Chapter 7
They moved us to a secure maternity room.
Two officers outside.
One nurse assigned only to Hazel.
Thomas refused to sleep.
Sarah refused to leave.
I lay in that bed with dead legs and a living fire in my chest.
By afternoon, fire investigators found accelerant at the lake house.
By evening, they found something else.
A fireproof box under the kitchen tiles.
Dad had always been better at hiding things than people expected.
Thomas brought it to the hospital.
The metal was scorched.
The lock was warped.
Inside were papers, a flash drive, and a letter addressed to me.
My hands shook as Sarah opened it.
My darling Genevieve,
If you are reading this, then I failed to stop Eleanor Vance.
I gasped.
Thomas covered his mouth.
Sarah continued reading aloud.
She and Martin Vale are using medical facilities to hide money and people. Julian may be innocent, or he may be weak. Weakness can become guilt if it chooses comfort over truth.
My eyes filled.
Dad had seen Julian clearly before I did.
The letter continued.
Do not sign away the lake. Beneath it is not just land. It is evidence.
Thomas whispered, “Beneath it?”
The flash drive contained photos of construction work near the shore.
Underground storage.
Medical waste containers.
Patient files.
Names of women listed as “voluntary residents” at facilities Dr. Vale owned.
Some had no discharge dates.
Detective Collins went pale.
“This is trafficking.”
Sarah corrected her quietly.
“And medical imprisonment.”
I thought of Eleanor’s words.
Who will believe a paralyzed woman?
Maybe she had practiced that sentence before.
Maybe on women who never got out.
Then the door opened.
A nurse stepped in holding a syringe.
I did not recognize her.
Neither did my assigned nurse.
Thomas moved first.
“Stop.”
The woman ran.
The officers caught her at the elevator.
May you like
In her pocket was a note.
Finish what the hematoma started.
