Chapter 4 - The Doctor With Two Stories
Nora entered Sterling Medical Center through the emergency department instead of the main lobby.
She did not want cameras—or Marcus Vance—to know exactly when she returned.
The USB drive rested inside her sock beneath her scrub pants.
Miriam’s warning kept repeating.
Someone inside Sterling Medical Center has been sending Vance copies of Arthur Cole’s confidential records.
Now Trevor claimed Dr. Pierce had accessed Nora’s personnel file.
Nora found Trevor near a vending alcove outside radiology.
He looked nervous.
“You came.”
“You said Pierce opened my file.”
“He did.”
“How do you know?”
“I was in the physician workroom. His screen was unlocked.”
“That’s not proof he was doing something wrong.”
“He searched your deployment history.”
Nora stared.
“That information isn’t in my normal employee profile.”
“I know.”
“How did he access it?”
Trevor looked toward the hallway.
“He called someone in administration.”
“Elaine?”
“I didn’t hear the name.”
Nora rubbed her forehead.
“Where is Pierce now?”
“With General Cole.”
“Alone?”
“Mostly.”
Nora’s eyes narrowed.
“What does mostly mean?”
“Vance came back.”
Her pulse accelerated.
“He’s here?”
“He never really left.”
Nora started walking.
Trevor followed.
“Wait.”
“No.”
“Nora, think.”
“I have been thinking for seventeen years.”
They reached the ICU.
Through the glass, Dr. Pierce stood beside Arthur’s bed.
Marcus Vance was near the foot of it.
Elaine Mercer stood outside.
Nora approached her.
“Why is Vance allowed inside?”
“He produced medical power-of-attorney documents.”
“Arthur was competent two hours ago.”
“His condition has deteriorated.”
Nora looked inside.
Vance leaned toward Arthur.
Too close.
Arthur appeared unconscious.
“What is Pierce giving him?”
Elaine frowned.
“What?”
“The syringe.”
Pierce injected something into Arthur’s IV.
Nora stepped toward the door.
Elaine blocked her.
“Nora.”
“What medication is that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then move.”
She pushed past.
Inside, Pierce turned sharply.
“Nora?”
“What did you just give him?”
“Two milligrams of morphine.”
“Why?”
“He’s in pain.”
Arthur’s blood pressure was already dangerously low.
“Two milligrams?”
“Yes.”
Nora checked the monitor.
His respiratory rate had dropped.
“His pressure is eighty-two over forty-six.”
“I know his vitals.”
“Then why are you sedating him?”
Pierce’s face hardened.
“Because he’s dying.”
Vance spoke softly.
“Let the doctor work.”
Nora looked at him.
“This is between me and Dr. Pierce.”
Pierce stepped closer.
“You are no longer assigned to this patient.”
“Then answer me as a colleague.”
“I don’t owe you an explanation.”
“Actually, when a patient’s blood pressure is collapsing and you push morphine minutes after his legal representative arrives, you do.”
The room went silent.
Vance smiled coldly.
“Careful.”
Nora turned.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because you keep needing to hear it.”
Arthur suddenly moved.
His fingers flexed beneath the blanket.
Nora rushed to him.
“General?”
Pierce grabbed her shoulder.
“Step away.”
Arthur’s eyes opened.
Barely.
“Nora…”
“I’m here.”
Vance moved toward the bed.
Arthur saw him.
Fear flashed across his face.
His pulse jumped.
Nora saw it.
So did Trevor, standing at the doorway.
Arthur whispered, “No.”
Vance stopped.
“No what, General?”
Arthur looked directly at him.
“Traitor.”
The word was weak.
But everyone heard it.
Vance’s face changed.
Only for a second.
Pierce looked stunned.
Elaine stepped into the room.
“What did he say?”
Arthur struggled to lift his head.
“Traitor.”
Vance recovered.
“He’s delirious.”
Arthur suddenly grabbed Nora’s hand.
“Daniel.”
Nora bent close.
“Tell me.”
“Alive…”
The room disappeared around her.
“Where?”
Arthur’s breathing became ragged.
“Daniel is alive?”
Arthur nodded once.
Nora felt tears rise instantly.
“Where is he?”
Arthur’s eyes shifted toward Vance.
Then back.
“Box…”
“What box?”
“Station…”
“Which station?”
Arthur coughed.
His oxygen dropped.
Pierce moved toward the IV.
Nora blocked him.
“What are you doing?”
“He needs medication.”
“No more morphine.”
“You don’t have authority—”
“He is hypotensive.”
“Nora.”
“No.”
For several seconds, doctor and nurse stared at each other.
Then Trevor stepped beside her.
“She’s right.”
Pierce glared.
Trevor swallowed.
“His pressure is seventy-eight systolic.”
Elaine said, “Stop arguing and stabilize him.”
Pierce reluctantly set down the syringe.
Nora adjusted oxygen.
Arthur’s eyes closed.
His hand remained locked around hers.
“General, what station?”
No response.
Vance stepped back.
His phone vibrated.
Nora watched him read a message.
His expression darkened.
Then he looked at her.
She knew immediately.
Something had happened.
Vance left the room without speaking.
Nora waited ten seconds.
Then followed.
He disappeared around the corner.
She walked faster.
By the time she reached the elevators, the doors were closing.
Vance stood inside.
Their eyes met.
He smiled.
The elevator descended.
Nora turned toward the stairwell.
Trevor appeared behind her.
“Where are you going?”
“After him.”
“That sounds like a terrible idea.”
“Then stay here.”
Trevor followed anyway.
They reached the parking garage two floors below.
Vance was gone.
But his SUV remained.
Nora slowed.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Trevor whispered, “Maybe he took another car.”
Then Nora noticed the rear passenger door.
Open.
She approached.
Inside lay Arthur’s garment bag.
The stolen uniform.
Nora stared.
Trevor whispered, “Why would he leave it?”
Nora unzipped the bag.
Arthur’s uniform hung inside.
She searched the decorations.
Silver Star.
Her fingers found it.
The medal felt heavier than expected.
She turned it.
A tiny seam ran along the back.
Nora pressed.
The medal opened.
Inside was a small brass key.
Trevor stared.
“That is very James Bond.”
“Not helping.”
Nora took the key.
Beneath the uniform was a folded piece of paper.
She opened it.
A storage receipt.
STERLING CENTRAL STATION.
LOCKER 214.
Trevor looked at her.
“Station.”
Arthur’s word.
Nora’s heartbeat accelerated.
The receipt had been renewed every year for seventeen years.
She shoved it into her pocket.
Then they heard footsteps.
Slow.
Approaching from behind a concrete pillar.
Trevor whispered, “Nora.”
“I hear it.”
A man stepped into view.
Not Vance.
Dr. Malcolm Pierce.
He held his hands where they could see them.
“Nora.”
She backed away.
“You followed us.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Vance knows you found the uniform.”
Trevor looked confused.
“How?”
Pierce stared at Nora.
“He left it here for you.”
Nora’s skin went cold.
“What?”
“It’s bait.”
Pierce stepped closer.
“He wants you to take the key.”
“Why?”
“Because he doesn’t know what it opens.”
Nora stared.
“And you do?”
Pierce shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why were you searching my military history?”
Pierce’s face changed.
“Because seventeen years ago, I was the Army surgeon who signed Daniel Bennett’s second death certificate.”
Nora could not speak.
Second.
Pierce reached slowly into his coat.
Trevor stepped forward.
“Don’t.”
Pierce stopped.
“I have something she needs to see.”
Nora’s voice barely worked.
“What second death certificate?”
Pierce looked at her.
“The first one said Daniel died in Afghanistan.”
Nora’s fingers tightened around the key.
“And the second?”
Pierce pulled a folded document from inside his coat.
“It was issued four years later.”
He handed it to Nora.
She unfolded it.
Name: Major Daniel Joseph Bennett.
Place of death:
Nora stared at the line.
Not Afghanistan.
Not a battlefield.
Not even overseas.
May you like
Daniel Bennett had supposedly died at a private medical facility in Virginia.
Twenty-seven miles from where Nora had been living at the time.
