Chapter 6 - THE LOCKED HOSPITAL ROOM
Ryan threw his shoulder against the door.
It did not move.
Maya stood between the masked intruder and Oliver’s bed.
“Stay away from my son.”
The person raised the syringe.
Maya grabbed the metal IV pole and swung it.
The intruder ducked.
The pole struck the wall.
Ryan pounded on the glass.
“Security!”
The officers outside the room had been called away by a false emergency on another floor.
Detective Reeves drew his weapon.
He aimed at the lock.
“Move away from the door!”
Maya heard him and dragged Oliver’s bed toward the far wall.
The intruder lunged.
Maya shoved the IV pole forward.
Its base struck the attacker’s knee.
The syringe fell.
Ryan saw it slide beneath the bed.
Detective Reeves fired once into the electronic lock.
The door opened.
Ryan rushed inside.
The intruder ran toward the bathroom.
The detective tackled the person before they reached the exit.
The surgical mask came loose.
Ryan stopped in shock.
It was Nora Blake.
Their former housekeeper.
Maya stared at her.
“You signed a statement saying I hurt Oliver.”
Nora’s face twisted with panic.
“They made me do it.”
Ryan pointed to the syringe.
“You came here to inject my son.”
“No.”
“I came to help him.”
Detective Reeves handcuffed her.
“What was inside the syringe?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why were you holding it?”
Nora began to cry.
“Charles said Oliver would die if I didn’t follow his instructions.”
Maya moved closer.
“What did he threaten you with?”
Nora shook her head.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
Nora looked toward the officers gathering outside.
“My husband disappeared three years ago.”
“He worked for Charles.”
“He found records from the private clinic.”
“Charles told me my husband abandoned us.”
“But last week, I received a photograph.”
She swallowed hard.
“He’s alive.”
“Where?”
Ryan asked.
“At the recovery house.”
Detective Reeves frowned.
“We searched every room.”
“You didn’t find the tunnel.”
“What tunnel?”
Nora looked at Ryan.
“The basement has a second level.”
“Charles keeps people there until they sign what he wants.”
Ryan felt sick.
“Who else is down there?”
“I don’t know.”
“Your mother may be.”
Maya’s eyes narrowed.
“Why would Evelyn be a prisoner?”
Nora’s crying stopped.
“Because she tried to change the plan.”
Ryan stared at her.
“What plan?”
“Charles wanted Oliver dead.”
Nora looked at Maya.
“Your mother-in-law only wanted custody.”
“The first doses were supposed to make him sick.”
“They were supposed to make Maya look careless.”
“But Charles increased the amount.”
“He needed a tragedy.”
“Why?”
“Because if Oliver died while Maya was caring for him, she would be arrested.”
“Ryan would be destroyed by the scandal.”
“Charles would take control of the company.”
Ryan’s voice became low.
“And my mother?”
“She found out Charles planned to kill him.”
“She tried to stop tonight’s dose.”
Maya’s face hardened.
“She stole his inhaler.”
Nora nodded.
“She believed a breathing attack would force Maya to sign the treatment papers.”
“She wanted Oliver moved before Charles could hurt him.”
Ryan could barely speak.
“She nearly killed him to protect him?”
Nora looked away.
“Evelyn always believed she could control the outcome.”
The police took Nora away.
The syringe was sent to the lab.
It contained enough sedative to stop a child’s heart.
Oliver’s monitors came back online.
The hospital moved him to a secure intensive care unit with no connected cameras.
Detective Reeves organized another raid on the recovery house.
This time, officers searched the basement walls.
Behind a metal storage shelf, they found a narrow passage.
The tunnel led to a second underground level.
Three cells were empty.
One contained Nora’s husband.
He was alive but severely malnourished.
Another contained boxes of financial records.
The final cell contained a chair, a broken chain, and fresh blood.
Evelyn’s pearl earring lay on the floor.
She had been there.
But she was gone.
May you like
On the wall, someone had written a message in blood.
RYAN, DO NOT TRUST REEVES.
