Chapter 4 - The Patient Who Was Never Supposed to Die
Grant stepped between Vincent and Simon.
Simon raised his hands.
“Relax.”
Vincent’s voice remained calm.
“You poisoned my dinner.”
Simon smiled.
“Technically, Arthur did.”
Arthur lunged forward.
“You kidnapped my son!”
Grant stopped him.
Simon looked almost bored.
“I needed cooperation.”
Molly held Daniel Cross’s file.
“Why did Daniel die?”
Simon’s smile faded.
“That was unfortunate.”
“He discovered something.”
Simon looked at her.
“You always were smarter than the hospital deserved.”
“What did he discover?”
Vincent interrupted.
“Answer her.”
Simon sighed.
“Daniel Cross was an accountant.”
Molly nodded.
“For a medical distributor.”
“Exactly.”
Simon walked slowly into the room.
“He discovered that certain hospital suppliers were billing for medications that never existed.”
Vincent understood immediately.
“Fraud.”
“Millions.”
Molly stared at him.
“So Daniel was going to expose you.”
“He threatened people much more important than me.”
“And you killed him.”
“I solved a problem.”
Molly’s hand tightened around the file.
“And blamed me.”
“You were convenient.”
For three years she had carried that death.
Three years of wondering whether she had missed something.
Three years of waking at night remembering Daniel’s wife asking why her husband never came home.
Vincent watched her face.
Then looked at Simon.
“That was a mistake.”
Simon laughed.
“You’re defending a waitress?”
Vincent’s expression became dangerous.
“I’m defending the woman who stopped me from eating your poison.”
Simon’s smile vanished.
Then headlights appeared outside.
Dozens.
Grant looked through the window.
“We have company.”
Simon relaxed.
“You didn’t think I came alone?”
Men began surrounding the warehouse.
Arthur pulled Evan behind a steel column.
Molly whispered:
“What happens now?”
Vincent removed his jacket.
“Now Simon learns something.”
“What?”
Vincent looked at him.
“He should have checked who owned the rail yard before using the warehouse.”
Simon frowned.
Vincent’s phone rang.
He answered.
“Now.”
Floodlights exploded on outside.
Police vehicles entered from both ends of the property.
Simon’s face changed.
“You called the police?”
Vincent shrugged.
“I called someone who did.”
Grant smiled.
“Anonymous kidnapping report.”
Arthur stared.
“You planned this?”
Vincent looked at Molly.
“She wanted evidence.”
Molly blinked.
“When did I say that?”
“You didn’t have to.”
Sirens surrounded the building.
Simon backed toward the door.
“You think this ends anything?”
“No,” Molly said.
Everyone looked at her.
She held up Daniel’s file.
“But this starts it.”
Simon stared at the documents.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
Police entered moments later.
They found Evan.
The vial.
The kidnapping equipment.
Daniel Cross’s hidden medical records.
And records connecting Simon’s company to years of fraudulent hospital purchases.
Simon was taken away in handcuffs.
Before officers placed him in the vehicle, he looked at Molly.
“You think they'll give your life back?”
Molly stepped closer.
“No.”
Simon smiled.
“Then what did you win?”
Molly looked at Arthur holding his son.
Then at Vincent.
“The truth.”
Simon’s smile disappeared.
Vincent stood beside her as the police vehicle drove away.
“You should go back to nursing.”
Molly laughed.
“You know absolutely nothing about my life.”
“I know you grabbed the wrist of a man everyone else in Chicago is afraid to approach.”
“That was stupid.”
“It was.”
“And now you’re suggesting career advice?”
“Yes.”
“You’re very annoying.”
“So I’ve been told.”
She looked at him.
“By people who survived telling you?”
Vincent smiled.
May you like
“Occasionally.”
---
