Chapter 5 - THE BLACKOUT
Emergency lights glowed red across the ceiling.
The ventilator alarms in the neighboring rooms began sounding.
Hospital staff moved into the hallway.
Liam reached beneath my bed and pressed a manual security lock.
The door sealed.
“This hospital has backup generators,” he said.
“The lights should have returned immediately.”
Mara checked her radio.
Static answered.
Someone had disabled internal communication.
A shadow moved behind the glass panel in the door.
Then Dr. Vale’s voice came through the speaker.
“Liam.”
“We need to discuss your sister’s condition.”
Liam stood between the door and my bed.
“You are not part of her medical team.”
“I have a court order authorizing psychiatric transfer.”
Mara looked at him.
“Another forged document.”
Vale slid a paper beneath the door.
The order carried a judge’s signature.
It declared me a danger to myself and others.
It authorized immediate transport to a private facility owned by Vale Medical Group.
If they moved me, I could disappear.
My injuries would become self-inflicted.
My statements would become delusions.
My voting decisions would be challenged.
Ethan’s entire plan could restart.
Liam picked up the paper.
“The judge who signed this retired last year.”
Vale did not answer.
A metal tool entered the outer lock.
Mara moved beside the door.
“Sarah, can you use your phone?”
“Yes.”
“Send the hospital location to the state emergency network.”
The internal signal was blocked.
My encrypted trust device used a separate satellite channel.
I activated its distress protocol.
An alert reached every independent trustee, my attorney, and the state police.
Vale continued working on the lock.
“You are making this worse,” he said.
Liam laughed without humor.
“You forged a psychiatric order to abduct my sister.”
“You lost the right to explain worse.”
The lock opened halfway.
Mara fired once into the ceiling beside the door.
The sound stopped Vale.
“I am armed,” she announced.
“State police are approaching.”
Vale stepped away.
Then smoke entered through the ventilation grate.
Liam smelled it first.
“Not smoke.”
“Gas.”
He covered my mouth with a wet cloth.
Mara blocked the vent using a pillow.
The gas was intended to sedate the room.
Vale wanted no gunfight.
No witnesses.
Only unconscious people and a medical transfer that appeared legal.
My vision began blurring.
Liam opened the emergency oxygen supply.
He placed a mask over my face.
Mara used another.
He kept none for himself.
“Liam.”
“I’m fine.”
He was not.
His movements slowed.
I removed the mask.
He forced it back.
“Do not argue with an emergency doctor.”
“You need oxygen.”
“You need to remain conscious.”
The door shook again.
Then another sound came from the hallway.
Heavy footsteps.
Men shouting.
The glass shattered inward.
A figure entered wearing a breathing mask.
For one terrified second, I thought Vale’s men had reached us.
Then the figure removed the mask.
It was our uncle, retired federal judge Thomas Carter.
He had served as one of my father’s trustees.
Behind him stood state tactical officers.
Thomas looked at me.
“Your father always said you waited too long before calling family.”
Liam collapsed against the wall.
Medical staff carried him to oxygen.
Officers searched the hospital.
Vale had escaped through a service elevator.
Inside the elevator, they found Laura Dane’s handbag.
There was blood on the handle.
And a photograph of me unconscious on my kitchen floor.
May you like
On the back, someone had written:
THE NEXT FALL WILL BE PUBLIC.
