CHAPTER 8 — THE OLD SURGICAL WING
The abandoned wing smelled like dust, bleach, and rusted metal.
Marcus walked through the dark corridor carrying the flash drive in one hand.
His phone remained connected to Detective Brooks, hidden inside his jacket.
Behind the walls, Adrian and two security officers moved through the maintenance tunnel.
Khloe remained in the command room, watching a map of the building.
Her body shook from pain.
She refused medication.
“Marcus is approaching room 412,” Daniel Reyes said.
Khloe pressed the radio button.
“Don’t let Sebastian see you’re afraid.”
Marcus’s voice came softly through the receiver.
“I am afraid.”
“So is he.”
Room 412 stood at the end of the hall.
Marcus pushed the door open.
Hope’s bassinet sat beneath a single surgical lamp.
Sebastian stood beside it in a dark suit.
Isabella’s half-brother, Luca Rossi, held a gun near the door.
Marcus stopped.
“You involved her family too?”
Luca smiled.
“My sister was useful until she lost control.”
Hope made a faint sound.
Marcus’s eyes filled.
“Give me my daughter.”
Sebastian held out his hand.
“The drive.”
Marcus raised it.
“Let me see that she’s breathing.”
Sebastian pulled back the blanket.
A tiny oxygen tube ran beneath Hope’s nose.
Her chest rose weakly.
Marcus took one step closer.
Luca lifted the gun.
“That’s close enough.”
Marcus tossed the flash drive onto the floor between them.
Sebastian bent and picked it up.
“Password?”
“Hope.”
Sebastian inserted the drive into a laptop.
Files appeared.
Bank records.
Shell corporations.
Recorded meetings.
His face tightened.
“You copied everything.”
“Khloe did.”
“That woman should have stayed out of our business.”
“She was protecting it.”
“She was controlling you.”
“No,” Marcus said. “She was saving me from you.”
Sebastian looked at his brother with open hatred.
“You inherited the company because Father liked your smile.”
“I inherited it because you stole from him.”
“I built Thorne Global.”
“You robbed children’s hospitals.”
“I moved money where it could grow.”
“Into your own accounts.”
Sebastian closed the laptop.
“It doesn’t matter now.”
Marcus looked toward Hope.
“We made a deal.”
Sebastian smiled.
“You made a mistake.”
Luca moved behind Marcus.
In the command room, Khloe heard the gun being cocked.
“Move now,” she ordered.
Adrian and the security officers pushed through the tunnel access.
But the metal hatch jammed.
Adrian slammed his shoulder into it.
Inside room 412, Luca pressed the gun against Marcus’s back.
Sebastian reached toward Hope’s oxygen line.
Marcus lunged.
The gun fired.
May you like
Khloe heard the shot through the radio.
Then everything went silent.
