here causing chaos.”
“Yes.”
“And now the evidence is disappearing from both sides.”
“Yes.”
I crossed my arms.
“Congratulations.”
“For what?”
“Looks like both our workplaces are corrupt.”
That almost-smile returned.
Then my hospital badge stopped working.
A red light flashed when I tried the medication-room door.
I tried again.
Denied.
My phone buzzed.
An email from Human Resources.
Effective immediately, Elena Ward is suspended pending investigation into professional misconduct and patient endangerment.
I stared at it.
Gabriel read my expression.
“What happened?”
“They suspended me.”
“For saving the girl?”
I looked toward the executive offices.
“No.”
May you like
My stomach tightened.
“I think they need me out of the way.”
