Chapter 17 - THE DOCTOR WHO WATCHED HER
Police raided Dr. Wynn’s clinic at 4:10 a.m.
He was gone.
But his basement office was not empty.
Fern’s records covered an entire wall.
Photographs from the NICU.
Weight charts.
Blood samples labeled with dates.
Copies of my pharmacy receipts.
A file marked CROSS HEIR.
I had to leave the room before I was sick.
Stellan stayed.
He opened the file.
Inside was the first paternity test.
Completed when Fern was six weeks old.
99.9997%.
Victor had known almost from the beginning.
Another report showed something worse.
Fern’s heart defect had been exaggerated.
Some of the medication she was prescribed was unnecessary.
Not immediately dangerous, Dr. Chen later explained, but expensive, exhausting, and designed to keep me returning to Wynn’s clinic where Victor’s people could monitor us.
“They made me think she was sicker than she was.”
Stellan crouched in front of me.
“I’m sorry.”
“I sold my jewelry for medicine she didn’t need.”
His eyes went dark.
“Selene.”
“No. Don’t promise revenge. Promise me a normal doctor.”
“I promise.”
Police found one useful thing in Wynn’s basement: a maintenance map for the old lakeside chapel.
A tunnel connected it to a boathouse.
Malcolm planned an escape by water.
At sunrise, Stellan walked into the chapel carrying the ledger and testimony.
I was not supposed to be there.
I went anyway.
Not inside.
I waited with Dr. Chen and a tactical team near the boathouse.
Through Stellan’s hidden microphone, I heard Malcolm.
“You came alone.”
“Yes.”
“Burn the papers.”
“Fern first.”
A baby cried in the background.
My entire body shook.
Then another voice spoke.
Dr. Wynn.
“Mr. Cross, put the gun on the floor.”
Stellan did.
Malcolm laughed.
“Now burn your father’s confession.”
A lighter clicked.
Stellan said, “You made one mistake.”
“What?”
“The originals aren’t here.”
May you like
Silence.
Then gunfire exploded through the chapel.
