Chapter 10 - A Traitor at Mercy General
Adriano arrived at the mansion with police.
Marcus had disappeared.
Lorenzo remained tied to the chair.
On the desk lay a message.
ONE TRADE. THE LEDGER FOR THE OLD MAN.
Lorenzo laughed when freed.
“He thinks you care whether I live.”
Adriano looked at him.
“I do.”
Lorenzo's expression changed.
“You're still my father.”
The ledger was already with federal investigators.
Marcus didn't know.
They arranged a false exchange.
But Marcus never appeared.
Instead, Mercy General called.
Mara had vanished.
Beatrice found an empty chair beside Theo.
A note lay on it.
I had to finish this.
Beatrice swore.
Adriano read the security footage.
Mara had left voluntarily.
She took a taxi toward the waterfront.
Marcus had contacted her separately.
He wanted the original physical ledger.
Mara had lied.
The capsule contained copies.
The original still existed.
She had hidden it on the night of the explosion.
At the waterfront.
They raced there.
The old pavilion was scheduled for demolition.
Mara stood beneath it.
Marcus held a gun.
Beatrice moved before Adriano could stop her.
“Mara!”
Marcus turned.
“Perfect.”
Adriano stepped into view.
“It's over.”
Marcus laughed.
“For you, maybe.”
Sirens approached.
Marcus pressed the gun against Mara.
“Where's the ledger?”
Mara pointed beneath the old stage.
Marcus forced her to retrieve a waterproof package.
He opened it.
Books.
Original transaction records.
Enough evidence to bury everyone involved.
Including Adriano's organization.
Marcus smiled.
Then Mara said, “Page forty-seven.”
He looked.
A tracking device was embedded inside.
Federal agents surrounded the pavilion.
Marcus's face changed.
He fired.
Adriano pushed Beatrice down.
Agents returned fire.
Marcus fell.
Alive.
Wounded.
Arrested.
It should have ended there.
It didn't.
Because page forty-seven contained another name.
A hospital administrator.
Samuel Crane.
The man responsible for Mercy General's surgical scheduling.
The man who had approved Theo's second operation.
And the man still controlling access to Theo's current rehabilitation care.
Beatrice looked at Adriano.
“We have to get back.”
They ran.
At Mercy General, Theo's room was empty.
A nurse looked confused.
“Mr. Crane authorized his transfer.”
Beatrice went cold.
“Transfer where?”
The nurse checked.
Her face drained.
“There isn't a destination.”
Mara screamed Theo's name.
Adriano called Luca.
Security cameras showed a medical transport van leaving eight minutes earlier.
They traced it.
The van stopped beneath an overpass.
Empty.
Theo's wheelchair sat inside.
His stuffed shark lay on the floor.
Beatrice picked it up.
Her hands shook.
Then a phone hidden inside the wheelchair began ringing.
Adriano answered.
Samuel Crane spoke.
“You wanted the truth about September?”
“Where is the boy?”
“You'll get him when I get what Marcus promised me.”
“Marcus is in custody.”
Silence.
Then Crane laughed.
“That means I'm running out of time.”
“Touch Theo and—”
“You still think threats matter.”
A child's voice sounded faintly behind him.
“Aunt Bea!”
Beatrice grabbed the phone.
“Theo!”
The call disconnected.
A text arrived immediately.
One address.
The abandoned private clinic in Wisconsin.
The same clinic where Mara had once been imprisoned.
They drove through the night.
At 3:11 a.m., Beatrice stood before the clinic's locked entrance.
She reached for the handle.
May you like
It moved before she touched it.
Someone was opening the door from inside.
