Chapter 10 - The Night the Hospital Went Dark
Claire refused to hide.
Adrian expected that.
Daniel did too.
“She gets it from her mother,” Daniel said.
Adrian replied, “I assumed it was you.”
They returned to the hospital under false names.
A surgical team prepared to remove Adrian's implant.
Claire remained beside him.
“You're nervous.”
“No.”
“Your pulse says otherwise.”
“My pulse is a liar.”
She smiled.
Then Adrian took her hand.
“If something happens—”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“No goodbye speeches.”
“I'm not giving one.”
“Good.”
She squeezed his hand.
“You're coming back.”
For once, Adrian wanted to believe someone.
The surgery lasted three hours.
The implant came out intact.
Adrian woke in recovery.
Claire was there.
“Still annoying?” he whispered.
“Extremely.”
“Good.”
Daniel decrypted the device.
Files appeared.
Bank accounts.
Weapons transfers.
Names.
Judges.
Agents.
Politicians.
Businessmen.
Enough evidence to dismantle Keene's network.
Then Daniel found one folder.
ELENA VALE.
Adrian stopped.
Inside was the truth about his wife's death.
Keene had ordered it.
Not because of Daniel.
Because Elena had discovered Adrian was being watched.
Adrian's grief became rage.
Claire stood beside him.
“Don't become what he expects.”
“He murdered my wife.”
“I know.”
“I can kill him.”
“I know.”
“Then why shouldn't I?”
“Because surviving him will hurt him more.”
Adrian looked at her.
Nobody had ever spoken to him that way.
He closed the file.
“Send everything.”
Daniel uploaded the evidence to federal investigators and journalists simultaneously.
There would be no burying it.
Then the power failed.
Every monitor died.
Emergency lights came on.
Claire's stomach dropped.
“Again?”
Adrian reached for his wheelchair.
The elevator opened.
A man stepped out.
Not Keene.
Dr. Mercer.
Claire stared.
“You're dead.”
Mercer smiled.
“That's what Keene wanted everyone to believe.”
Adrian raised his gun.
Mercer lifted both hands.
“I came to help.”
“Why?”
“Because Keene is already here.”
A shot echoed from the stairwell.
Mercer fell.
Claire screamed.
Adrian pulled her behind the desk.
Footsteps approached.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Thomas Keene entered.
May you like
He held a pistol.
And behind him, one of his men dragged Daniel Donovan into the room.
