Chapter 10 - The Second Sample
Dr. Reyes had one thing Victoria had not taken.
Elena’s hair.
A toxicologist removed several strands close to the scalp.
Unlike blood, hair could preserve a rough timeline of long-term exposure.
The results arrived that afternoon.
NRX-41 had been present for months.
Low concentration first.
Then higher.
Then dramatically higher during the last three weeks.
Marcus read the report twice.
“So now we can prove she was drugged.”
“We can prove repeated exposure.”
Dr. Reyes corrected.
“We still need to connect Victoria directly.”
“We have her voice on recordings.”
Dana said.
“We have her entering the bedroom.”
Caleb added.
“And the tea packets.”
Marcus said.
Dana nodded.
“It’s strong.”
“Strong enough?”
“For charges.”
Elena looked at her.
“But you still can’t find her.”
“No.”
Victoria’s bank cards had gone silent.
Her primary phone was inactive.
Her vehicles remained at the estate.
No flights.
No hotels.
No facial recognition hit.
Victoria had disappeared.
That frightened Elena more than if she had been standing outside the door.
At sunset, Marcus insisted they stay at the hospital another night.
Elena agreed.
Ashcroft Manor was no longer safe.
At 9:10 p.m., the hospital fire alarm sounded.
Elena sat upright.
Marcus immediately locked the door.
“No.”
“What?”
“We’re not moving until someone confirms.”
Smart.
Elena called the nurse station.
No answer.
The alarm continued.
Smoke began creeping beneath the door.
Marcus’s face changed.
“That’s real.”
They moved.
The corridor was chaos.
Nurses pushed carts.
Patients were evacuated.
Smoke came from the maternity storage wing.
Marcus kept one arm around Elena.
They reached the stairwell.
A woman in hospital scrubs brushed past them.
Elena smelled jasmine.
She turned.
The woman disappeared through the smoke.
“Victoria.”
Marcus looked.
“Where?”
Elena nearly ran after her.
Then stopped.
This was the trap.
Chase the red dress.
Follow the perfume.
Ignore the real danger.
“Elena?”
She looked toward the evacuation route.
“Stay with me.”
Marcus nodded.
They descended two floors.
Outside, firefighters arrived.
Dana reached them twenty minutes later.
“The fire started in a locked supply room.”
Marcus looked at Elena.
“Victoria?”
Dana shook her head.
“Maybe.”
Elena stared up at the hospital windows.
“No.”
“What?”
“She didn’t start the fire to hurt us.”
Marcus followed her gaze.
“Then why?”
“To empty the floor.”
Elena’s heart began racing.
“My room.”
Dana called security.
They returned after the building was cleared.
Elena’s room had been searched.
Drawers open.
Medical files disturbed.
Nothing valuable missing.
Then Marcus checked Elena’s overnight bag.
Her vitamin bottle was gone.
The original one.
The bottle containing the last capsules Victoria had given her.
Evidence.
Dana swore.
Elena walked toward the bedside table.
A small envelope waited beneath the lamp.
Her name appeared on it.
Marcus stopped her.
“Don’t touch it.”
Dana photographed it first.
Gloves.
Evidence bag.
Then opened.
Inside was a photograph of the nursery at Ashcroft Manor.
Smoke filled the room.
Flames climbed the curtains.
Elena stared.
“When was this taken?”
Dana checked the metadata.
“Six minutes ago.”
Marcus grabbed his phone.
The estate security system showed fire alarms.
The nursery was burning.
Ruth was still inside the house.
Marcus ran.
“Elena, stay here.”
She followed.
“No.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Ruth is there because of me.”
“Elena.”
“Marcus, I am not spending another night waiting for people to tell me what happened.”
Dana looked between them.
“I’m driving.”
They reached Ashcroft Manor in twelve minutes.
Firefighters were already there.
Smoke poured from an upstairs window.
Ruth stood outside wrapped in a blanket.
Alive.
Elena ran to her.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Ruth coughed.
“The nursery.”
“I know.”
“I smelled smoke.”
Marcus looked toward the house.
“Where did it start?”
Ruth pointed upstairs.
“Inside the wall.”
Caleb emerged wearing a respirator.
His face was black with soot.
“It wasn’t electrical.”
Dana approached.
“What was it?”
“Incendiary device.”
Marcus looked at Elena.
Victoria had destroyed the room containing hidden microphones.
Evidence.
But Caleb held up a scorched metal box.
“She missed one.”
Inside the service wall he had found a locked cabinet.
The fire had exposed it.
Once cooled, they forced it open.
Inside were empty NRX-41 vials.
Microphones.
Replacement cameras.
Six white vitamin bottles.
And a red velvet dress.
Dana photographed everything.
Then Caleb pulled out something else.
A hospital ID card.
Dr. Adrian Kessler.
Dana stared.
“That’s impossible.”
Kessler was still in custody.
Caleb turned the card over.
Taped to the back was a key.
Marcus recognized it immediately.
The key to his father’s wine cellar.
They opened the cellar at midnight.
No wine waited inside.
Only a chair.
Rope.
A portable medical kit.
And Dr. Kessler.
He was tied to the chair.
Bleeding from the forehead.
Alive.
Barely.
When Elena approached, his eyes opened.
He whispered one sentence.
“She knows you found the trust letter.”
Marcus knelt.
“Where is she?”
Kessler shook his head.
Elena leaned closer.
“What is she planning?”
Kessler looked at her stomach.
Then at Elena.
His voice was almost inaudible.
“She doesn’t need you declared insane anymore.”
Elena’s heart stopped.
“What does she need?”
May you like
Kessler swallowed.
“The baby born without you.”
