Chapter 4
The sign hanging crookedly on the glass door of Dr. Vance’s former pediatric clinic read CLOSED PERMANENTLY. Inside, the waiting room was a ghost town of empty plastic chairs and faded motivational posters peeling away from the drywall. Julian jiggled the brass handle of the front door, but it held firm, deadbolted from the inside. The streetlamp overhead flickered to life, casting long, jittery shadows across the concrete walkway where they stood hidden from the main thoroughfare.
"It's locked tight," Julian muttered, wiping a hand across his forehead. "And the security system is tied directly to the municipal alarm grid. If we force entry, the police will be here in three minutes, and Chief Miller will be the one writing the arrest report."
Elena stepped up to the glass, cupping her hands around her eyes to peer into the darkened interior. The reception desk stood deserted, piles of unsorted manila folders still sitting on the counter where the receptionist had left them on her final day. "We don't need to break the door, Julian. Look at the emergency fire exit around the side alley. The landlord never updated the pneumatic latch after the city code inspection last spring."
They hurried down the narrow, trash-strewn alleyway, the smell of damp brick and old cardboard filling the cool night air. Elena tested the metal push-bar of the side door. With a muffled mechanical click, the latch yielded three inches before catching on an interior wedge. Julian wedged his fingers into the gap, pulling his weight backward until the old door groaned open with a rusty shriek that echoed off the brick walls.
They slipped inside, closing the heavy metal door softly behind them. The clinic smelled of old paper, antiseptic, and dust. Elena pulled a small penlight from her purse, casting a narrow beam of white light across the linoleum floor as they navigated toward the administrative records room in the back.
"Keep watch near the hallway," Julian instructed in a hushed whisper, his shoes squeaking softly on the floor. "If anyone walks by the front windows, tap twice on the wall."
Elena nodded, standing guard while Julian slipped behind the records desk. He began rapidly flipping through the alphabetical filing cabinets, his fingers searching for the archived patient logs from the previous year. The drawers rattled quietly in the silent room. Dust motes danced in the beam of his phone light as he pulled out ledger after ledger, scanning for the entry corresponding to his son's birth certificate registration.
"I found it," Julian whispered, pulling a thin green folder from the bottom of the bin. He opened it, shining his phone light directly onto the institutional stamp at the bottom of the page. "Look at this, Elena. Dr. Vance’s signature was digitally forged using an automated administrative stamp. The serial number doesn't match the state medical board’s database for last year."
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Elena leaned in close, her eyes scanning the microscopic text of the affidavit Martha had filed earlier that week. "This proves she lied under oath to secure the emergency injunction. We take this straight to the district attorney’s night magistrate before morning."
Suddenly, the front waiting room door rattled loudly. Someone was trying to unlock the main entrance from the outside.
