Chapter 15 - ST. CATHERINE'S
St. Catherine's had been closed for six years.
The original hospital wing sat dark behind fencing while developers argued over what to do with it.
Daniel arrived with police just after midnight.
Inside, peeling arrows still pointed toward RADIOLOGY, PEDIATRICS, and SURGERY.
"This is where I woke up."
Daniel took her hand.
For the first time, she squeezed back without hesitation.
They followed fresh footprints through dust to the old records basement.
Victor stood beside a steel cabinet with a can of gasoline.
Nate Calder was with him.
Nate had a bandage around his arm from the fight at Voss Holdings.
"Back up," he said.
"This is the last original medical file. If it burns, all you have is copies and stories."
"Copies are enough. Nate already confessed on camera."
Victor turned on him. "You what?"
"I didn't confess."
Emily's videographer, standing safely behind police tape upstairs, had already uploaded the server-floor footage to three cloud accounts.
Daniel said, "You said my father gave orders and you solved problems."
"Idiot."
Nate stared at him. "I kept your secrets for twenty-two years."
"Because I paid you."
"You paid my father. You used me."
Nate pointed at the folder. "Tell him whose idea the crash was."
Victor said, "Shut up."
Nate laughed. "You told me you only wanted to scare her. You wanted her to sign over the trust and leave."
"You cut the brakes to scare her?"
Victor shouted, "I didn't tell him to cut anything!"
Nate shouted back, "Your exact words were, 'Make sure she understands she can lose more than money.'"
Daniel felt twenty-two years of lies compress into one unbearable truth.
Then Victor kicked over the gasoline can.
Fuel spread across the floor.
He pulled a lighter from his pocket.
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"If I go down," he said, "the whole story burns with me."
Nate stared at the lighter. Then, without warning, he tackled Victor.
