Chapter 3 - A Promise Written in Blood
The funeral home sat across the street from Mercy General.
Daniel noticed it every time he looked out Lily's hospital window.
He hated it.
Because for one terrifying night, he had believed she would end up there.
She survived.
Barely.
That meant whoever attacked her had failed.
And people who failed often tried again.
Brooks arranged private security around the hospital without notifying local police.
Kane positioned surveillance teams on every entrance.
Chen rebuilt his destroyed computer from backup components hidden inside his vehicle.
Old habits never disappeared.
Neither did old enemies.
At noon, Detective Harris returned.
He carried coffee.
Too friendly.
Too relaxed.
"I wanted to check on your daughter."
Daniel studied him.
"Really?"
The detective smiled nervously.
"We're still investigating."
Daniel slid Lily's bloodstained note across the table.
They weren't alone.
Harris froze for the smallest fraction of a second.
Daniel caught it.
"You recognize something?"
"No."
Too fast.
Too rehearsed.
The detective stood.
"If you remember anything else..."
"I'll call."
After Harris left, Reyes quietly handed Daniel a sealed envelope.
"Our background investigation."
Inside were financial records.
Phone logs.
Political donations.
One payment stood out.
Two hundred thousand dollars.
Transferred the previous morning.
From a legal firm representing the Whitmore family...
...to Detective Harris.
Daniel read the number twice.
"So the investigation was bought before it even began."
Reyes nodded.
"And that's only the first layer."
Another document followed.
Campus maintenance reports.
Every emergency phone near the science building had been disabled three days before the attack.
Work order approved.
Signature missing.
Coincidence no longer existed.
Everything had been prepared.
Everything.
Just then Lily's heart monitor began beeping faster.
Daniel rushed into her room.
Her eyes were open.
Terrified.
She pointed frantically toward the television.
The local news had begun broadcasting live.
Standing behind microphones were Ethan Cole...
Brandon Hale...
Tyler Whitmore...
Surrounded by expensive lawyers.
One reporter asked if they had attacked another student.
Ethan smiled.
"We've never even met that girl."
The cameras flashed.
The audience laughed.
Tyler adjusted his designer suit.
"Our families believe in the justice system."
Daniel watched his daughter's hands begin shaking uncontrollably.
They weren't denying the crime.
They were mocking her.
Lily slowly reached for her notebook again.
With tears running down her face, she wrote five words.
He told them to kill.
Daniel stared at the sentence.
"Who?"
Lily's pen stopped moving.
Her breathing became uneven.
Then she wrote one final word before collapsing back onto the pillow.
Director.
Daniel looked toward Reyes.
Neither man spoke.
Neither had to.
The three wealthy boys were never the masterminds.
They had simply been following orders.
May you like
Somewhere above them...
A far more dangerous man had just entered the war.
