Chapter 8 - HE CAME FOR HIS WIFE“Don't open it,” Detective Alvarez whispered.
Daniel knocked again.
“Marian, I know you're in there.”
I held Lily tighter.
The security team rushed toward the maternity floor.
Daniel had somehow reached a restricted area.
That alone frightened me.
Then the hallway camera went black.
Someone had disabled it.
Detective Alvarez looked at Edward.
“Take the laptop.”
Edward nodded.
The detective moved toward the door.
“Daniel Reed, step away from the room.”
Silence.
Then a laugh.
“Detective, you don't understand what's happening.”
“We understand enough.”
“No.”
His voice became colder.
“You don't.”
A crash echoed down the hallway.
Someone screamed.
The room shook.
Daniel wasn't alone.
Security officers ran past us.
Then the emergency exit opened.
A man in a hospital uniform appeared.
He was holding a gun.
Detective Alvarez reacted instantly.
The shot hit the ceiling.
Everyone ducked.
I screamed.
Lily started crying.
The attacker ran.
Detective Alvarez chased him.
Edward locked the door.
I looked down at my baby.
She was shaking.
So was I.
Then Edward pointed toward the necklace.
“They know the key is here.”
The hospital alarms continued.
Minutes later, security found a car waiting outside.
Daniel's.
But Daniel was gone.
So was the hospital attacker.
Then a nurse rushed into our room.
“Mrs. Carter!”
“What?”
“There is someone downstairs asking for you.”
“Who?”
The nurse's face was pale.
“Vanessa.”
I stared.
“What?”
“She says she's hurt.”
We rushed downstairs.
Vanessa was sitting in a wheelchair.
Her face was bruised.
One eye swollen.
Her hands trembling.
She looked at me.
For the first time, there was no competition between us.
No hatred.
Only fear.
“I didn't know how far he would go,” she whispered.
I knelt beside her.
“Who?”
“Daniel.”
She grabbed my wrist.
“He isn't after your money.”
I stared.
“Then what?”
“He wants what your father found.”
“What did my father find?”
Vanessa looked at Edward.
“He knows.”
Edward's face went blank.
“What do you mean?”
“Your father discovered who was behind Meridian.”
“Who?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Richard Voss.”
I stared.
“But why would Voss care about me?”
“Because your father kept evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“A ledger.”
Edward's face drained of color.
“Where is it?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then she looked at me.
“But Daniel does.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
“He told me.”
“Where?”
Vanessa whispered:
“Your house.”
I froze.
Our house.
The house Daniel had tried to transfer.
The house he had spent a year preparing to steal.
Suddenly I understood.
He didn't need the house because it was valuable.
He needed it because something was hidden inside.
And there was only one person who knew where my father had hidden things.
Me.
Except I didn't remember.
Then Vanessa whispered:
“Your father left something in your bedroom.”
“What?”
“A message.”
“To whom?”
“To you.”
The lights flickered again.
Edward suddenly grabbed my arm.
“We have to leave.”
“Why?”
He pointed toward the hospital entrance.
Outside stood six black SUVs.
May you like
And in the center of them…
was Richard Voss.
