Chapter 7 - The Three Nurses Before Her
Nico drew the pistol before Victor finished the sentence.
Two security men shifted.
Victor raised both hands.
“Careful.”
“Where is Wes?”
Victor looked at Adeline.
“I don’t know.”
“You knew he was missing.”
“I knew someone tried to pick him up.”
“How?”
“The family office monitors threats connected to staff.”
Adeline stepped down one stair.
“You knew before I did.”
Victor shrugged.
“Your brother is a dependent under our coverage.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
A phone rang inside Adeline’s coat.
Wes.
She answered.
“Addie?”
His voice shook.
“I’m okay.”
She closed her eyes.
“Where are you?”
“Walgreens. Police are here.”
Adeline nearly sat down on the stone.
“What happened?”
“A man said you sent him. He had one of those Alfieri cards. I asked him what your middle name was and he said Marie.”
Adeline looked at Victor.
“My middle name isn’t Marie.”
Wes continued.
“So I ran.”
A police officer took the phone.
He explained.
The driver had fled.
Wes was safe.
Adeline thanked him.
Then she turned to Victor.
“Show me your credential book.”
Victor frowned.
“What?”
“The driver had an estate credential.”
“Those are issued by security.”
“Which reports to you.”
Victor looked at Nico.
“This is absurd.”
Nico lowered the gun only slightly.
“Bring the credential log.”
Victor did not move.
Nico’s voice flattened.
“Now.”
Ten minutes later, the log showed a temporary vehicle credential printed at 4:42 that morning.
Authorization code:
VA-01.
Victor Alfieri.
Victor stared at it.
“Forged.”
“Convenient,” Nico said.
Victor pushed the ledger away.
“You think I arranged to scare a child?”
“I think somebody did.”
“You are losing perspective.”
Nico laughed once.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The sentence everyone uses right before they try to take control from a man in a wheelchair.”
Victor’s face hardened.
“You’re becoming unstable.”
Adeline looked at Nico.
Nico looked at her.
Both heard it.
Later that morning, Adeline took Wes to stay with Leena.
Then she returned.
They drove to the rehabilitation clinic after dark.
Nico refused to remain behind.
His private security man, Marco Ruiz, drove.
The clinic sat behind an overgrown parking lot.
Windows boarded.
Main door chained.
Inside smelled like plaster and old disinfectant.
Adeline followed the coordinates deeper.
Room 14.
Empty.
A locker.
Inside, another crane.
Nico unfolded it.
THREE LEFT. ONE STAYED.
A second note:
THE FOURTH WILL KNOW THE SHOE.
Adeline stared.
The tablets.
Mara had hidden them.
Not Camille.
Not by accident.
She had left a sample for the next nurse.
A sound came from the hall.
Marco raised his weapon.
“Someone’s here.”
A woman stepped into the beam of the flashlight.
Thin.
Dark hair cut short.
Scar along one cheek.
She held a revolver.
“Put the light down.”
Adeline did.
The woman looked at Nico.
Her mouth tightened.
“You’re alive.”
Nico’s voice was barely audible.
“Mara?”
She lowered the gun.
Before anyone could move, headlights swept across the boarded windows.
Multiple vehicles.
Mara’s face changed.
“You were followed.”
Nico turned toward Marco.
“No.”
Mara grabbed Adeline’s wrist.
“Back exit.”
A bullet punched through the front glass.
Another hit the hallway wall.
They ran.
Nico’s chair slammed over broken tile.
Marco returned fire.
At the rear door, Mara shoved a memory card into Adeline’s palm.
“If they get me, you play that for him.”
“For Nico?”
“For everybody.”
A second bullet hit the doorframe.
Mara pushed Nico outside.
Adeline looked down at the tiny card.
“What’s on it?”
Mara looked at Nico.
“The night before his crash.”
May you like
Then she said the one name Adeline had not expected.
“Camille.”
