Chapter 7 - THE CHILD WHO STOPPED MOVING
Alexander ran toward his daughter.
One of the guards struck him across the ribs with a rifle.
He fell to one knee.
Maya rushed past him.
Celeste dragged Lily backward.
“Stay away.”
“What did you give her?” Maya demanded.
“Something to calm her.”
“She has asthma.”
“She has an inhaler.”
Celeste displayed the fake device.
Maya understood.
The spray contained a sedative.
Combined with Lily’s breathing condition, it could stop her lungs.
Maya reached inside her apron.
Grant saw the movement.
“Search her.”
A guard grabbed Maya.
She drove her elbow into his throat.
The turquoise inhaler fell onto the stone path.
Alexander reached for it.
Grant kicked it away.
It slid beneath a garden bench.
Lily’s face had become pale.
Maya threw herself toward the bench.
A gunshot cracked through the greenhouse.
Glass exploded above her.
The bullet missed.
Maya seized the inhaler.
Alexander tackled the guard nearest Lily.
Celeste lost her grip on the child.
Maya caught Lily before she hit the ground.
She administered the inhaler while Alexander shielded them.
“Breathe, sweetheart.”
Lily remained unconscious.
Maya checked her pulse.
“It is weak.”
Sirens sounded beyond the estate gates.
Grant’s expression changed.
He ordered the guards to retreat.
Celeste grabbed his arm.
“You promised we would finish this.”
“We leave now.”
“What about Alexander?”
“He will follow Lily.”
Grant knew him well.
Alexander would choose the hospital over pursuit.
Celeste looked at Maya with hatred.
Then she ran with Grant through the eastern garden.
Police vehicles crashed through the main gates.
Paramedics entered the greenhouse.
They placed Lily on oxygen and administered medication to reverse the sedative.
Alexander climbed into the ambulance with her.
Maya attempted to follow.
A paramedic stopped her after seeing the blood beneath her uniform.
“You need treatment too.”
“I am going with Lily.”
Alexander reached out.
“She comes with us.”
At the hospital, doctors stabilized Lily.
Her lungs had been dangerously restricted, but the inhaler prevented permanent damage.
Maya received twelve stitches beneath her ribs.
Alexander waited outside both treatment rooms.
Federal Agent Nora Ellis arrived before dawn.
She specialized in corporate fraud and political corruption.
Alexander gave her Rebecca’s recordings, the trust documents and Maya’s flash drive.
Agent Ellis studied him.
“Senator Monroe’s office will attempt to control this investigation.”
“Then move faster than he does.”
“We will need testimony from someone inside the estate.”
Alexander looked toward Maya’s room.
“She has already risked enough.”
Maya spoke from the doorway.
“I will testify.”
She wore hospital clothing and had a bandage around her head.
Alexander stood.
“You should be resting.”
“So should your daughter.”
Agent Ellis asked Maya whether she could identify Grant’s private accounts.
Maya nodded.
“I copied his office records.”
“Where are they?”
“In the cream rabbit.”
Alexander stared at her.
Maya explained that she had hidden a memory card inside Lily’s toy after discovering the first false medical invoices.
The same rabbit also contained Rebecca’s brass key.
Lily had unknowingly carried both pieces of evidence.
Alexander returned to his daughter’s room.
The cream rabbit rested beside her pillow.
Its belly had been torn open.
The memory card was gone.
Only three people had entered the room since their arrival.
Alexander.
Maya.
May you like
And Dr. Pike.
The false physician was inside the hospital.
