Chapter 9 - THE NIGHT OF THE STORM
Rain began pounding against the windows as Daniel entered the house.
Claire hid in the pantry beside the kitchen.
I kept my phone recording inside my sweater pocket.
Daniel removed his wet coat.
“You changed the security code.”
“Yes.”
“You cannot lock me out of my own property.”
“You got inside.”
“Because Noah told me the temporary code.”
I would deal with that later.
Daniel poured himself a drink.
His hands were unsteady.
“The board suspended me from surgery.”
“Pending an investigation.”
“You caused this.”
“You altered a report after a patient died.”
“You don’t know what happened.”
“Then tell me.”
He swallowed half the drink.
“The device was approved.”
“It failed.”
“The patient was already high-risk.”
“And Vantage paid Northstar after he died.”
Daniel stared at me.
“Where did you hear that name?”
I did not answer.
He moved closer.
“You have no idea what my father is capable of.”
“I’m learning.”
“He built the network that made the practice possible.”
“My mother’s money made the practice possible.”
“That money would have been worthless without me.”
There was the Daniel I had spent years refusing to see.
Every sacrifice belonged to him.
Every success proved his greatness.
Every failure belonged to someone else.
“What happened to the original device?” I asked.
He looked toward the window.
“Lauren removed it.”
“On your authorization.”
“My father told me it would protect the hospital.”
“It protected you.”
“I saved thousands of people.”
“And Thomas Avery?”
His face twisted.
“One bad outcome should not erase my entire career.”
“One dead patient did not erase your career.”
“Your lies did.”
He slammed the glass onto the counter.
“You always thought you were better than me.”
“I spent twelve years telling everyone how extraordinary you were.”
“You controlled the money.”
“Because you asked me to.”
“You made me feel like an employee in my own company.”
“So you forged my signature and planned to steal it?”
His silence answered.
Then Daniel lowered his voice.
“Sign the settlement.”
“No.”
“Take the house.”
“No.”
“Take five million.”
“No.”
He stepped so close that I could smell the whiskey on his breath.
“You think Maya Collins can protect you from my father?”
“I think the truth can.”
Daniel laughed.
“The truth is whatever survives.”
A floorboard creaked inside the pantry.
Daniel turned.
Claire stepped into the kitchen.
His face went still.
“You,” he whispered.
Claire placed the recorder on the counter.
“I heard everything.”
Daniel looked at me.
Then at the recorder.
The rage disappeared.
Something colder replaced it.
He reached into his coat.
For one terrible second, I thought Claire’s warning had come too late.
Then he pulled out a small black remote.
He pressed a button.
The security system went dark.
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The lights shut off.
And somewhere upstairs, glass shattered.
