Chapter 9 - Midnight at St. Catherine's
At 11:47 p.m., Noelle walked into St. Catherine's alone.
At least that was what Victor Hale was supposed to believe.
She wore a small transmitter beneath her blouse.
A tracking device sat inside her shoe.
Reyes had placed another one inside her coat button.
Damian had wanted four more.
Noelle had stopped him at three.
"You are enjoying this too much."
she had told Reyes.
He had smiled.
"A little."
Damian had not smiled once.
He sat in a surveillance van two blocks away.
Federal agents were not there yet.
Not officially.
Damian had sent copies of Sofia's files to an attorney outside Illinois with instructions to release everything if they failed to check in by dawn.
Insurance.
Noelle hated insurance policies involving her life.
The hospital lobby was almost empty.
She followed Hale's instructions.
Elevator.
Sixth floor.
Old maternity wing.
Service corridor.
The freight elevator door stood open.
Noelle's heart hammered.
She stepped inside.
The elevator descended.
Basement.
The doors opened.
Victor Hale stood under a fluorescent light.
He looked nothing like the devil.
That offended her.
He was perhaps sixty.
Gray hair.
Expensive overcoat.
Tired face.
The sort of man strangers might trust with a will.
"Noelle."
Hearing her name in his mouth made her skin crawl.
"Victor."
He glanced behind her.
"You're alone?"
"That's what you asked."
Hale smiled.
"You've been spending time with Damian."
"I've spent one day with Damian."
"That's enough."
Noelle crossed her arms.
"Where are the children?"
"Safe."
"Show me."
"Eventually."
She looked around.
"Where's Dr. Crane?"
Hale's face tightened.
"Not here."
"You're lying."
He almost smiled.
"You really are more difficult than your file suggested."
Noelle felt rage.
"My file."
"You were selected for resilience."
"Congratulations."
He shrugged.
"Turns out they were right."
"Did you murder Sofia?"
The question wiped away his smile.
"Damian told you that?"
"Sofia told me."
Fear flickered.
Good.
Noelle stepped closer.
"She left everything."
Hale stared.
"You're bluffing."
"Project Legacy."
His face changed.
"Continuance."
His breathing slowed.
"Samuel Bell."
Now he knew.
Noelle continued.
"Carlo's stored samples."
"Enough."
"Six other children."
"Enough."
His voice cracked like a whip.
Noelle smiled.
"You're not afraid of Damian."
Hale's eyes narrowed.
"You're afraid of evidence."
He stepped toward her.
"You have no idea what you've walked into."
"I walked into it fourteen months ago."
"You were never supposed to survive long enough to matter."
The sentence was so cold she almost missed its importance.
"Why did I survive?"
Hale looked at her.
"Because Sofia changed the order."
Noelle froze.
"What order?"
"After delivery, Crane was supposed to ensure you suffered a fatal complication."
Her blood went cold.
Hale continued as if discussing paperwork.
"Sofia panicked."
"She insisted you live."
Noelle couldn't breathe.
"So you falsified my death instead."
"Cleaner."
"Until I walked into the diner."
"Yes."
Noelle heard Damian's voice faintly through her hidden earpiece.
Keep him talking.
She swallowed.
"Why Rosalie's?"
Hale frowned.
"What?"
"The babies."
"Why were they there?"
"Coincidence."
Noelle almost laughed.
One coincidence in this nightmare.
The one coincidence that had destroyed everything.
"Where are the other six?"
Hale looked at his watch.
"You don't actually care about them."
"I care because someone should have."
He studied her.
"Damian will destroy their families."
"No."
"He will."
"They're living lies."
"They're living lives."
Noelle hesitated.
The distinction hurt.
Hale noticed.
"Some are loved."
he said.
"Some have parents who know nothing."
"Some were legal adoptions contaminated by illegal embryos."
His voice softened.
"You expose everything and children become evidence."
Noelle hated that part of him made sense.
"You don't get to use their stability to hide your crime."
"No."
Hale nodded.
"But you should understand the cost of truth."
Noelle did.
She thought of Matteo asleep with his foot outside the blanket.
Luca saying Dada.
Emilia reaching for her.
Truth was not clean.
Still necessary.
"Why bring me here?"
Hale smiled faintly.
"Because you can stop Damian."
"No one stops Damian."
"You can."
His confidence bothered her.
"How?"
"Give him a reason."
Hale pulled out a folder.
He tossed it onto a metal cart.
Noelle opened it.
Photographs.
Six children.
Addresses.
Schools.
Families.
Her stomach twisted.
"You know where they are."
"Yes."
"Does Crane?"
"Yes."
"Why threaten them?"
"To make sure Damian destroys Sofia's files."
Noelle looked at him.
"You don't have the files."
"No."
"Then you're negotiating."
"For survival."
Noelle almost admired the honesty.
A door opened behind Hale.
Dr. Evelyn Crane stepped out.
Noelle's entire body went rigid.
Older than she remembered.
Silver-blond hair now instead of brown.
Same calm eyes.
Same soft mouth.
The woman who had held Noelle's hand through prenatal appointments.
The woman who had told her to breathe during contractions.
The woman who had stolen her children.
"Noelle."
Crane sounded almost maternal.
Noelle slapped her.
The crack echoed down the corridor.
Crane staggered.
Hale swore.
Noelle's hand burned.
"That was for telling me my babies were dead."
Crane touched her cheek.
"You don't understand."
Noelle slapped her again.
"That was for making me believe Caleb was their father."
Crane's eyes hardened.
Hale stepped between them.
"Enough."
Noelle's voice trembled.
"No."
She looked at Crane.
"Did you put those embryos inside me?"
Crane stayed silent.
"Look at me."
Crane did.
"Did you?"
"Yes."
One word.
Noelle thought hearing it would break her.
Instead it made her steady.
"Did you order the nurse to tell me they died?"
"Yes."
"Did you falsify my death?"
"Hale did."
Victor snapped.
"Evelyn—"
Crane laughed.
"Don't be precious now."
Noelle looked between them.
Cracks.
Good.
"Did you plan to kill me?"
Crane's face changed.
Hale moved toward her.
"Don't answer."
Crane smiled at him.
"You already did."
Noelle heard Damian through the earpiece.
We have enough.
Get out.
She stepped backward.
Hale noticed.
"Where are you going?"
"Conversation's over."
"No."
His hand disappeared beneath his coat.
Damian's voice snapped through the earpiece.
Move.
Noelle ran.
Hale grabbed her coat.
Fabric tore.
She spun.
A gun appeared.
Then the basement lights died.
Damian.
Noelle dropped to the floor.
Footsteps thundered.
Someone shouted.
Gunfire exploded.
Crane screamed.
Noelle crawled behind a concrete pillar.
Emergency lights flashed red.
Damian appeared through the corridor like violence given human shape.
He hit Hale before Hale could raise the pistol.
The gun skidded away.
Reyes tackled another man coming through the door.
Crane ran.
Noelle saw her.
"Damian!"
He turned.
"Crane!"
Noelle ran after her.
"Noelle!"
Too late.
Crane reached the old freight elevator.
Noelle caught the doors.
Crane shoved her.
"Stay away from me."
Noelle grabbed the rail.
"You stole my children."
"I gave them a life."
Noelle laughed in disbelief.
"You gave them to a criminal."
Crane's face twisted.
"And look how loved they are."
The elevator started moving.
Noelle had one foot inside.
One outside.
Crane hit the emergency close button.
The doors pressed against Noelle's shoulder.
She gasped.
Then a hand caught the gap.
Damian forced the doors open.
He pulled Noelle inside.
Crane backed away.
Damian stood between them.
He looked at Crane.
"You're done."
She smiled.
"No."
She pressed a button.
The elevator stopped between floors.
Then Crane removed a small remote from her pocket.
Damian's eyes narrowed.
"What is that?"
Crane's thumb hovered over the switch.
"Insurance."
Noelle heard Reyes shouting through the radio.
Then static.
Crane looked at Damian.
"I placed charges in the archive room."
Damian's face changed.
"What archive room?"
Crane smiled.
"The one directly beneath the neonatal ward."
Noelle's blood turned cold.
Babies.
Patients.
Staff.
"Give me the files."
Crane said.
"Or I erase every record."
Damian stared at her.
"And half the hospital with them."
Crane shrugged.
"Sacrifices were always part of the program."
Noelle suddenly understood.
Hale was not the monster in control anymore.
Maybe he never had been.
Crane pressed her thumb lightly against the trigger.
"Choose, Damian."
May you like
"Evidence."
"Or children."
