Chapter 2 - SAINT CATHERINE
Rain began falling as Ethan’s convoy left Blackwood Manor.
The windshield wipers moved furiously while Marcus drove.
Dr. Hayes sat in the rear seat with the phone connected to a tracing device.
The live feed still showed Amelia’s room.
Victor had disappeared from view.
That worried Ethan more than seeing him.
“How far?”
“Twenty-three minutes.”
“Make it fifteen.”
Marcus pressed harder on the accelerator.
Detective Elena Ramirez answered on speakerphone.
“I pulled the old Saint Catherine property records.”
Her voice was tense.
“The east wing was sold to Halcyon Medical Holdings six years ago.”
“Who owns Halcyon?”
“A chain of shell companies.”
“Final owner?”
There was a pause.
“Blackwood Strategic Investments.”
Ethan stared through the rain.
Victor.
Of course.
Ramirez continued.
“I’m bringing a state tactical unit.”
“No marked vehicles until we confirm Amelia is inside.”
“Ethan, if your uncle is armed—”
“He has had my wife imprisoned for seven years.”
Ramirez became silent.
Then she said, “Understood.”
They reached Saint Catherine twelve minutes later.
The main hospital stood abandoned behind rusting iron gates.
Windows had been boarded.
Weeds pushed through cracked pavement.
But the east building was different.
Fresh security cameras moved above reinforced doors.
A generator hummed behind a concrete wall.
Marcus slowed the SUV.
“No obvious guards.”
“That means hidden guards,” Ethan said.
Dr. Hayes looked at the feed.
“Wait.”
Amelia moved.
Ethan leaned forward.
Her fingers twitched beneath the blanket.
Then her eyes opened.
His breath caught.
Amelia stared weakly toward the ceiling.
A nurse entered.
Ethan watched her check an IV line.
Then Victor returned.
He stood beside Amelia’s bed.
Although the camera had no audio, Ethan could read Victor’s expression.
Calm.
Controlled.
Almost bored.
Amelia turned her head toward him.
Even through seven years of exhaustion, hatred appeared in her eyes.
Victor said something.
Amelia’s lips moved.
Victor smiled.
Then he lifted the syringe.
“Now,” Ethan said.
Marcus opened his door.
The tactical vehicles appeared from darkness behind them.
Officers moved toward the east building.
A security guard reached for his radio.
He never finished.
Ramirez’s team surrounded him.
Ethan followed Marcus through the entrance.
The smell hit him first.
Disinfectant.
Old walls.
Hospital air.
For one sickening moment, he was back seven years earlier.
Smoke.
Sirens.
Doctors refusing to let him pass.
A surgeon telling him Amelia was gone.
A nurse telling him the baby had not survived.
Ethan forced the memory away.
“Second floor,” Dr. Hayes said.
They moved through a corridor lined with locked doors.
Behind one, a man shouted.
Behind another, someone cried softly.
Ramirez’s expression hardened.
“What the hell is this place?”
“A prison pretending to be a clinic,” Ethan said.
An alarm suddenly began blaring.
Victor knew.
“Move!”
They ran.
At the second-floor stairwell, Marcus found two armed security men.
Both surrendered when they saw the tactical team.
Ethan reached Amelia’s corridor.
The live feed showed Victor pressing the syringe into her IV port.
“No!”
Ethan slammed into the locked door.
It did not move.
Marcus fired a breach tool into the lock.
The door burst inward.
Victor turned.
His face lost every trace of color.
Ethan saw the syringe.
He saw Amelia.
He saw seven stolen years.
Then Marcus crossed the room and seized Victor’s wrist before he could depress the plunger.
The syringe fell.
Victor stumbled backward.
“You’re supposed to be dead.”
Ethan walked into the room.
Rainwater still clung to his coat.
The silver locket was clenched in one hand.
“You first.”
Victor stared at him.
Then Ethan looked toward the bed.
“Amelia.”
Her eyes moved.
For a moment, she simply stared.
Then her lips parted.
“Ethan?”
His knees nearly failed him.
He crossed the room.
Amelia’s hand lifted weakly.
Ethan caught it.
She touched his face as if she were afraid he might disappear.
“You’re alive,” she whispered.
“So are you.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Our baby.”
Ethan opened his hand.
The locket rested in his palm.
“She’s alive too.”
Amelia stopped breathing.
“What?”
“Lily survived.”
A broken sound escaped her.
Ethan lowered his forehead against hers.
“She saved my life tonight.”
Behind them, Victor began struggling against Marcus.
“You don’t understand!”
Ethan slowly looked back.
Victor’s face twisted.
“You think this is over?”
Ramirez handcuffed him.
Victor laughed.
“You have no idea what Amelia signed.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
Amelia’s fingers tightened around his hand.
Victor smiled.
“The board meeting tomorrow isn’t about control.”
May you like
“It’s about ownership.”
And for the first time since entering the room, Ethan saw genuine fear in Amelia’s eyes.
