Chapter 5 - THE DEAD MAN’S WIFE
Willa didn’t touch the pen.
“Where is my husband?”
Sterling poured himself a drink.
“You’ve become very attached.”
“Where is he?”
“Safe.”
“That word means nothing when you say it.”
Sterling took a sip.
“Sit.”
“No.”
He sighed.
“Why must everything with you become difficult?”
“Maybe because you kidnapped my mother and hid my husband.”
“Everett isn’t your husband.”
Willa stared at him.
“I remember standing at an altar.”
“You’re a legal convenience.”
Sterling placed his glass down.
“You were selected because you had no resources, no reputation and no one important enough to ask questions if something happened to you.”
Willa’s blood went cold.
There it was.
The truth.
“You framed me.”
Sterling’s eyes sharpened.
“Excuse me?”
“Three years ago.”
She watched his face carefully.
“Harold Fisk.”
Nothing.
Then the smallest twitch beside his mouth.
Enough.
Willa knew.
Sterling knew the name.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Sterling laughed.
“You’ve been listening to conspiracy theories.”
“Whitfield falsified my records.”
“Did he?”
“Grant Allison helped him.”
Sterling stopped smiling.
Willa stepped closer.
“And you knew.”
Sterling picked up the pen.
“You should be careful about accusations.”
“You should be careful about leaving evidence.”
That got him.
A flash of alarm.
Willa saw it.
Sterling grabbed her wrist.
“What evidence?”
She smiled.
Now he knew he had made a mistake.
“I didn’t say I had any.”
Sterling shoved her away.
Willa struck the wall.
Pain shot through her shoulder.
He came closer.
“Where did you go tonight?”
Willa said nothing.
“Who did you meet?”
Nothing.
Sterling grabbed her chin.
“Tomas?”
Willa kept her expression empty.
Sterling stared into her eyes.
Then he released her.
“Fine.”
He walked toward the door.
“You want Everett?”
Willa straightened.
“I’ll take you to him.”
Sterling led her downstairs.
Two guards followed.
They descended beneath the mansion into a level Willa hadn’t known existed.
The air became colder.
Concrete replaced marble.
Sterling stopped outside a steel door.
He entered a code.
The lock clicked.
Inside was Everett.
His bed stood beneath harsh fluorescent lights.
Whitfield was beside him.
Willa rushed forward.
“What did you give him?”
Whitfield blocked her.
“Nothing yet.”
“Yet?”
Sterling closed the door.
The guards remained outside.
On a stainless-steel table lay several documents.
The medical authorization.
A second document.
And a syringe.
Willa stared at it.
Sterling spoke.
“Here’s what happens.”
“You sign the authorization.”
“Whitfield certifies Everett’s condition has deteriorated.”
“Life support is withdrawn.”
“Everett dies peacefully.”
Willa felt physically sick.
“And then?”
Sterling smiled.
“As his grieving widow, you inherit a portion of the estate.”
“You transfer your interest to the family trust.”
“In exchange, you receive five million dollars.”
Willa stared at him.
“And my mother?”
“Returned safely.”
“And if I refuse?”
Sterling looked toward Whitfield.
Whitfield picked up the syringe.
Sterling’s voice became soft.
“Everett dies anyway.”
“Your mother disappears.”
“And police discover that a disgraced nurse altered Everett Kane’s medication shortly before his death.”
Willa couldn’t speak.
They had planned everything.
Every detail.
Even her attempts to save him.
Whitfield stepped closer.
“You should take the deal.”
Willa looked at him.
“You destroyed my life once.”
Recognition finally disappeared from his performance.
“Yes.”
The word was almost casual.
Willa felt something break inside her.
“You remember me.”
“Of course I remember you.”
“Why Harold Fisk?”
Whitfield shrugged.
“Wrong patient.”
“What does that mean?”
“He saw something he wasn’t supposed to see.”
“What?”
Sterling interrupted.
“Enough.”
But Whitfield seemed almost proud.
“Fisk discovered billing records tied to a pharmaceutical distribution operation.”
Willa stared at him.
“You killed him over money?”
Whitfield smiled.
“People have died for much less.”
Willa lunged at him.
Sterling caught her.
Whitfield stepped back laughing.
“You monster!”
Sterling twisted her arms behind her.
“Sign.”
“No!”
He shoved her toward the table.
“Sign it!”
“No!”
Sterling pressed her face against the documents.
Willa struggled.
“Everett can hear you!”
Everything stopped.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Willa realized what she had said.
Whitfield looked at Everett.
Sterling slowly released her.
“What?”
Willa’s heart sank.
She had made the worst mistake possible.
Sterling approached Everett’s bed.
“Everett?”
No movement.
He leaned over his cousin.
“Can you hear me?”
Nothing.
Sterling looked at Willa.
“You’re lying.”
Willa laughed nervously.
“Of course I’m lying.”
Whitfield didn’t believe her.
He pulled out a penlight.
Checked Everett’s pupils.
Then his pulse.
Whitfield frowned.
“What?”
Sterling asked.
Whitfield checked again.
“The sedation level is wrong.”
Willa backed toward the table.
Sterling turned toward her.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
Whitfield inspected the IV bag.
Then he looked at Willa.
“You diluted it.”
Sterling’s face changed.
“Is he awake?”
Whitfield didn’t answer.
“IS HE AWAKE?”
Everett’s hand suddenly closed around Whitfield’s wrist.
Whitfield screamed.
Everyone froze.
Everett Kane opened his eyes.
For the first time in eight months.
His gaze was unfocused.
Weak.
But alive.
And furious.
Sterling stumbled backward.
“No.”
Everett’s lips moved.
No sound came out.
Whitfield tried to pull away.
Everett held him with surprising strength.
Willa rushed toward the bed.
“Everett.”
His eyes found her.
Recognition appeared instantly.
Then Everett forced one broken word through his throat.
“Run.”
The lights went out.
Gunfire exploded in the hallway.
And somewhere beyond the steel door, men began shouting a name Sterling Kane had spent eight months trying to erase.
May you like
“REYES!”
“REYES IS INSIDE!”
