Chapter 13 - the confession nobody expected
Isabella was found on the hospital roof.
She stood near the locked helicopter pad with Owen Shaw beside her. Owen held a metal case against his chest.
Neither appeared to be trying to escape.
They were waiting.
Officer Reyes approached with four police officers.
Marcus remained inside with Khloe, watching through a security feed. Elaine stood beside them.
“Put the case down,” Officer Reyes ordered.
Owen shook his head.
“You do not know what is inside.”
“Place it on the ground.”
“If I release it, the hospital loses the only evidence that can prove what Malcolm did.”
Elaine leaned toward the microphone connected to the roof speakers.
“My husband is dead. Whatever he did, Khloe and her child had no part in it.”
Owen looked toward the camera.
“Khloe was never the target.”
Isabella turned to him.
“That is not what you told me.”
“You were told what you needed to hear.”
Her expression changed.
Owen continued.
“The attack was supposed to stop before Khloe entered the suite. You were meant to take the amendment, create an argument, and leave.”
“You told me Marcus’s brother wanted her declared incapable.”
“I told you the trust required a public conflict.”
“You used me.”
“You wanted what we offered.”
Isabella stared at him.
“You promised Marcus would lose everything.”
Owen laughed bitterly.
“You still believe this was about money.”
Officer Reyes repeated his order.
“Put down the case.”
Owen slowly lowered it.
One of the officers retrieved the case and opened it.
Inside were old hospital records, a blood-stained signet ring, several cassette tapes, and a sealed letter addressed to Marcus.
Elaine pressed a hand to her mouth.
“That ring belonged to Malcolm.”
Marcus examined the one worn by the man in the footage.
“It was a copy.”
Owen looked directly into the roof camera.
“I found Malcolm in Suite 1708. He was still conscious.”
Elaine’s voice trembled.
“You told me he was already gone.”
“He asked me to protect both of his sons.”
Marcus stepped closer to the screen.
“What happened to my father?”
Owen’s expression hardened.
“He finally understood what the trust had funded.”
“What did it fund?”
“Disappearances. False identities. Private medical programs hidden beneath the foundation.”
Khloe thought of Celia Arden.
“Did the hospital make Marcus’s biological mother disappear?”
Owen did not answer.
Isabella suddenly moved toward the case.
An officer stopped her.
She struggled for a moment, then shouted toward the camera.
“He is lying. Owen arranged everything. He gave me the document and told me Khloe would lose control of the baby’s trust.”
Owen turned to her.
“You attacked Khloe after I told you to leave.”
“You locked us inside.”
“To keep the second man away from her.”
The roof fell silent.
Officer Reyes stepped closer.
“You are saying the man in the tuxedo was not working with you?”
“I was working for him until I learned what he intended to do.”
“Who is he?”
Owen looked at Marcus through the camera.
“He calls himself Michael Arden.”
Marcus absorbed the name.
Celia Arden’s son.
His half-brother.
“Where is he now?” Officer Reyes asked.
Owen looked toward the night sky.
“He was never on this roof.”
A phone began ringing inside the metal case.
The officer answered on speaker.
A man’s voice filled the roof and the room below.
“Marcus,” he said, “ask your mother why she chose which baby to take home.”
May you like
Elaine stumbled backward.
The call ended.
