Chapter 9 - The Dead Man’s Instructions
Caleb forced the sedan away from the guardrail.
The engine screamed as the car crossed the shoulder and descended an exit ramp at dangerous speed. Behind them, the SUVs continued along the highway, unable to follow without reversing.
Samuel’s hand pressed against the wound below his shoulder.
“It went through,” Caleb said.
Samuel’s face had turned gray.
“Drive.”
“Hospital.”
“No.”
“You’ve been shot.”
“They’ll expect the hospital.”
Caleb followed Samuel’s directions to a small urgent-care clinic inside a suburban shopping center. Samuel called someone before they arrived.
A woman in dark-green scrubs unlocked a rear entrance and led them into an examination room without asking for identification.
Caleb watched her cut away Samuel’s shirt.
The bullet had passed through the upper chest without striking the heart, but blood loss remained dangerous.
“Who is she?” Caleb asked.
“An old client,” Samuel muttered.
The woman looked at Caleb.
“He means I owe him.”
She inserted an IV and began treating the wound.
Caleb stood by the counter holding Daniel’s instructions phone.
“You said my father knew the boat would explode.”
Samuel’s eyelids fluttered.
“He received a warning.”
“From whom?”
“Adrian Cole.”
Caleb stared at the programmed number on the screen.
“General Cole warned him?”
“Cole learned someone planned to stop Daniel from releasing the genetic records. He told him not to board the boat.”
“But he did.”
“He wanted them to believe he had the evidence with him.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Where was it?”
Samuel closed his eyes briefly.
“Daniel divided everything among people he trusted.”
“What did he give you?”
“Instructions. Names. Dates.”
“Why wait twelve years?”
“Because Daniel believed you would be safer if the secret died with him.”
“He was wrong.”
“Yes.”
The woman in scrubs pressed gauze against Samuel’s wound.
“You need to stop talking.”
Samuel ignored her.
“Daniel said the truth should be released only if one of three things happened.”
“What things?”
“If your mother tried to sell the foundation. If Adrian Cole disappeared. Or if North River’s archive was threatened.”
“The fire triggered it.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me last year?”
Samuel’s gaze dropped.
“Because Margaret convinced me Lena caused the oxygen failure.”
“You believed her?”
“I believed the access logs.”
“Logs can be changed.”
“I know that now.”
Caleb looked at the waterproof case.
The flash drive could contain the first real evidence.
He opened Samuel’s laptop, which had survived the crash inside a leather bag. The clinic’s internet connection was isolated from the hospital system.
Caleb inserted the drive.
Three folders appeared.
ROOM814_VIDEO.
DANIEL_CARTER.
LENA.
He opened ROOM814_VIDEO.
A video file loaded.
The image showed a hospital corridor three days before the fire. The timestamp matched the parking-garage photograph.
Margaret entered the frame carrying a leather purse.
She stopped outside Room 814.
A second person approached from the opposite direction wearing surgical scrubs, a mask, and a cap. The person used a badge to unlock the oxygen-control room.
Margaret followed inside.
Caleb leaned closer.
The masked person glanced toward the camera.
Only the eyes were visible.
Caleb did not recognize them.
The two remained inside for seven minutes.
When they emerged, Margaret handed the masked person an envelope.
The video ended.
Samuel watched from the examination table.
“That is not Dr. Vale.”
“Who is it?”
“I don’t know.”
Caleb opened the LENA folder.
Inside were copies of emails sent from Lena’s hospital account. They documented repeated complaints about unstable oxygen pressure and unauthorized access to Room 814.
Every complaint had been marked resolved by the same administrator.
Dr. Evelyn Shaw.
Caleb knew the name.
Evelyn had delivered him as a baby.
She was also Margaret’s closest friend.
Caleb opened the DANIEL_CARTER folder.
There was one audio file.
Daniel’s voice filled the examination room.
“If Caleb is hearing this, then Margaret has chosen the secret over our son.”
Caleb stopped breathing.
May you like
His father continued.
“Do not trust the woman who claims to be Evelyn Shaw. Evelyn died the night Caleb was born.”
