Chapter 9 - The Chief in the Photograph
Piper stared at Adrian.
He did not deny it.
The photograph lay on the consultation-room table between them. Renata stood near the door. Marcus had been asked to remain with Noah.
Piper pointed to the younger man in the image.
“You knew my father.”
Adrian’s face was pale.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I was a medical student.”
“At St. Catherine’s?”
“For one year.”
“You never told me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t know Thomas Hale was your father until later.”
“When?”
Adrian hesitated.
Piper’s voice sharpened.
“When?”
“During your fellowship.”
That was nine years ago.
She stepped back.
“You have known for nine years.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I had reasons.”
“That sentence is becoming hereditary.”
Renata looked at Adrian.
“Start talking.”
Adrian sat down.
“At twenty-four, I joined a research rotation under Malcolm Vane. He was one of the most respected resuscitation specialists in the country. I thought I was helping study emergency hypothermia.”
“Were you part of Lazarus?” Piper asked.
“Not knowingly.”
“You were in the room with my father.”
“I observed one neurological exam.”
“What happened?”
“Thomas woke after prolonged submersion. His recovery was unlike anything we had seen. Vane treated him like proof of a theory.”
“What theory?”
“That death was a technical failure rather than a biological endpoint.”
Piper looked at the photograph.
“My father was a person.”
“I know.”
“Did you know then?”
Adrian closed his eyes briefly.
“No. I was young enough to confuse brilliance with goodness.”
Renata asked, “Why did you leave?”
“I found records for patients who were not listed in the approved study. Uninsured trauma patients. Children without guardians. I confronted Vane.”
“What did he do?”
“He destroyed my career before it began. Accused me of stealing medication. I was removed from the program and nearly expelled.”
Piper’s anger shifted.
“You never reported him?”
“I tried. The evidence disappeared.”
“So you walked away.”
“Yes.”
“And years later you hired me.”
Adrian looked at her.
“When I saw your name, I suspected a connection. When I learned Thomas Hale was your father, I almost withdrew the offer.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because you were the best surgeon I had ever interviewed.”
“That is not the full answer.”
“No.”
He leaned forward.
“I watched what Vane did to your father. I thought hiring you was a chance to protect someone he might target.”
Piper laughed without humor.
“You protected me by hiding the truth?”
“I monitored your credentials. I watched for unusual complaints. When St. Catherine’s recruited you, I warned you not to go.”
“You told me the hospital culture was toxic.”
“It was the only warning I could give without revealing confidential records.”
“Confidential?”
“My father’s illegal experimentation was confidential?”
Adrian absorbed the accusation.
“I was afraid.”
“Of Vane?”
“Of becoming him.”
The answer gave Piper pause.
Adrian continued.
“Vane believed family lines were scientific property. If I told you Thomas carried the marker, I would be reducing you to the same thing.”
“So you chose ignorance for me.”
“Yes.”
“That was not your choice to make.”
“I know.”
Renata crossed her arms.
“Who told Piper not to trust the chief?”
“I don’t know.”
“Could it refer to you?”
“Yes.”
“Could Mara be exploiting this photograph to divide you?”
“Yes.”
Piper looked toward the darkened window.
“Or Adrian could have been working with them the entire time.”
Renata watched Adrian carefully.
He did not protest.
“Do you believe that?” he asked.
“I don’t know what I believe.”
“Fair.”
Her phone rang.
Renata answered.
After listening, she put the call on speaker.
An officer spoke from Chicago.
“We secured Union Station locker 314.”
“What was inside?” Renata asked.
“Nothing.”
Piper frowned.
“Nothing?”
“The locker was empty when we opened it.”
“Any sign it was recently accessed?”
“Yes. Security footage shows a woman opening it forty minutes before our arrival.”
“Mara?”
“Face obscured. But she left something taped beneath the bench across from the locker.”
“What?”
“A train ticket.”
“To where?”
The officer paused.
“Bellweather, Wisconsin.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“That’s where Vane’s car crashed.”
Piper looked at him.
“When?”
“The ticket is for tomorrow morning.”
Renata ended the call.
“It’s another invitation.”
“No,” Piper said. “It’s a deadline.”
She returned to Noah’s room.
Lauren was awake. Marcus sat beside the bed. Evelyn stood near the door, wringing her hands.
Piper addressed all of them.
“You’re being moved to a secure location.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“You brought us to the lake because strangers paid you. Your judgment is no longer part of the discussion.”
Evelyn looked wounded.
“I am still your mother.”
“And Noah is still alive despite you trying to drag me away from him.”
Marcus stood.
“Where are you going?”
“Wisconsin.”
“No.”
Piper looked at him.
“You told me to go to Chicago.”
“That was before I learned your boss lied to you for nine years.”
Adrian remained in the corridor.
Marcus pointed toward him.
“You trust that man?”
“No.”
“Then why is he coming?”
Adrian answered.
“Because the crash site may contain evidence connected to her father.”
Marcus stepped toward him.
“You stay away from my sister.”
Piper almost laughed at the sudden claim of protection.
“Marcus.”
“What?”
“You do not get to become my defender because guilt is uncomfortable.”
His face fell.
She continued.
“Take care of Noah. That is your responsibility.”
“And yours?”
Piper looked at the train ticket photograph on her phone.
“To find out why someone staged a death in the same place my father’s secret began.”
She turned to leave.
Evelyn called after her.
“Bellweather isn’t where Malcolm died.”
Piper stopped.
May you like
Evelyn’s voice shook.
“It’s where your father was taken after the boat accident.”
