Chapter 13 - The Last Dose
“Marlo,” Lena whispered.
Evan held her by the arm.
Nico approached from the opposite side.
Evan had nowhere to go.
That made him more dangerous.
He held the memory card.
“Back away.”
Nico stopped.
Marlo did not.
“Let her go.”
“You're in no position to negotiate.”
“You're wrong.”
Marlo took another step.
“You needed Cassian incapacitated.”
Another.
“You needed my mother controlled.”
Another.
“You needed me frightened.”
She stopped.
“But your entire plan depended on people behaving the way you expected.”
Evan's jaw tightened.
“You thought doctors wouldn't listen to laundry workers.”
Marlo looked at him.
“You were almost right.”
Police helicopters approached.
Evan glanced upward.
That was enough.
Lena drove her heel into his foot.
Nico moved.
Marlo grabbed her sister.
The memory card flew across the roof.
Evan reached for it.
Cassian's security team tackled him.
For the first time, Evan Vale looked ordinary.
Not a ghost.
Not a mastermind.
Just a man in handcuffs.
Marlo recovered the card.
Downstairs, federal investigators arrived.
Nico had sent copies of the evidence to multiple agencies before confronting Evan.
No single corrupt official could bury it.
Maria was hospitalized under protection.
Cassian stabilized.
Elise and her grandson were reunited.
Victor's undercover role was confirmed.
Pell voluntarily surrendered every record he had concealed.
He had saved Maria, but he had also participated in a thirteen-year lie.
Marlo did not know whether she could forgive him.
She didn't need to decide that night.
At sunrise, she entered Cassian's room.
He looked terrible.
“Is that your professional medical assessment?” he asked.
“I wash sheets professionally.”
“Right.”
She sat beside him.
“You're going to recover.”
“So Pell says.”
“You sound disappointed.”
“I dislike being wrong.”
Marlo smiled.
Then Cassian became serious.
“I owe you.”
“No.”
“My life.”
“You don't owe me your life.”
“What do I owe you?”
“The truth.”
He nodded.
So he told her.
Everything.
Her mother had discovered the conspiracy.
Cassian had tried to help.
He had failed.
After Maria disappeared, he believed she had died.
He attended the funeral because guilt was the only thing he knew how to offer.
Marlo listened.
When he finished, she stood.
“There's one thing left.”
“What?”
“The envelope from my mother.”
Cassian frowned.
“What envelope?”
Marlo's phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One message.
YOUR MOTHER LIED ABOUT ONE THING.
Below it was a photograph.
Cassian saw it.
His face changed.
Marlo enlarged the image.
It showed Maria holding a newborn baby.
May you like
On the back was a handwritten name.
Cassian.
