Chapter 8 - THE CLINIC
West Haven Community Clinic was surrounded by police when they arrived.
Hannah stared at the building.
“My patients.”
Damen looked at her.
“You don't have to go inside.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because people there trust me.”
They entered through the back.
Rebecca met them.
Her face was pale.
“The doll was found in your old storage cabinet.”
Hannah took it.
It looked exactly as she remembered.
Blue dress.
Brown yarn hair.
One missing button.
She opened the back panel.
Nothing.
Damen frowned.
“Maybe it's hidden somewhere else.”
Emma took the doll.
She examined it.
Then smiled sadly.
“Not inside.”
She turned the doll upside down.
The wooden base had been replaced.
She tapped it.
A hollow sound.
Damen immediately understood.
They opened it.
Inside was a tiny memory card.
Hannah stared.
“That's it.”
Rebecca looked toward the hallway.
“We're not alone.”
Everyone froze.
Footsteps approached.
A man entered.
Detective Daniel Ross.
Hannah recognized him.
He smiled.
“You've caused a great deal of trouble.”
Damen stepped forward.
Ross pulled a gun.
“Stay back.”
Damen stopped.
Ross looked at Hannah.
“Give me the card.”
“No.”
“You don't understand what you're holding.”
“I understand enough.”
Ross smiled.
“You think Kane is the monster?”
He laughed.
“Kane is only the messenger.”
Hannah's blood ran cold.
“Who are you working for?”
Ross looked at Damen.
“Your father's people.”
Damen's expression hardened.
“My father is dead.”
Ross smiled.
“No.”
He pressed a button.
A screen turned on.
A live video appeared.
An elderly man sat in a chair.
Damen froze.
His father.
Alive.
“Damen.”
His voice echoed through the clinic.
Damen stared.
“You're dead.”
His father smiled.
“That was the point.”
Hannah watched Damen's face.
The man continued.
“You have no idea what your family built.”
Damen's voice was cold.
“I know what you built.”
“No.”
His father shook his head.
“You know what they told you.”
Ross grabbed Hannah.
Damen moved.
“Don't.”
Ross pressed the gun closer.
“Stay.”
Hannah remained calm.
She looked at the screen.
“Why did you let Sophia die?”
Damen's father looked at her.
“Because she knew too much.”
Hannah's eyes filled with anger.
“You killed her.”
“No.”
He paused.
“I gave the order.”
Damen's face became empty.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Hannah noticed something.
Ross's gun hand was trembling.
She remembered something from nursing school.
Fear caused subtle tremors.
Ross was afraid.
Not of Damen.
Of someone else.
Hannah looked at the screen.
“You're not giving orders anymore.”
His father frowned.
“What?”
“Someone is forcing you.”
Silence.
Hannah continued.
“You're afraid.”
Damen looked at her.
She whispered:
“Keep him talking.”
Damen understood.
He stepped closer.
“Who controls you?”
His father stared.
“Don't be foolish.”
“Who?”
No answer.
Damen continued.
“Keating?”
His father's eyes flickered.
Hannah noticed.
“So it's Keating.”
Ross panicked.
He raised the gun.
Then—
police stormed the building.
Ross dropped his weapon.
Detective Bennett entered.
“Daniel Ross, you're under arrest.”
Ross looked at the screen.
“Senator Keating will kill me.”
Bennett smiled.
“No.”
She held up another phone.
“Because he's already talking.”
A live recording played.
Keating's voice.
Admitting everything.
The entire network.
The blackmail.
Sophia's murder.
The Brooks family cover-up.
The attempted murder of Hannah.
All of it.
Hannah stared at Damen.
“How?”
Damen looked at her.
“I had a backup plan.”
She smiled.
“You're becoming a good man.”
May you like
He looked at her.
“I had a good reason.”