Chapter 6 - The Record Hidden in My Watch
Everyone looked at my wrist.
My nursing watch.
White face.
Black second hand.
Scratch near the four.
Daniel went pale.
“No.”
“What?” I asked.
He crossed the room.
“Let me see it.”
I pulled my arm back.
“You gave it to me.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you looking at it like that?”
“Because I didn’t buy that watch.”
My stomach tightened.
“You told me you did.”
“I lied.”
Sloan stepped closer.
“Explain.”
Daniel swallowed.
“The night of Cora’s first hospitalization, I copied the original medication audit onto a micro-storage wafer.”
Marco blinked.
“You put hospital records inside a watch?”
“I needed something that wouldn’t be searched.”
I looked at my wrist.
For three years I had worn the thing almost every day.
“You gave me evidence?”
“I gave you the watch before the crash.”
“You said it was a graduation gift.”
“You already had your graduation watch. I switched them.”
My anger returned so quickly it made me dizzy.
“You used me as a hiding place.”
“I was trying to protect the evidence.”
“You put a target on me.”
“I thought Victor believed the copy burned with my car.”
“He knows now.”
“I know.”
I unclasped the watch and shoved it at Marco.
“Open it.”
He inspected the scratched edge.
“There.”
A tiny seam.
Using a small tool from his bag, he removed the backplate.
Inside was a black square no larger than my fingernail.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“That’s it.”
Marco inserted it into a secure reader.
Files appeared.
Medication administration records.
Internal messages.
Patient 417.
Celeste Marquetti.
Cora Marquetti.
And one video.
We played it.
A hospital corridor appeared.
Timestamp: three years earlier.
Vale stood outside Room 417.
Victor stood with him.
Older than Sloan.
Same eyes.
Same posture.
The resemblance was undeniable.
Victor said, “Increase the dose.”
Vale shook his head.
“She could suffer permanent injury.”
“She only needs to be declared incompetent.”
“She’s sixteen.”
“And she’ll be nineteen eventually.”
My skin crawled.
Vale replied, “I won’t kill a child.”
Victor stepped closer.
“You already helped with her mother.”
The recording ended.
Sloan did not move.
Marco whispered, “That’s enough for conspiracy.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not enough to prove the murder.”
Another file opened.
A pharmacy log.
Daniel’s notes.
Original medication batch numbers.
One connected to Celeste’s fatal admission.
The same supplier appeared in Cora’s hidden admission.
Victor’s shell company.
Sloan picked up the watch.
“My mother.”
“Yes,” I said.
“He killed her.”
“I think so.”
He closed his fist.
Then opened it.
Control.
Always control.
“We go to Pier 19.”
I shook my head.
“Not alone.”
“I’m not calling police.”
“Then call someone.”
“Who?”
“Federal authorities.”
Daniel nodded.
“I still have Crane’s old contact.”
Marco frowned.
“Crane is dead.”
“His partner isn’t.”
“Name?”
“Rachel Kane. FBI organized crime.”
Sloan gave him a look.
“I’m supposed to invite the FBI into my business?”
“Your sister was kidnapped.”
“And after?”
“After, you decide whether protecting your organization matters more than protecting her.”
Sloan stared at him.
Then at me.
I said nothing.
He already knew my answer.
“Call her.”
Daniel did.
Kane answered on the third ring.
She did not sound surprised that Daniel was alive.
That was another question for later.
We arranged a controlled handoff.
Victor wanted the blue book.
We would bring it.
He wanted me.
I would go.
Sloan objected.
“No.”
“He specifically asked.”
“That’s exactly why you’re not going.”
“If I don’t, he may hurt Cora.”
“He may hurt you.”
“He already destroyed my career.”
“That isn’t the same as a bullet.”
I held his gaze.
“Your sister reached for me when she couldn’t speak.”
His expression changed.
“I’m going.”
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then he said quietly, “You stay beside me.”
“Fine.”
“If I tell you to run—”
“I evaluate the situation.”
“That wasn’t what I said.”
“I know.”
His mouth almost twitched.
“You are exhausting.”
“I’ve heard.”
Pier 19 sat behind rusted gates near the river.
The rain had slowed to mist.
Sloan, Daniel, and I entered through the main warehouse door.
Marco remained outside coordinating with Kane.
Bishop had insisted on coming despite the bruise across his temple.
Sloan made him stay hidden near the entrance.
Inside, overhead lights turned on one by one.
Victor stood on a metal platform.
Gray-haired.
Immaculate suit.
The same man from dinner.
Cora sat in a chair beside him.
Alive.
Pale.
Weak.
But awake.
“Sloan.”
Victor smiled.
My stomach turned because the resemblance was stronger under direct light.
“Let her go.”
“In time.”
Sloan held up the blue book.
“You wanted this.”
“And the watch.”
Victor looked at me.
“Delphine.”
I said nothing.
“You caused trouble three years ago.”
“I asked why a child was being drugged.”
“Exactly.”
“You killed Daniel.”
Victor glanced toward him.
“Apparently not very efficiently.”
Daniel stiffened.
“Where’s Vale?” Victor asked.
“Alive,” I said.
His smile faded.
“That is unfortunate.”
Sloan raised the book.
“Cora first.”
Victor laughed.
“You negotiate like Lorenzo.”
“He raised me.”
“Yes.”
Something moved behind Sloan’s eyes.
Victor saw it.
“You know.”
“I know you’re my biological father.”
Victor smiled.
“There.”
“No.”
The smile disappeared.
“You don’t get to look proud.”
“I gave you blood.”
“Lorenzo gave me a life.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“He stole you.”
“He protected me from you.”
Victor took one step toward Cora.
Sloan’s weapon appeared.
“Don’t.”
Victor stopped.
“Your sister controls the trust now.”
“I know.”
“She signs it to you, you transfer what belongs to me, and everyone walks away.”
Cora struggled.
“No.”
Her speech was clearer.
Victor looked down.
“You were always stubborn.”
Sloan’s voice went low.
“Cora.”
She met his eyes.
“You okay?”
Tears appeared.
She nodded.
“Good.”
Victor laughed.
“A touching reunion.”
I watched his right hand.
Too close to his jacket.
Daniel whispered, “He’s stalling.”
For what?
Then I heard it.
Truck engines outside.
Marco’s voice came through the tiny receiver in Sloan’s collar.
“Multiple vehicles approaching. Not FBI.”
Victor smiled.
He had backup.
Sloan tossed the blue book onto the floor between them.
Victor looked down instinctively.
Cora moved.
She kicked the chair backward.
I ran.
Everything exploded into motion.
Sloan fired toward a guard emerging from behind a crate.
Daniel grabbed Cora.
I reached them.
“Can you stand?”
“My right leg—”
“Use me.”
We moved toward cover.
Gunfire cracked against steel.
Victor disappeared behind the platform.
Bishop entered from the side.
Two of Victor’s men dropped their weapons when he fired above them.
Then sirens.
Real ones.
FBI vehicles hit the outer yard.
Victor’s reinforcements scattered.
For one wild second, I thought it was over.
Then Cora gasped.
Victor stood behind us.
Gun pointed at my chest.
“Give me the watch.”
Sloan froze ten feet away.
I could see calculation in his eyes.
Distance.
Angle.
Risk.
I slowly removed the watch.
Victor extended his hand.
“Throw it.”
I did.
The watch landed near his shoe.
He bent.
That was his mistake.
Cora reached for the metal medical tray beside her.
With her functioning left hand, she shoved it into Victor’s knee.
He stumbled.
Sloan moved.
One shot.
Victor’s gun flew from his hand.
He collapsed, clutching his shoulder.
Bishop kicked the weapon away.
FBI agents flooded the warehouse.
“Hands!”
“Down!”
Sloan raised his hands slowly.
Victor screamed.
“You think this ends with me?”
Kane cuffed him.
Victor laughed through the pain.
“Ask Delphine why Daniel’s car was found before he even crashed.”
I turned toward Daniel.
He went still.
“What?”
Victor smiled.
“Oh.”
Daniel whispered, “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
He looked at me.
“Not here.”
My heart sank.
“Daniel.”
“There’s one thing I never told you.”
Sloan’s expression hardened.
“What?”
Daniel looked toward the warehouse doors.
Then back at me.
“The person who arranged my disappearance wasn’t Vale.”
“Who was it?”
Daniel opened his mouth.
Before he answered, an FBI agent hurried toward Kane.
“We found another prisoner downstairs.”
Sloan turned.
“Who?”
The agent looked at him strangely.
“A woman.”
May you like
“What woman?”
“She says her name is Celeste Marquetti.”
