Chapter 7 - The Doctor’s Confession
Nolan aimed his weapon at Dr. Greer.
The doctor’s hand shook.
“I do not want to hurt anyone.”
“You brought enough medication to stop Elena’s heart,” Nolan replied.
“I was told the dose would only cause confusion.”
“You wrote her death certificate in advance.”
Greer glanced toward Ryan.
“He knew.”
Ryan stepped forward.
“I never saw that document.”
Greer laughed bitterly.
“You paid me.”
“I paid you to delay the competency examination.”
“You paid me through a Whitmore account.”
Elena looked at Ryan.
Every new truth seemed to uncover another lie beneath it.
Tessa moved quietly toward the notary.
Greer pressed the needle closer.
“Stop.”
Elena took the flash drive from her purse.
“This is what you want?”
“Elena, no,” Nolan said.
She ignored him.
“Tell me why.”
Greer’s eyes filled with tears.
“My daughter has a neurological disease. Henry Vale developed a treatment before he disappeared. Margaret promised me access to the research if I cooperated.”
“The research is on the drive,” Elena said.
“I do not know. She said the archive contains the final formula.”
“Then you were willing to kill my child to save yours.”
Greer’s face collapsed.
“I never intended to kill anyone.”
“That does not make you innocent.”
Elena held the drive out.
“Release the notary.”
Greer hesitated.
Tessa struck his wrist with a brass candleholder.
The syringe fell.
Nolan crossed the room and forced Greer to the floor.
The notary began crying as Ryan untied her.
A sudden contraction tightened across Elena’s stomach.
She gripped the edge of the table.
Ryan moved toward her.
Nolan blocked him.
“Elena?”
“I am fine.”
She was not sure it was true.
The baby moved again.
Tessa brought her water.
Greer looked up from the floor.
“Margaret said the baby had to be born after midnight.”
Elena stared at him.
“Why?”
“The trust changes at midnight.”
Ryan shook his head.
“No. It activates at birth.”
Greer swallowed.
“Not according to the document Margaret showed me.”
“What document?” Nolan asked.
“A codicil Henry signed before the plane crash. If Elena gives birth before midnight tonight, control goes to the child. If the birth occurs after midnight, the patent trust transfers to the Whitmore Foundation for thirty years.”
Elena checked the ballroom clock through the open door.
It was 11:17 p.m.
Her due date was three weeks away.
The sedative had never been intended merely to calm her.
It was meant to stop labor if it began.
Or cause it at the wrong time.
Nolan searched Greer’s medical case.
One syringe was labeled to suppress contractions.
The other could induce them.
Ryan looked at Elena in horror.
“They planned for both possibilities.”
A message appeared on Nolan’s tablet.
Live camera feed available.
The image showed Elena’s home nursery.
A man stood beside the empty crib.
May you like
It was Henry Vale.
Continue to the next part: Elena’s father is alive inside her home, but someone else is standing just outside the nursery door.
