Chapter 14 - THE LAST BETRAYALThe hospital erupted into chaos.
Security teams moved through the corridors.
Police blocked every entrance.
But someone had already entered.
A doctor.
A nurse.
A security guard.
They weren't who they claimed to be.
Detective Alvarez found me near the stairwell.
“Where's Lily?”
“With the neonatal team.”
“No.”
Her face was pale.
“The neonatal team has been compromised.”
We ran.
The nursery door stood open.
Empty.
My lungs stopped working.
“Lily!”
A nurse pointed down the corridor.
A man was running.
I chased him.
Detective Alvarez was faster.
She tackled him before he reached the elevator.
Lily was inside a medical carrier.
Alive.
Crying.
I grabbed her.
The man laughed.
“You think you've won?”
Detective Alvarez handcuffed him.
“Who sent you?”
He smiled.
“Ask her.”
He pointed toward the end of the hallway.
I turned.
Vanessa stood there.
Holding a gun.
My heart dropped.
“Vanessa?”
She looked exhausted.
“I tried to warn you.”
“You brought them here.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I brought myself.”
She slowly lowered the gun.
“I was the one who leaked the hospital location.”
Detective Alvarez raised her weapon.
“Put it down.”
“I had to.”
Vanessa looked at me.
“Because Edward was never the last traitor.”
I stared.
“What?”
She looked at Detective Alvarez.
Then at me.
“Your father suspected there was someone inside law enforcement.”
Detective Alvarez went still.
Vanessa smiled sadly.
“The question is… who?”
The hallway became silent.
Then Detective Alvarez's phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Her face changed.
“What happened?”
She whispered:
“They found Edward.”
“Alive?”
She shook her head.
“Dead.”
I looked at Vanessa.
“Who killed him?”
Vanessa stared directly at Detective Alvarez.
Then said:
“The same person who ordered Daniel's shooting.”
Detective Alvarez immediately grabbed my arm.
“We're leaving.”
“Why?”
“Because this floor isn't secure.”
We ran.
As we entered the parking garage, a black SUV slammed through the gate.
Gunfire erupted.
Detective Alvarez pushed me behind a concrete barrier.
Vanessa fired back.
The SUV crashed.
Two men escaped.
We found a weapon.
A phone.
And a file.
The file contained photographs of everyone involved.
Edward.
Voss.
Daniel.
Vanessa.
Detective Alvarez.
Me.
Lily.
Someone had drawn red circles around three names.
Mine.
Lily's.
And Detective Alvarez's.
Then my eyes fell on the final page.
A photograph.
Taken that morning.
Inside the maternity ward.
It showed me holding Lily.
The timestamp was only fifteen minutes old.
Someone had been watching us from inside the hospital.
On the back of the photograph was a handwritten message.
You trusted the wrong detective.
I looked at Alvarez.
She didn't move.
Neither did I.
Then Vanessa whispered:
“Marian…”
I turned.
Vanessa was pointing at Detective Alvarez's badge.
There was a tiny red mark on it.
A symbol I had seen before.
On the first page of the Meridian ledger.
A symbol belonging to Richard Voss.
Detective Alvarez slowly reached for her gun.
I stepped back.
May you like
And she said:
“I can explain.”
