Chapter 13 - BACK TO THE HOSPITAL
The hospital locked down the pediatric floor.
Melissa was supposed to be in county custody pending a hearing.
But twenty minutes into the drive, Ramirez got the call.
Melissa had been transported to a medical clinic after complaining of chest pain.
She escaped during the transfer.
Daniel gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles whitened.
“She’s going to Lily.”
“Police are there,” Maya said from the passenger seat.
“She knows that hospital.”
“She also knows they’re waiting for her.”
She never reached Lily’s floor.
A hospital security officer recognized Melissa and blocked the elevator.
She ran.
Daniel arrived as officers flooded the garage.
“Stay in the car!” Ramirez shouted.
Then Daniel saw her.
Melissa sprinted between parked vehicles.
For one terrible second, their eyes met.
She stopped.
“Daniel!”
He stepped out despite Ramirez yelling.
Melissa raised empty hands. “You have to listen to me.”
“You stay away from Lily.”
“I was trying to protect her.”
“By drugging her?”
Melissa began crying. “Evan said we had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
“He said he’d destroy us.”
“You dragged our daughter across the floor.”
Her face twisted. “She ruined the recording. We were hours away from being free.”
Daniel stared at her.
Not remorse.
Frustration.
That was what broke the last piece of him that still remembered the woman he had married.
“Daniel, Evan is going to kill me.”
“Then tell them everything.”
“He already knows I talked.”
A car engine roared behind them.
Headlights exploded across the garage.
A black sedan accelerated toward Melissa.
Daniel lunged.
He grabbed her coat and pulled her behind a concrete pillar as the sedan slammed into two parked cars and sped toward the exit.
The sedan disappeared into traffic.
Daniel looked down at her.
“Was that Evan?”
May you like
She nodded.
Then she whispered, “He has someone inside your company who’s closer to you than Omar.”
