Chapter 3 - The Case That Buried Her
Three years earlier, I had examined a nineteen-year-old assault victim named Claire Dalton.
She had arrived terrified.
Bruised.
Barely speaking.
The suspect was wealthy businessman Julian Cross.
I collected evidence.
Documented everything.
Then testified.
Two weeks later, evidence disappeared.
My notes were altered.
A laboratory sample was mysteriously contaminated.
Dr. Richard Vale testified that I had violated procedure.
Cross walked free.
I lost my license.
My hospital abandoned me.
Gabriel knew every detail.
We sat in an empty hospital cafeteria at four in the morning.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I asked.
Gabriel opened the folder.
“Julian Cross wasn’t acting alone.”
He slid over a photograph.
Cross stood beside another man.
Richard Vale.
“What is this?”
“A charity gala four months before Claire’s assault.”
“So?”
“They weren’t strangers.”
My pulse quickened.
Gabriel placed another document down.
“Vale received two hundred thousand dollars through a shell company six days before he testified against you.”
I stared at the number.
“You can prove that?”
“Yes.”
“Then why hasn’t he been arrested?”
“Because money isn’t enough.”
Gabriel leaned back.
“We need the original forensic record.”
“It was destroyed.”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Cross has been paying someone for three years to keep it hidden.”
“Who?”
Gabriel looked through the cafeteria window.
“Someone inside St. Catherine.”
I stood.
“I’m leaving.”
“Elena.”
“No.”
“You want your life back.”
“You don’t know what I want.”
“I know you’ve spent three years working temporary jobs while volunteering at clinics.”
I turned.
“You investigated me.”
“Yes.”
“You had no right.”
“Probably not.”
“And now you expect me to trust you?”
“No.”
Gabriel stood.
“I expect you to trust evidence.”
Before I could answer, Marco entered.
His expression was serious.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We identified who attacked the tunnel.”
Gabriel waited.
Marco glanced at me.
Gabriel said, “Speak.”
“Cross.”
Silence.
I laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because suddenly nothing felt accidental.
“Julian Cross?”
Marco nodded.
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
“He knew your men were underground?”
“Yes.”
I looked between them.
“What exactly are you involved in?”
Gabriel turned toward me.
“My organization has been collecting evidence against Cross for months.”
“You’re investigating him?”
“He’s laundering money through medical charities, construction projects and city contracts.”
“And Vale?”
“Helps him.”
The pieces came together.
“The tunnel attack…”
“Was meant to destroy evidence my men were transporting.”
Gabriel paused.
“The evidence disappeared during the ambush.”
“What evidence?”
“A drive.”
I remembered Tommy.
The youngest man.
The way he had kept one arm tight against his ribs.
“Tommy.”
Gabriel frowned.
“What?”
“Get me to his room.”
We ran upstairs.
Tommy was awake when we entered.
He looked terrible.
But alive.
“Boss.”
Gabriel approached.
“Where’s the drive?”
Tommy glanced at me.
“She saved me?”
“Yes.”
Tommy slowly lifted his hand.
“Then maybe she should see it.”
From beneath the edge of his hospital blanket, he produced a tiny waterproof memory card.
Gabriel stared.
“You had it?”
“Figured if I died, doctors would find it.”
I folded my arms.
“That is the stupidest medical storage system I’ve ever heard.”
Tommy smiled weakly.
“Knew you liked me.”
Gabriel took the card.
“What’s on it?”
Tommy’s smile disappeared.
“Everything.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Including your case.”
Before I could answer, the hospital intercom sounded.
Then Marco’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“Security cameras just went offline.”
Gabriel turned toward the hallway.
“Lock the floor.”
May you like
Then the lights died.
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