Chapter 5 - THE DOCTOR WHO KILLED ANGELS
Malcolm Hale had chosen the unfinished surgical floor because it had only two working elevators and one emergency staircase.
Arya recognized the tactical advantage immediately.
So did Rocco.
“He knows how my people operate,” Rocco said.
Arya glanced at him.
“Your father funded him. Maybe Hale has been studying your family longer than you have been studying him.”
That truth landed hard.
Rocco’s father had built the criminal organization Rocco inherited.
He had also invested in Meridian Biologics.
How much had Salvatore Marchetti known?
Rocco did not ask the question aloud.
There would be time for guilt later.
If Leo survived.
Arya wore a hidden microphone beneath her blouse.
Rocco adjusted the transmitter himself.
His fingers paused near her collar.
“If he threatens you, say the word ‘Baltimore.’”
“And then?”
“We come through every door.”
“He might hurt Leo.”
“I know.”
Arya looked at him.
For the first time, neither of them pretended this was only about a patient and a powerful employer.
Rocco’s voice lowered.
“You saved him once.”
“I intend to do it again.”
“That is not what I mean.”
Arya waited.
Rocco swallowed whatever he had intended to say.
“Come back.”
Arya gave him a small smile.
“Keep your men quiet.”
Then she entered the elevator alone.
When the doors opened, Malcolm Hale stood thirty feet away.
Leo’s crib was beside him.
A portable monitor beeped steadily.
Arya nearly collapsed from relief at the sound.
“Dr. Vance.”
“Malcolm.”
“You’ve aged.”
“You became a murderer.”
Hale smiled.
“I was always a murderer, according to your newspapers.”
“They accused me.”
“Exactly.”
Arya walked closer.
“Why me?”
“You were ambitious.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“You were young, brilliant, celebrated, and annoyingly ethical.”
He laughed softly.
“Worst combination imaginable.”
Arya stared at him.
“You killed three babies because a pharmaceutical company wanted data.”
“Three?”
Hale tilted his head.
“Oh, Arya.”
Her stomach dropped.
“How many?”
“Clinical advancement has a price.”
“How many?”
“Seventeen.”
Arya felt the room move beneath her feet.
Seventeen children.
Different hospitals.
Different diagnoses.
Different doctors blamed.
“You’re insane.”
“No. I am realistic.”
“You murdered Isabella too.”
“She became inconvenient.”
“And Leo?”
“A corporate complication.”
Hale looked toward the crib.
“His mother should never have retained control of those distribution licenses.”
Arya took another step.
“Vanessa?”
“A useful idiot.”
“Did she know?”
“About the inheritance mechanism? Eventually.”
“Did she know you killed Isabella?”
“No.”
“Did she know you wanted Leo dead?”
Hale’s face tightened.
“She was told the child’s illness would encourage Rocco to transfer medical guardianship temporarily. That would have been enough.”
Arya understood.
Vanessa was cruel, selfish, and willing to manipulate Leo’s health.
But Hale had hidden the lethal plan even from her.
“She injected him at the hospital because Victor told her it was medicine.”
“Yes.”
“And Victor?”
“My brother has always lacked discipline.”
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
Arya stopped.
“You killed him.”
“He panicked.”
Hale said it as casually as if discussing a missed appointment.
Arya looked toward Leo.
“You said you wanted the files.”
“And you.”
“Why?”
“Because files can be questioned. You are more dangerous.”
“You framed me once.”
“Which is why nobody will believe you now.”
Arya almost smiled.
“You haven’t checked the news.”
For the first time, Hale’s expression shifted.
Rocco’s attorney had already delivered copies of the evidence to federal investigators, three newspapers, the state medical board, and families of the dead infants.
The originals Arya carried were important.
But no longer unique.
Hale noticed her confidence.
His eyes narrowed.
“You copied them.”
“Yes.”
His hand moved toward Leo’s IV.
Arya stopped instantly.
“Don’t.”
“You lied.”
“So did you.”
Hale picked up the syringe.
Arya saw the label.
Potassium chloride.
Enough could stop Leo’s heart within seconds.
“Give me the folder.”
Arya placed it on the floor.
“Kick it over.”
She obeyed.
Hale bent slightly.
That was the opening.
Arya lunged.
Hale reacted faster than she expected.
He swung the syringe.
The needle cut her forearm.
Arya grabbed his wrist.
They slammed into the crib.
Leo woke and screamed.
The sound changed everything.
Arya fought harder.
Hale struck her across the face.
She fell.
He raised the syringe.
“Baltimore!” Arya screamed.
The doors exploded inward.
Rocco’s men stormed the floor.
Hale grabbed Leo.
“Stop!”
Everyone froze.
Hale held the baby against his chest, syringe pressed to the IV port.
Rocco appeared behind his men.
His face was white.
“Put him down.”
Hale laughed.
“Like your father put down everyone who became inconvenient?”
Rocco’s expression changed.
“What did my father do?”
“Oh, he never told you?”
Hale tightened his grip around Leo.
“Salvatore knew about Meridian.”
Arya watched Rocco absorb it.
“He funded your trials?” Rocco asked.
“Funded them? He protected them.”
Hale smiled.
“He paid hospital executives. Judges. Licensing officials. When Vance started asking questions, your father approved the plan to bury her.”
Arya looked at Rocco.
He looked sick.
Hale enjoyed every second.
“Your empire paid for her destruction.”
Rocco lowered his gun slightly.
Arya realized that was exactly what Hale wanted.
“Rocco,” she said.
Hale looked toward her.
That was his mistake.
Rocco fired.
The bullet struck Hale’s shoulder.
The syringe flew from his hand.
Bruno rushed forward.
Hale stumbled backward toward an open construction shaft.
He still held Leo.
Arya ran.
Hale’s heel slipped.
For one terrible second, both man and baby tipped toward the darkness.
Arya caught Leo’s blanket.
Rocco caught Arya around the waist.
The blanket tore.
Arya screamed.
Bruno seized Hale’s injured arm while another guard grabbed the back of his coat.
They pulled all three away from the shaft.
Arya collapsed onto the floor with Leo against her chest.
The baby screamed furiously.
Arya laughed through tears.
“Good,” she whispered. “Scream.”
Rocco knelt beside them.
He touched Leo’s hair.
Then Arya’s cheek.
“You came back.”
Before she could answer, Hale began laughing from the floor.
Bruno had him handcuffed.
Blood soaked his shirt.
“What’s funny?” Rocco asked.
Hale looked at Arya.
“You think this ends with me?”
Arya’s smile vanished.
Hale nodded toward the baby.
“Check his blood.”
Arya felt dread.
“What did you do?”
Hale leaned against the wall.
“Something that started before he was born.”
Rocco grabbed him.
“What did you do to my son?”
Hale laughed harder.
“Isabella wasn’t the only one exposed.”
Arya’s medical instincts exploded.
She looked at Leo’s eyes.
Skin.
Breathing.
Then remembered his unexplained fevers.
His strange reactions.
The recurrent wheezing.
“Rocco.”
He turned.
“We need to get Leo downstairs.”
“Why?”
Arya held the baby tighter.
“Because Hale wasn’t only trying to kill him tonight.”
May you like
She looked at the murderer who had destroyed her career.
“He’s saying Leo has been poisoned since before he was born.”
