Chapter 3 - Nobody Leaves the Hospital
I didn't tell Luca.
Not immediately.
That decision nearly got me killed.
I went into the staff restroom, locked the door, and stared at the key beneath fluorescent lights.
B-4.
No hospital key looked like that.
It was old brass. Narrow shaft. Commercial lock.
I turned over everything that had happened.
Luca arrived at 11:47.
His parking stub placed him somewhere else at 11:32.
Someone claimed he had been shot outside a restaurant.
His wound indicated close range.
He had recognized someone in the trauma room.
Nico had called somebody and reported that Luca remained alive.
Now a key connected to B-4 had appeared in my pocket.
I checked myself in the mirror.
Blood on my scrub top.
Loose strands of hair.
Dark circles beneath my eyes.
I looked exactly like what I was.
A nurse eleven hours into a twelve-hour shift who had accidentally wandered into somebody else's criminal conspiracy.
I should have called the police.
Instead, I called hospital security.
Not because I trusted them more.
Because if someone inside our hospital had slipped something into my pocket, I needed camera footage.
“Danielle?”
Maya Chen answered.
Thank God.
Maya was our overnight security supervisor and one of the few people I trusted to keep her mouth shut for longer than fifteen seconds.
“I need you to check hallway footage.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Can you see who approached the trauma cart outside OR Two between two-forty and three?”
Silence.
“Why?”
“Maya.”
Another pause.
“Come downstairs.”
“No.”
“Danielle.”
“Tell me from there.”
Keyboard clicks.
Then nothing.
“Maya?”
“The camera was offline.”
My stomach tightened.
“Which camera?”
“That entire corridor.”
“How long?”
“Twenty-three minutes.”
“Starting when?”
“Two thirty-seven.”
Three minutes before surgery ended.
“Accidental?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because somebody logged into the camera system.”
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
“Maya?”
“Administrative credentials.”
“Whose?”
Another pause.
“Dr. Victor Hale.”
I knew the name.
Everybody did.
Chief operating officer.
Not a physician who treated patients anymore, despite the title.
His office sat three floors above us.
He attended donor dinners.
He appeared in hospital commercials.
He definitely did not disable cameras at three in the morning.
“Is Hale here?”
“I'll check.”
I heard typing.
Then Maya swore softly.
“What?”
“He badged into the building at eleven-oh-seven.”
My heartbeat quickened.
“Where is he now?”
“Executive floor.”
“Has he been there all night?”
“Danielle…”
“What?”
“His badge entered the ICU twenty minutes ago.”
I looked at the restroom door.
Luca.
“Which entrance?”
“South stairwell.”
The door handle moved.
I stopped breathing.
Someone tried it again.
“Occupied,” I called.
No answer.
“Maya, who's outside this restroom?”
“I don't have camera access there.”
The handle turned harder.
“Danielle?”
“Someone's here.”
“Stay inside. I'm sending security.”
The person outside stopped.
Footsteps moved away.
I waited.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Then I opened the door.
Empty hallway.
I ran toward Luca's room.
Marco stood outside.
“What happened?”
“Who went in?”
“What?”
“Who has been inside?”
“Only Nico.”
“Anyone from hospital administration?”
Marco's face changed.
“Why?”
I pushed through the door.
Luca was alone.
His monitor beeped steadily.
His eyes opened.
“What?”
“Where's Nico?”
“Left.”
“Did anyone else come in?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
His gaze sharpened.
“You found the key.”
My hand went still.
“How do you know?”
“Because I put it in your pocket.”
That answer stunned me more than it should have.
“When?”
“Trauma room.”
“You could barely speak.”
“I could move one hand.”
“Why would you give it to me?”
“Because everyone else in that room worked for me.”
I stared.
“That doesn't answer the question.”
“Yes, it does.”
“No. It absolutely does not.”
He watched me.
Then smiled faintly.
“You're angry.”
“You put evidence from some criminal nightmare into my pocket without permission.”
“Evidence?”
“What else would it be?”
“The reason I was shot.”
I pulled the key out.
“What does B-4 open?”
“A locker.”
“Where?”
“Riverside Medical Plaza.”
“The parking stub.”
“Yes.”
“What is in the locker?”
Luca looked toward the door.
“A ledger.”
“Money?”
“Names.”
“What names?”
“People who shouldn't know each other.”
I felt cold.
“Police?”
“Yes.”
“Politicians?”
“Yes.”
“Your people?”
His silence answered.
“Hospital people?”
Luca looked directly at me.
“Yes.”
I thought of Victor Hale.
“Why were you at Riverside?”
“To meet someone.”
“Who?”
“My accountant.”
“What happened?”
“He never showed.”
“And then you were shot?”
“Inside the parking garage.”
“How close?”
“Three feet.”
“Did you see the shooter?”
“No. He wore a mask.”
“But you recognized someone tonight.”
“I recognized something.”
“What?”
“The smell.”
I stared.
“Cologne?”
“Cedar and tobacco.”
“That could be anyone.”
“No.”
His voice hardened.
“I gave that bottle to one man five years ago.”
“Who?”
Before he could answer, Marco entered.
“Police are coming up.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“Calder?”
Marco nodded.
I whispered, “Who uses the cologne?”
Luca opened his eyes again.
He looked past Marco.
Nico stood in the doorway.
For the first time, Luca did not hide what he felt.
Betrayal.
Nico looked at him.
Then at me.
And smiled.
“Everything okay?”
Nobody answered.
Footsteps approached from the corridor.
Detective Ethan Calder arrived with two uniformed officers.
He was in his forties, tired-looking, broad, with a wrinkled coat and sharp eyes.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Luca said nothing.
Calder looked at me.
“You treated him?”
“Yes.”
“I'll need a statement.”
“Medical information requires—”
“I know how HIPAA works, Ms. Reyes.”
He knew my name too.
Wonderful.
He turned back to Luca.
“Interesting night.”
Luca smiled weakly.
“I've had better.”
Calder pulled out a notebook.
“Your men say you were shot outside Bellini's on West Harrison.”
Luca glanced at Marco.
Marco's jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
Calder nodded.
“Funny thing.”
He took something from his coat.
A clear evidence bag.
Inside was a brass shell casing.
“We found this in the Riverside Medical Plaza garage.”
My pulse jumped.
Calder looked directly at Luca.
“Along with your blood.”
Silence filled the room.
Marco's face drained.
Nico did not move.
Calder continued.
“Would you like to change your story?”
Luca's eyes flicked to me.
A warning.
Not yet.
I understood.
“No,” Luca said.
Calder closed his notebook.
“All right.”
He turned toward me.
“Ms. Reyes, outside.”
I followed him into the corridor.
The door closed.
Calder lowered his voice.
“You're in danger.”
“That seems to be today's theme.”
“You need to leave.”
“I have patients.”
“You have a target on you.”
“Why?”
His eyes searched mine.
“Did Moretti give you anything?”
I thought of the key.
“No.”
The lie came too easily.
Calder studied me.
Then he reached into his pocket.
For half a second, I thought he might show me another piece of evidence.
Instead he took out his phone.
The screen displayed a photograph.
Me.
Walking into the hospital that evening.
Taken from across the parking lot.
“What is this?”
“Sent to my department twenty minutes ago.”
“By who?”
“Anonymous.”
A message sat beneath the photograph.
SHE HAS B-4.
My mouth went dry.
Calder locked the screen.
“Still want to tell me he gave you nothing?”
Before I could answer, alarms erupted behind us.
Luca's room.
I spun.
Marco shouted.
We ran inside.
Luca's IV line had been disconnected.
Blood spread across the sheet.
A syringe lay on the floor.
May you like
Nico was gone.
And Luca was no longer breathing.
