Chapter 6 - The Enemy Inside My Empire
“HE HAS A PICTURE OF HER SLEEPING IN THE HOSPITAL, LENA! SOMEONE GOT CLOSE ENOUGH TO TAKE IT!”
Detective Ortiz examined the photograph on my phone.
Her expression hardened.
“Don't touch anything else. I'm preserving this message as evidence.”
“Someone is watching her.”
“Then we'll find out who.”
We returned to St. Catherine's immediately.
Outside Nora's room, two uniformed officers stood guard.
Dr. Price was checking her vital signs.
Nora looked exhausted but stable.
When she saw me, she lifted her head.
“Michael?”
I crossed the room.
“I'm here.”
“Did you find Mommy?”
“Not yet, sweetheart.”
Her face fell.
I hated disappointing her.
But I refused to make promises I couldn't guarantee.
Lena ordered a review of hospital security footage.
Within an hour, investigators identified a man wearing a maintenance uniform who had entered the pediatric wing without proper authorization.
His badge belonged to a contractor who had supposedly resigned six months earlier.
The man's face was partially obscured.
But the timestamp was unmistakable.
He had been outside Nora's room moments before Thomas sent me the photograph.
“This isn't just a hospital security problem,” Lena said. “Someone is coordinating with your people.”
I knew she was right.
Thomas had controlled my logistics network for years.
He knew my security procedures, my properties, and the identities of every man who reported directly to me.
He also knew how much I trusted him.
And he had used that trust to build something monstrous.
My phone rang again.
This time, I answered.
“Thomas.”
His familiar voice sounded almost relieved.
“Michael. Finally.”
“Where are you?”
“Where I always am. Cleaning up problems.”
I closed my eyes.
“An eight-year-old girl isn't a problem.”
A pause.
“Listen carefully. Mercer is connected to powerful people. Whatever you found, give it back.”
“Did you order that van to leave Emily?”
Silence.
For seventeen years, Thomas had always known what to say.
Now he said nothing.
“Answer me.”
“You're not thinking clearly.”
“Did you know there was a child in that car?”
“Michael, we need to discuss this face-to-face.”
“Did you know?”
His voice changed.
“You have no idea how many people will fall if those records become public.”
I felt something inside me go still.
For eleven years, I had treated Thomas like family.
I had invited him into my home.
Trusted him around Emily.
Given him authority over businesses worth hundreds of millions.
And he was more frightened of losing his money than he was ashamed of what had happened to my daughter.
“Where's Natalie Reed?” I asked.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Then you have nothing left to say to me.”
I disconnected.
Lena had listened to the conversation through a recorded line.
“You realize you're probably on his list now,” she said.
“I was on his list the moment I found Nora.”
Before she could answer, a hospital administrator hurried toward us.
“Dr. Price? We have an urgent transfer request.”
Dr. Price frowned.
“What transfer?”
“For Nora Reed. The county has designated an alternate pediatric care facility.”
Lena immediately stood.
“Who authorized it?”
The administrator handed her a document.
A court order.
An emergency guardianship authorization.
And an instruction requiring the hospital to release Nora before sunrise.
Everything appeared official.
Except for one small detail.
The order carried Dr. Price's electronic signature.
Again.
Dr. Price stared at it.
“I never requested a transfer.”
Then the hospital's main entrance security desk called.
Two men claiming to be county child-protection officers had arrived.
May you like
They were already asking for Nora.
And they had brought a vehicle to take her away.
