Chapter 7 - The Shot That Changed Everything
Evelyn threw herself against Hale.
The bullet missed Adrian.
It struck Celeste’s hand.
She screamed.
Her fingers slipped from Adrian’s grip.
Adrian caught her other arm.
Hale turned the gun toward Evelyn.
A tactical officer fired from the stairwell.
The bullet struck Hale’s shoulder.
He dropped the weapon.
Officers tackled him to the ground.
Adrian and two officers pulled Celeste onto the roof.
She collapsed beside the ledge.
Paramedics rushed toward her.
Celeste stared at Adrian.
“You should have let me fall.”
Adrian looked down at her.
“No.”
“I want you alive when the world learns what you did.”
Celeste’s eyes filled with rage.
Then she lost consciousness.
Evelyn was taken to the hospital.
Adrian rode in the ambulance beside her.
She watched him silently.
He looked older than he had the night before.
“What did they do to you?”
Evelyn turned toward the window.
“They kept me sedated.”
“They wanted the location of Julian’s evidence.”
“Did you know you were pregnant when we last spoke?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
Adrian looked at her.
Evelyn’s eyes filled with tears.
“Celeste answered your phone.”
“She told me you knew.”
“She said you wanted nothing to do with the baby.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“I would never have abandoned you.”
“I know that now.”
“Why did you believe her?”
“Because you disappeared from my life.”
Adrian lowered his head.
Celeste had told him Evelyn had accepted a settlement and left.
Evelyn had been told Adrian rejected her.
One lie had separated them.
Another had almost killed their son.
At the hospital, doctors confirmed Evelyn would recover.
Noah was brought to her room.
The moment she saw him, she broke down.
“My baby.”
Mia stood near the door.
She looked uncertain.
Evelyn held Noah against her chest.
Then she noticed Mia.
“You found him.”
Mia nodded.
Evelyn opened one arm.
Mia hesitated.
Then she stepped forward.
Evelyn pulled her close.
“You saved my son.”
Mia pressed her face against Evelyn’s shoulder.
Adrian watched them from the hallway.
Detective Brooks approached him.
“We searched the hospital.”
“We found patient files going back more than fifteen years.”
“Celeste’s father funded everything.”
“He died five years ago.”
“So Celeste inherited the operation?”
“That’s what it looks like.”
Brooks handed Adrian a photograph.
It showed Celeste, Dr. Hale, and several politicians standing inside the hospital.
One man in the photograph was Chicago’s deputy mayor.
Another was a state judge.
A third was Adrian’s chief financial officer, Nathan Cole.
Adrian stared at Nathan’s face.
“He was my brother’s best friend.”
“He also approved transfers from your company to shell organizations connected to the hospital.”
Adrian felt the betrayal deepen.
“How much?”
“More than forty million dollars.”
Adrian looked through the glass at Evelyn and Noah.
“Arrest him.”
Brooks shook her head.
“He disappeared thirty minutes ago.”
Adrian’s phone vibrated.
A message came from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph.
Mia’s backpack sat on the floor of Adrian’s mansion.
The envelope from Evelyn was missing.
A second photograph appeared.
Rosa was tied to a chair.
Nathan stood behind her.
His message contained one sentence.
May you like
Bring Mia to the old train yard, or Rosa dies.
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