Chapter 9 - THE MAN IN THE HOSPITAL
Hospital security locked the maternity floor within ninety seconds.
Police searched stairwells, elevators, supply rooms, and staff corridors.
No one found Thomas Vane.
That frightened Evie more than if he had appeared at her door with a weapon.
An invisible enemy could be anywhere.
The threatening photograph had been sent through a disposable internet number.
The image metadata had been stripped.
The hospital camera outside Evie's room had gone offline for exactly three minutes.
Someone knew systems.
Someone knew timing.
Someone had help.
Sebastian wanted Evie moved to another facility.
She refused until Helen quietly explained that her refusal was increasing security complications for other mothers on the floor.
Evie agreed to a transfer under police escort.
Before she left, Lauren arrived with two detectives.
She had requested to speak to Evie directly.
Sebastian objected.
Evie overruled him.
Lauren entered without makeup, her hair tied back, her face drained of its usual confidence.
“I know where Thomas might go.”
“Why didn't you tell police?”
“I did.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because there is something else.”
Lauren looked at Sebastian.
“I want him out.”
Sebastian's mouth tightened.
Evie said, “Stay.”
Lauren stared at her.
Evie continued.
“I am done receiving different versions of the truth in different rooms.”
Lauren nodded.
“Fine.”
She took a breath.
“My father kept a hunting lodge in Vermont under another name.”
“What name?”
“Claire Holdings.”
Evie's blood chilled.
Sebastian swore softly.
Lauren went on.
“I found the paperwork after my father died.”
“I thought Claire was a woman he had an affair with.”
“Why would Thomas know about it?”
“Because Thomas was listed as trustee for the property.”
Evie stared at Sebastian.
He looked genuinely shocked.
For once, she believed him.
Lauren continued.
“I confronted Daniel about the name three months ago.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me never to ask again.”
Daniel knew.
Or at least he knew enough to be afraid.
Evie leaned back against the hospital pillow.
“Why are you helping me now?”
Lauren's mouth trembled.
“Because I thought I was playing a cruel game.”
She looked down.
“I didn't know it was this.”
“That doesn't erase what you did.”
“I know.”
“You stood there while he hit me.”
Lauren's eyes filled.
“I know.”
“You smiled.”
“I know.”
Evie had imagined this moment earlier, imagined Lauren begging and Evie enjoying it.
Instead she felt tired.
“Then help because it is right, not because you want me to forgive you.”
Lauren nodded slowly.
“All right.”
The police sent a team toward Vermont.
Evie was moved to a private women's hospital across the city under a different name.
Sebastian rode in the vehicle behind her.
Two unmarked cars followed.
The convoy entered an underground garage.
For the first time in hours, Evie believed they had created distance from the danger.
Then the ambulance stopped.
The driver cursed.
A delivery van blocked the ramp ahead.
One of the escort officers stepped out.
The lights in the garage went dark.
Evie's heart slammed against her ribs.
“No.”
The ambulance doors opened from outside.
A masked man reached in.
The paramedic shouted and lunged.
Evie heard a scuffle, a crash, and Sebastian yelling somewhere behind the vehicle.
Then the masked man tore off the lower half of his face covering.
It was Cole Brennan.
Evie recoiled.
“You.”
Brennan raised both hands.
“Listen to me.”
“Get away from her!” an officer shouted.
Brennan moved faster.
He thrust a small flash drive onto Evie's blanket.
“Thomas isn't the one chasing you.”
The officer tackled him against the ambulance.
Brennan shouted over the struggle.
“Check the drive!”
Sebastian reached the ambulance door.
“Get him down!”
Brennan looked directly at Evie.
“The hospital photo came from Daniel's cloud account!”
Everyone froze for half a second.
Brennan used the moment to say one more thing.
“Thomas is trying to get to you because he thinks you're the only person Sebastian won't kill to keep quiet.”
Sebastian's face changed.
Evie saw it.
Brennan saw that she saw it.
Then officers dragged him away.
Emergency lights flickered on.
Sebastian climbed into the ambulance.
“Give me the drive.”
Evie closed her fingers around it.
“No.”
“He could have put malware on it.”
“Then the police can open it.”
“Evie.”
She stared at him.
“Why did Brennan say Thomas is afraid of you?”
“He is lying.”
“Why?”
“To divide us.”
“We were never united.”
Sebastian looked wounded.
Evie did not let that move her.
At the new hospital, technicians opened the drive on an isolated computer.
It contained copied security files, payment ledgers, and dozens of emails.
One email was from Daniel to Brennan four days earlier.
I need camera access around Evie's rooms.
No gaps unless I request them.
Another file contained the hospital photograph.
Daniel's cloud account had indeed synced it.
But the metadata showed the photograph was uploaded after Daniel had already been taken into custody.
Someone else had his password.
Then investigators opened the final folder.
It was labeled S.C.
Inside was a video recorded six months earlier in Sebastian's private office.
Thomas Vane sat across from Sebastian.
The audio was clear.
Thomas said, “If Evie ever learns what really happened to Noah, she will destroy both of us.”
Sebastian answered, “Then she can never learn it from me.”
Evie stared at the screen.
The room went silent.
In the video, Thomas leaned forward.
“You still think you can protect her?”
Sebastian's recorded answer broke the last fragile thread of trust she had left.
“I am not protecting Evie.”
May you like
He paused.
“I am protecting what Noah left inside her name.”
