Chapter 9
The hospital security cameras became useful.
Not because the suite had captured everything.
Because the corridor had.
Five weeks of visits.
Ryan arriving with Noah.
Linda entering alone.
Emily following later.
Every time Noah worsened, Linda had been alone with him shortly beforehand.
James pulled the timestamps.
Emily stared at the screen.
“I thought she was helping.”
Linda laughed.
“I was.”
James turned.
“No.”
She looked offended.
He continued.
“You were creating symptoms, then presenting yourself as the person who could manage them.”
Emily whispered:
“You told me Noah slept better with you.”
“He did.”
“Because you were giving him something.”
Linda shrugged.
“Quiet babies rest.”
James’s face hardened.
“That isn’t care.”
Linda looked at him.
“You doctors adore moral language after everything is safe.”
No shame.
None.
Ryan’s phone vibrated.
He looked down.
My bodyguard took it.
One message.
UNKNOWN:
STERLING KNOWS?
Ryan went pale.
I looked at James.
Someone outside this room knew what Dr. Sterling had discovered.
“Who is this?”
Ryan said nothing.
Linda did not look surprised.
I held the phone toward Lang.
He recognized the number.
“Derek Vale.”
Another family.
Older.
Smaller than Carter.
Dangerous enough.
“What does Vale want?”
Lang swallowed.
“Access.”
“To?”
Ryan finally spoke.
“Routes.”
Emily stared at him.
“You were selling Dad’s routes?”
“No.”
Linda interrupted:
“He was building relationships.”
I almost laughed.
There was always a civilized phrase.
“Which routes?”
Ryan said nothing.
I checked his messages.
Only fragments.
BABY BAD AGAIN.
EMILY MISSES THURSDAY.
VINCENT MOVES TWO MEN HOME.
That was it.
They were studying my response.
Noah becomes ill.
Emily stays home.
I redirect security toward family.
Outer routes thin.
Vale watches.
My grandson’s suffering had been used as a way to move my men around the city.
I stared at Ryan.
“You weren’t only stealing Emily’s seat.”
He said nothing.
“You were using Noah to map me.”
Linda smiled.
“There.”
“What?”
“You finally understand.”
She seemed proud.
Then Emma whispered:
“Grandma said Grandpa always comes when babies cry.”
May you like
Linda’s smile disappeared.
Another thing she had said when she thought no adult would ever hear it again.
