Chapter 11 - Daniel Finally Talks
Daniel requested an interview the next morning.
Not because he had developed a conscience.
Because prosecutors showed his attorney the evidence.
Drug diversion.
Forgery.
Conspiracy.
Child endangerment.
Fraud.
Obstruction.
Illegal handling of controlled medical products.
Potential federal trafficking violations.
Daniel finally understood that arrogance would not unlock the door.
He asked for a deal.
Emily was not present during the interrogation.
Grant told her afterward.
Daniel admitted taking the medications.
He admitted meeting Adrian Vale.
He admitted collecting Lily's blood.
He admitted hiding money.
But when asked whether he knowingly endangered Lily, he became defensive.
"I thought they had another dose."
Grant stared at him across the interrogation table.
"You removed both."
"Westbridge could get more."
"It took seven hours."
"I didn't know that."
"You were senior pharmacy staff."
"I wasn't managing supply that week."
Grant leaned closer.
"Your daughter almost died."
Daniel looked away.
"She didn't."
That sentence killed whatever sympathy remained in the room.
Grant continued.
"Why did Adrian Vale want Lily?"
Daniel said nothing.
"Why?"
"He said she was special."
"Define special."
"Her immune system."
"What about it?"
"She responds differently."
"How do you know?"
"Testing."
"Unauthorized testing?"
Daniel said nothing.
Grant opened a folder.
"Why did you tell Vanessa that Lily wasn't your daughter?"
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"I was angry."
"At whom?"
"Adrian."
"Why?"
"He changed the deal."
"What deal?"
Daniel looked toward his attorney.
His attorney remained silent.
Daniel finally said, "He promised Lily wouldn't be touched."
Grant stared.
"In exchange for what?"
"Information."
"What information?"
"Bloodwork."
"And medication."
Daniel nodded.
"What changed?"
Daniel swallowed.
"He wanted access."
"To Lily?"
"Yes."
"What kind of access?"
"He didn't say."
"You handed your daughter's medical information to a man running illegal experiments."
"I didn't know everything."
"But you knew enough to demand he not touch her."
Daniel did not answer.
Grant placed a photograph on the table.
The silver-haired Adrian.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"How do you contact him?"
"He contacts me."
"Phone?"
"Sometimes."
"Email?"
"Encrypted."
"Meetings?"
"When he wants."
"Last meeting?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Three days ago."
Grant's eyes sharpened.
"Where?"
"Westbridge parking garage."
"What did he say?"
Daniel's face changed for the first time.
Fear.
Real fear.
"He said Lily's episode was coming."
Grant sat back.
"What?"
"He said her condition would worsen this week."
"How could he know?"
"I asked him."
"What did he say?"
Daniel's breathing changed.
"He said because he'd already started it."
When Grant repeated those words to Emily, she went completely still.
"He caused Lily's collapse?"
"We don't know."
"What does started it mean?"
"We're trying to determine that."
Emily looked toward the IV line connected to her daughter.
"Could someone have given her something?"
Dr. Bennett stepped forward.
"We're testing everything."
Every medication.
Every blood draw.
Every meal.
Every injection.
Every nurse entry.
Every electronic order.
By evening, the answer came.
Lily's blood contained traces of a compound that should not have been there.
A research-only immunologic trigger.
It could have accelerated her inflammatory crisis.
Someone had not merely waited for Lily to become sick.
Someone had made her sicker.
Emily stood beside the window when Grant told her.
"Who administered it?"
"We're tracing access."
"Was it Daniel?"
"We don't think so."
"Why not?"
"The likely exposure happened while he was at a conference in Denver."
Emily stared.
"Then someone else inside Westbridge did it."
"Yes."
Emily looked through the glass walls of the ICU.
Doctors.
Nurses.
Technicians.
People who had touched her daughter.
People she had thanked.
People she had trusted.
May you like
Somewhere among them was someone working for Adrian Vale.
And that person still had access to Lily.
