Chapter 4 - THE FALSE CHILD SERVICES BADGE
Cassandra entered Lily’s room carrying a gray coat and a transfer folder.
She wore no white dress.
Her blonde hair had been tied beneath a dark wig. A hospital mask covered the lower half of her face.
Lily recognized her eyes.
Scout stood beside the bed.
The dog began growling.
Cassandra closed the door.
“Quiet.”
Lily reached for the call button.
Cassandra grabbed her wrist.
“You have already caused enough trouble.”
Scout barked.
Cassandra pushed him away with one foot.
The older dog remained between her and Lily.
“You were supposed to eat everything in the bowl,” Cassandra whispered. “Then nobody would believe what you remembered.”
Lily’s body still carried the sedative.
Her arms felt heavy.
Her mind moved slowly.
Cassandra opened the transfer folder.
The first page carried a family court seal.
It stated that Lily was being moved to a psychiatric evaluation center after showing signs of manipulation by Marcus.
The order was forged.
The signature belonged to Dr. Pike.
Cassandra pulled the child from the bed.
Lily screamed.
The sound reached the hallway.
Cassandra covered her mouth.
Scout bit the sleeve of Cassandra’s coat and pulled.
She struck him with the folder.
The door opened.
Marcus stood there with Detective Bennett and two hospital officers.
Cassandra released Lily.
Marcus crossed the room and lifted his daughter.
Lily wrapped both arms around his neck.
Cassandra stepped backward.
“She was being transferred legally.”
Bennett took the folder.
“The judge named on this order died last year.”
Cassandra looked toward Grant behind the officers.
“You.”
Grant lowered his eyes.
“You were going to kill her.”
“I was going to save her from him.”
She pointed toward Marcus.
“You have spent twelve years helping a criminal frighten this city, and now you pretend one frightened child makes you moral.”
Grant said nothing.
Cassandra looked at Marcus.
“You know what happens if Lily remains with you. The court examines your companies. Your private security. Every threat you ever made.”
“Let them.”
The answer stopped her.
“You would lose Vale Global.”
“Then I lose it.”
“You would lose your name.”
“My daughter is not a shield for it.”
Cassandra’s expression hardened.
“You think Helena would be proud?”
“No.”
Marcus held Lily more securely.
“She asked me to prove I could choose her safety over my anger. I should have listened while she was alive.”
Cassandra reached inside the gray coat.
Hospital officers raised their weapons.
She removed a small black device.
Her thumb rested above a switch.
“If I release this, every private Vale account goes public.”
Marcus looked at Detective Bennett.
“Let her.”
Cassandra stared at him.
“Some of those accounts connect you to people who kill for money.”
“I know.”
“You will go to prison.”
“Possibly.”
“You will lose Lily.”
“That will be decided by a court after it hears the truth.”
She had built the entire operation around Marcus choosing secrecy over his daughter.
His refusal removed the only leverage she understood.
Cassandra threw the device toward the floor.
Grant caught it before impact.
Bennett secured Cassandra’s wrists.
As officers led her away, she looked at Lily.
“You think your father saved you?”
Lily pressed her face against Marcus.
Cassandra continued.
“He did not save your mother.”
Marcus stopped.
Bennett moved Cassandra toward the door.
“What does that mean?” Marcus asked.
Cassandra smiled.
“Helena was still alive when he arrived at the clinic.”
Marcus stared at Grant.
Grant shook his head.
“That is not true.”
Cassandra laughed.
“You never told him about the second vehicle.”
Detective Bennett paused.
“What second vehicle?”
“The clinic camera shows a Vale car arriving before Helena died.”
Cassandra looked directly at Marcus.
“Someone used his personal access code.”
Marcus remembered the night of the crash.
Grant called him during a board meeting and said Helena had been taken to the public hospital.
Marcus left immediately.
His driver took him through Manhattan traffic.
They arrived forty minutes later.
The hospital told him Helena had died before arrival.
He never saw her there.
His driver that night had been Julian Vale.
Marcus’s uncle and chairman of Vale Global Industries.
Julian had offered to handle the funeral, the police, and Lily’s care.
The personal access code belonged to Marcus.
Julian knew it.
Grant’s face changed.
“Julian was at the clinic?”
Cassandra smiled.
May you like
“He was the person who told Pike to stop treatment.”
Continue to the next part: Marcus discovers that the uncle who helped raise him made the final decision that killed Helena.
