Chapter 9 - THE TRAITOR
The sedan accelerated.
Nicholas grabbed Hannah’s arm.
“Behind the column!”
She pulled Ethan with her.
Daniel fired at the front tire.
The shot missed.
The sedan swerved toward Nicholas.
Hannah screamed.
Walter shoved Nicholas’s wheelchair sideways.
The car missed him by inches and crashed into a concrete barrier.
Airbags exploded.
Daniel rushed forward.
The driver stumbled out.
One of Nicholas’s security men tackled him.
Hector.
Hannah stared.
Hector had followed them.
The driver wore black.
Hector ripped away his mask.
Nobody recognized him.
Nicholas shouted, “Who sent you?”
The man laughed.
Blood ran from his nose.
“Ask your doctor.”
Hannah went cold.
“Dr. Burke?”
The man refused to answer.
Then his body jerked.
He collapsed.
Hannah ran to him.
“Move!”
She checked his neck.
Pulse racing.
His pupils widened.
“What happened?” Nicholas asked.
Hannah smelled something bitter.
She looked at the man’s mouth.
Foam.
“He took something.”
Within seconds, his pulse vanished.
Hannah started compressions.
No response.
The man died before paramedics could ever have reached them.
Daniel swore.
“Clean exit.”
Hannah stared at the dead man.
“He knew he might be caught.”
“Or someone made sure he couldn’t talk,” Daniel said.
Hannah checked his pockets.
Phone.
Wallet.
No identification.
Then she found a folded medication wrapper.
Same manufacturer as Nicholas’s altered tablets.
She showed Daniel.
“That drug company supplies Burke’s clinic.”
Nicholas looked at Walter.
“Call Burke.”
“No,” Hannah said immediately.
Nicholas turned.
“We need answers.”
“We need evidence before he knows we suspect him.”
Daniel nodded.
“She’s right.”
Nicholas glared.
“I hate when you two agree.”
Daniel almost smiled.
Hannah returned to Ethan.
He was shaking.
She crouched.
“Hey.”
“I’m okay.”
“You don’t have to be.”
His eyes filled.
“Are they going to kill us?”
Hannah’s throat tightened.
“No.”
She hated how easily the lie came.
Nicholas heard it.
His face changed.
He rolled closer.
“Ethan.”
The boy looked at him.
“I’m sorry.”
Ethan wiped his eyes.
“For what?”
“For bringing this into your life.”
Ethan looked at Nicholas’s wheelchair.
Then his split lip.
Then said quietly:
“You didn’t slap yourself.”
Nicholas stared.
Hannah nearly broke.
Ethan continued.
“The bad person did it.”
Nicholas looked away.
“Sometimes the bad person is close enough that you should have seen them.”
Ethan shrugged.
“Sometimes people are good at hiding.”
Nicholas glanced at Hannah.
She knew he was thinking about Claire.
They returned to the estate at 2:30 a.m.
Claire was gone.
Her closet was empty.
Her jewelry cases too.
Hector checked the gate logs.
“No vehicle recorded leaving.”
Hannah looked at him.
“Meaning?”
“She either left before the gates locked…”
“Or someone removed the record.”
Hector’s jaw tightened.
Nicholas searched Claire’s bedroom.
A torn photograph lay in the fireplace.
Daniel and Claire.
Only half had burned.
Nicholas stared at it.
Hannah opened a dresser drawer.
Inside was a small pharmacy bag.
Empty.
The receipt remained.
Dr. Matthew Burke.
Pickup: 7:16 p.m.
The night of Nicholas’s engagement party.
Hannah showed him.
Nicholas said, “Claire picked up medication from Burke tonight.”
Daniel looked at the receipt.
“For who?”
Hannah turned it over.
A patient name had been handwritten on the back.
Rebecca Sloan.
Everyone stared.
May you like
Hannah whispered:
“Rebecca might still be alive.”
