Chapter 5 - The Lie Between Sisters
Elena hid the photograph before Mara could see it.
Her instincts had been trained by years of living with Grant. Smile when afraid. Agree while planning escape. Never let the dangerous person know what you know.
"How do we reach Lily?" she asked.
Mara pointed to a blueprint taped inside the archive cabinet. "There is a surgical tunnel connecting this wing to the maternity ward. It was used to move patients without being seen."
Adrian noticed Elena's hand closed around something. "What did the letter say?"
"Nothing useful."
His eyes lingered on her face, but he did not challenge her.
The timer dropped below eight minutes.
They chose three files that appeared most valuable: Isabel's record, the placement ledger, and a binder titled VALE PROTOCOL. Mara stuffed the rest into a waterproof medical bag.
"What is the Vale Protocol?" Adrian asked.
Mara would not meet his eyes. "Later."
They opened a concealed panel at the rear of the archive. The tunnel beyond was barely wide enough for one person. Pipes ran overhead. Water dripped down the walls.
Mara went first, then Elena, then Adrian.
Halfway through, Elena heard a sound behind them.
Grant.
He had escaped the examination room.
His flashlight swept into the tunnel.
"You can keep running," he called. "But Lily knows who left her alone."
Elena stopped.
Adrian pressed a hand to her back. "Keep moving."
Grant's voice followed them. "She was screaming for you when we took her. She asked why her mother didn't protect her."
Elena's breath broke.
Adrian turned toward the darkness. "You will never speak to her again."
Grant laughed. "Uncle Adrian. Such a touching reunion. Did Isabel tell you she chose the girls over you?"
A shot cracked.
The bullet struck a pipe. Steam exploded into the tunnel.
Mara shouted, "Move!"
They crawled through scalding mist until the passage opened beneath a trapdoor. Mara pushed it upward.
They emerged inside an old nursery.
Lily was not there.
The room shown on the monitor had been staged.
The timer had been a distraction.
On the far wall, someone had painted a message in fresh red letters.
SHE IS WHERE ELENA FIRST DIED.
Elena stared at the words.
"I don't know what that means."
Mara did.
Her face gave her away.
"Tell me," Elena said.
Mara lowered the gun. "The clinic recorded you as dead in Operating Room Three. Isabel induced cardiac arrest with medication so the monitors would show no pulse. She revived you after they transferred your body to the disposal wing."
"You said an orderly carried me out."
"He did. Afterward."
"Why are you changing the story?"
"I'm not."
Elena pulled out the photograph and showed Adrian.
Mara saw the message.
For one terrible second, all expression left her face.
Then she said, "Isabel wrote that before she knew the truth."
"What truth?" Adrian demanded.
"That I was trying to save her."
"You told us you were raised here," Elena said. "You had access to my records. You knew Grant. You knew the codes. Maybe you are still working for them."
Mara's eyes filled. "I have lied to you. But not about being your sister."
"Prove it."
Mara reached beneath her scrub shirt and pulled out a chain. On it hung half of a silver medallion.
Elena had worn the matching half since childhood.
Thomas Marrow had told her it belonged to her mother.
The two broken edges fit perfectly.
Before Elena could speak, Grant dropped from the trapdoor.
He struck Mara from behind. Her gun skidded beneath a crib.
Adrian tackled him. Elena dove for the weapon.
Grant kicked Adrian in the ribs, grabbed Elena's ankle, and dragged her backward. She twisted and fired.
The bullet hit Grant's shoulder.
He screamed and released her.
Mara recovered the syringe he had carried. She drove it into Grant's thigh and emptied the contents.
Grant stared at her in horror. "You don't know the dose."
"I know exactly what it does."
His muscles began to fail. He collapsed, conscious but unable to move.
Adrian checked his pulse. "What did you give him?"
"A paralytic."
"He could stop breathing."
"Then keep him alive. You're a doctor."
Elena stood over Grant. She expected satisfaction. Instead she felt only the terrifying emptiness of knowing he was not the worst person in the building.
Mara opened a cabinet and removed a ring of keys from behind a loose panel.
"Operating Room Three is below the old chapel," she said. "Voss uses it as a holding area."
Grant's eyes moved wildly.
He was trying to speak.
Adrian leaned close.
The words came as a wet whisper.
"Mara... took... Lily."
Elena turned.
Mara had the gun raised.
Not at Grant.
May you like
At Adrian.
"I'm sorry," she said. "But the photograph was right."
