CHAPTER 9 The Price of the Truth
The evidence remained inside the safe.
Khloe did not care.
The moment she saw the blood, every secret in the room became meaningless.
“My baby.”
Marcus dropped beside the wheelchair.
The nurse checked the monitor.
“We need to move now.”
Khloe grabbed her arm.
“Is the baby alive?”
“Yes, but the heart rate is unstable.”
Samuel called ahead to the operating team.
Detective Brooks secured the ledgers and flash drive.
Marcus pushed the wheelchair himself.
The corridor blurred around Khloe.
Lights.
Voices.
The squeal of wheels across polished floors.
She looked at Marcus.
He was speaking, but she could barely hear him.
“Stay with me.”
“I’m here.”
“Look at me.”
She did.
His face was terrified.
Not powerful.
Not controlled.
Just terrified.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“For what?”
“Everything.”
A contraction tore through her.
Khloe cried out.
Marcus gripped her hand.
“You’re not losing us,” she whispered.
“No.”
“You hear me?”
“I hear you.”
“You do not let them choose between me and the baby.”
His face broke.
“Khloe.”
“Promise me.”
“I can’t promise that.”
“You have to.”
“No.” He leaned closer. “I will not promise to lose you.”
The operating room doors opened.
The obstetrician met them.
“We may need to deliver.”
Khloe stared at her.
“At twenty-eight weeks?”
“The baby is in distress.”
Marcus went pale.
“What are the chances?”
“The neonatal team is ready.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It is the only answer I can give right now.”
Khloe was lifted onto the bed.
The doors began to close.
Marcus tried to follow.
A nurse stopped him.
“You need to change.”
Khloe reached for him.
“Marcus.”
He leaned through the narrowing space.
“I’m here.”
Then the doors shut.
Outside, Samuel stood with the evidence bag.
Detective Brooks held the flash drive.
Marcus turned on him.
“This is your fault.”
Samuel accepted the accusation without moving.
“You brought her to that room.”
“She chose to go.”
“You should have stopped her.”
“You think I could?”
“You should have tried harder.”
Samuel looked at him.
“Like you tried when Isabella was circling your wife?”
Marcus stepped forward.
Brooks moved between them.
“Enough.”
Marcus’s hands curled into fists.
Samuel’s voice remained low.
“We both failed her.”
The words stopped him.
Brooks held up the flash drive.
“This may explain why.”
She handed it to a digital specialist.
Within minutes, the first folder opened.
Financial ledgers.
Photographs.
Audio recordings.
A document titled THORNE SUCCESSION.
Marcus looked at it.
“Open that.”
The specialist clicked.
A series of scanned letters appeared.
The first was written by Edmund Thorne.
Marcus’s father.
The letter was dated seventeen years earlier.
David Vale must be prevented from reaching federal investigators.
Marcus read it once.
Then again.
His face turned gray.
The next letter was addressed to Eleanor Thorne.
Ensure the girl never learns what her father discovered.
Marcus stared at the screen.
“The girl.”
Samuel looked at him.
“Khloe.”
Another file contained payment transfers to Lorenzo Rossi.
Another showed hospital records altered by Julian.
Then Brooks opened an audio recording.
Edmund’s voice filled the waiting area.
“If David refuses to cooperate, remove him.”
Marcus stopped breathing.
His father’s voice continued.
“Julian will destroy the hospital trail. Eleanor will manage the family.”
Samuel looked at Marcus.
“Your father ordered it.”
Marcus said nothing.
The man he had spent his life trying to impress had ordered Khloe’s father killed.
His mother had helped hide it.
And Isabella’s family had been paid for silence.
Brooks opened a newer folder.
The dates were from the past six months.
Recent transfers.
Recent messages.
Recent photographs of Khloe.
One file was labeled MATERNAL OUTCOME.
Marcus’s hand shook as he opened it.
It contained medical projections.
Risk calculations.
Hospital floor plans.
A photograph of Suite Twelve.
And a list of names.
Isabella Rossi.
Vanessa Cole.
Julian Vale.
Eleanor Thorne.
At the bottom was a fifth name.
Daniel Reeve.
Marcus stared.
“That’s impossible.”
Brooks looked at him.
“He was carrying the badge.”
“He was attacked.”
“Both things can be true.”
Samuel’s eyes narrowed.
“He may have been removed because he became a liability.”
Marcus looked toward Daniel’s room.
“No.”
Brooks scrolled further.
There were payment records to an offshore account linked to Daniel.
Marcus felt something inside him collapse.
Nine years.
Every business trip.
Every threat.
Every person Daniel had investigated.
His most trusted employee had been paid by the people targeting Khloe.
A nurse emerged from the operating room.
Marcus turned instantly.
“What happened?”
“They are preparing for emergency delivery.”
His face emptied.
“Can I see her?”
“Not yet.”
“Is she conscious?”
“Yes.”
“The baby?”
“Still alive.”
The nurse hesitated.
“But they cannot stabilize the heart rate.”
Marcus gripped the back of a chair.
The nurse returned inside.
Samuel moved closer.
“Marcus.”
“Don’t.”
“You need to hear this.”
“My wife and child are behind that door.”
“And the person who caused this may still be inside the hospital.”
Marcus looked at him.
Samuel pointed toward the screen.
A new security alert appeared.
Someone had accessed the maternal operating floor using a temporary medical credential.
The name attached to it was Dr. Adrian West.
Julian.
Detective Brooks drew her weapon.
“He’s here.”
Inside the operating room, Khloe heard someone enter behind the curtain.
A nurse spoke.
“Doctor, you’re not authorized—”
A sharp sound followed.
Something metal struck the floor.
Khloe tried to lift her head.
The anesthetic made everything slow.
A man in surgical scrubs stepped into view.
Silver hair.
Dark eyes.
Her uncle Julian.
He looked at her with an expression that was almost gentle.
“You look exactly like your father.”
Khloe tried to scream.
No sound came.
May you like
Julian leaned closer.
“And just like him, you opened the wrong door.”
