CHAPTER 5: THE IMPOSSIBLE CONFESSION
The words echoed through Ethan's phone.
"You cut my brakes."
"No."
A brief pause followed.
"Ethan did."
Ethan felt every muscle in his body lock.
His grip tightened around the phone until his knuckles turned white.
"You're lying."
Dr. Harris chuckled softly.
"Am I?"
Marcus immediately reached for the phone.
"Ethan."
But Ethan stepped back.
His eyes never left the dark screen.
"Ava."
His voice trembled.
"Don't listen to him."
A weak sound came through the speaker.
Ava was crying.
"I don't believe him."
Dr. Harris laughed again.
"That's unfortunate."
"You've trusted your husband for years."
"You trusted Margaret."
"And neither of you ever wondered why your accident happened the very day Ethan changed your insurance coverage."
Ethan's heart skipped.
Insurance.
He remembered signing a stack of documents before leaving for London six months earlier.
Margaret had organized everything.
She claimed their financial advisors wanted every policy updated before the new fiscal year.
He had signed without reading every page.
Harris continued.
"Ask him."
"I..."
Ethan searched his memory.
"I signed paperwork."
"There you are."
"You admitted it yourself."
Marcus grabbed Ethan's shoulder.
"Stay calm."
"I never approved hurting Ava."
"No."
Harris sounded almost amused.
"You simply signed authorization forms that made everything possible."
The call suddenly filled with static.
Then Ava screamed.
"Ethan!"
The line went dead.
"No!"
Ethan called back instantly.
Nothing.
Again.
Straight to voicemail.
Marcus was already speaking into his radio.
"Hospital emergency response."
"Code Silver."
"Every exit."
"Nobody leaves."
He looked toward Ethan.
"I've got officers moving."
"They're too late."
"We don't know that."
"We wasted time here."
Marcus didn't answer.
Because part of him feared Ethan was right.
Forty miles away...
Inside St. Gabriel Medical Center...
Ava's hospital bed rolled rapidly through a dark service corridor.
She struggled against the restraints now securing both wrists.
Her head still ached from the sedatives.
The hallway lights flickered as emergency power cycled through the building.
A masked orderly pushed her bed.
Dr. Harris walked beside him.
"You shouldn't have recorded Margaret."
Ava glared at him.
"You'll never get away with this."
"I already have."
"For thirty-two years."
The orderly stopped outside an unused surgical suite.
Harris opened the door with an electronic key.
Inside waited another woman.
She wore expensive black clothing.
Her face remained hidden beneath a hood.
Ava immediately recognized the voice.
Margaret.
She was supposed to be under arrest.
Margaret slowly lowered the hood.
"I told you."
"There are always people willing to help."
Ava stared.
"How..."
Margaret smiled.
"Money buys remarkable loyalty."
"You escaped."
"I was released."
"No."
"I simply refused to stay."
Harris closed the operating room door.
Margaret walked beside Ava.
"I never wanted this."
"You tried to poison me."
"I tried to protect everything."
"You wanted my fortune."
Margaret shook her head.
"You still think this is about money."
"It is."
"No."
Margaret's smile disappeared.
"This is about survival."
Meanwhile...
The police convoy reached Briarwood.
More officers surrounded the building.
Marcus ordered Eleanor placed inside an armored ambulance.
She refused.
"I'm not leaving."
"You must."
"No."
Marcus knelt beside her wheelchair.
"Mrs. Caldwell..."
"They're going after Ava."
"I know."
"They'll fail."
Marcus frowned.
"You sound certain."
Eleanor looked directly at Ethan.
"Because Ava has something Margaret cannot allow anyone else to see."
"What?"
"The diary."
Ethan blinked.
"What diary?"
"The one I gave Ava."
Lena looked confused.
"When?"
"The afternoon before her accident."
Ethan stepped closer.
"You met Ava?"
"Only once."
"You never told me."
"I couldn't."
"Margaret watched every visitor."
"What diary?"
Eleanor inhaled slowly.
"My journals."
"The originals."
"I wrote everything."
"The drugs."
"The forged signatures."
"The child Margaret stole."
"The real father."
Ethan froze.
"You wrote his name?"
"Yes."
Marcus's eyes widened.
"Where is it?"
Eleanor closed her eyes.
"I hid it."
"Where?"
"I told Ava."
Ethan's pulse quickened.
"She never told me."
"She promised not to."
"Why?"
"Because if Margaret discovered it..."
Eleanor looked toward the forest.
"...everyone connected to that diary would die."
Back at the hospital...
Margaret pulled a chair beside Ava's bed.
"You've made this far more difficult than necessary."
Ava refused to answer.
Margaret leaned closer.
"You remind me of Eleanor."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Margaret's expression darkened.
"She was stubborn too."
"You destroyed her life."
"I preserved mine."
"You kidnapped her."
"I saved the Caldwell family."
Ava laughed bitterly.
"You destroyed it."
Margaret's hand slammed onto the bedrail.
"You know nothing."
"I know Ethan isn't Charles' son."
Margaret became perfectly still.
For several seconds...
Nothing.
Then she smiled.
"So Eleanor told him."
Ava's eyes widened.
"You expected that."
"I expected this day eventually."
"You aren't worried?"
Margaret stood.
"I've survived worse."
Harris approached carrying a syringe.
Ava immediately recognized the clear liquid inside.
"No."
Margaret nodded once.
"Increase the dose."
Harris hesitated.
"She's already weak."
"Do it."
"If she arrests..."
"Then you'll fix it."
Harris looked uncomfortable.
Margaret noticed.
"You've become sentimental."
"I've become careful."
"You should have remembered that thirty-two years ago."
Those words caught Ava's attention.
"What happened thirty-two years ago?"
Neither of them answered.
Harris prepared the syringe.
Suddenly...
A loud explosion shook the hallway.
The lights flickered violently.
Hospital alarms began screaming.
A nurse's voice echoed through the intercom.
"Security breach."
"Emergency lockdown."
Another explosion followed.
Smaller.
Closer.
Margaret looked toward the door.
"What was that?"
Harris opened it slightly.
Smoke drifted into the corridor.
People were shouting.
Running.
Someone yelled—
"Police!"
Marcus.
Ethan.
They had arrived.
Margaret's calm finally cracked.
She turned toward Harris.
"Take her."
"Where?"
"The basement."
"There isn't enough time."
"Make time."
The orderly released the bed brakes.
He began pushing Ava toward a hidden elevator behind the operating room.
Outside...
Heavy footsteps thundered down the corridor.
Ethan burst through the smoke-filled hallway with two officers behind him.
He saw the operating room door swinging shut.
"Ava!"
Her voice echoed faintly.
"Ethan!"
He sprinted forward.
But the hidden elevator doors closed between them.
For one desperate second...
Their eyes met through the narrowing gap.
Ava reached toward him.
"Ethan!"
The doors sealed shut.
The elevator descended into darkness.
Ethan slammed both fists against the steel doors.
"No!"
Marcus arrived seconds later.
"What happened?"
"They took her."
"Where?"
Ethan stared at the elevator display.
Instead of numbered floors...
Only one word appeared on the glowing screen.
SUBLEVEL - E.
Marcus frowned.
"There shouldn't be a sublevel."
A frightened maintenance supervisor standing nearby whispered something that made everyone fall silent.
"There isn't..."
May you like
He swallowed hard.
"Officially."
