CHAPTER 2: THE WOMAN IN ROOM 409
Emily woke to the sound of machines.
Soft beeping.
Air moving through tubes.
A nurse whispering somewhere nearby.
For a moment, she did not remember.
Then she did.
Marcus.
The mall.
The marble pillar.
The fall.
Her hands moved immediately to her stomach.
A doctor stepped into view.
“Emily,” he said gently. “Your baby is alive.”
She broke.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just one hand over her mouth, tears slipping silently down her face as if her body no longer had strength for anything bigger.
“He’s premature,” the doctor continued. “But stable. He’s in the NICU. He’s fighting.”
Emily closed her eyes.
Her son was alive.
That was enough.
For now.
But peace lasted less than ten seconds.
Because through the glass window of her hospital room, she saw a man in a dark suit standing at the nurses’ station.
Not Marcus.
Worse.
Victor Hale.
Marcus Kane’s attorney.
The man who made witnesses disappear without ever touching them.
Emily’s heart monitor began to race.
Officer Torres noticed.
He followed her gaze, then stepped toward the door.
Victor smiled politely from the hallway.
“I’m here to speak with Ms. Carter.”
Daniel blocked the entrance.
“She’s unavailable.”
Victor tilted his head.
“Officer, you are interfering in a private family matter.”
Emily forced herself to speak.
“He is not family.”
Victor’s smile faded.
Then another woman appeared behind him.
Tall.
Sharp-eyed.
Wearing a gray coat and carrying a federal badge.
Rebecca Carter.
Emily’s older sister.
Rebecca looked at Emily through the glass.
For one second, all the strength left her face.
Then she turned to Victor.
“You need to leave.”
Victor’s expression changed.
“Rebecca.”
“Assistant U.S. Attorney Carter,” she corrected.
Victor lowered his voice.
“You don’t want to open this door.”
Rebecca stepped closer.
“You mean the door Emily already opened?”
Victor said nothing.
Rebecca held up an evidence bag.
Inside was the flash drive.
For the first time, fear moved across Victor Hale’s face.
Not much.
But enough.
Emily saw it.
Daniel saw it.
Rebecca saw it too.
Then Victor whispered:
“You don’t understand. Kane Global is not the top of this.”
Rebecca’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
Victor looked toward Emily’s hospital bed.
Then said the sentence that changed everything.
“Marcus Kane doesn’t own the company.”
Emily’s blood went cold.
Rebecca asked, “Then who does?”
May you like
Victor smiled sadly.
“Your father did.”
