Chapter 16 - Daniel Without the White Coat
Federal investigators executed search warrants three mornings later.
They searched Richard’s office.
They searched North Meridian’s registered address.
They searched the Streeterville condominium.
They also searched Daniel’s hospital office.
News helicopters hovered above the medical center.
Daniel’s photograph appeared across every local network.
The celebrated surgeon was now described as the subject of a financial investigation.
He came to the house that night.
The court order prohibited him from entering without permission.
He remained on the sidewalk.
I stepped onto the porch while Maya listened through my phone.
Daniel looked older.
He had not shaved.
For the first time since I met him, he was not wearing a watch.
“Vanessa gave them everything.”
“So did Lauren.”
His face tightened.
“My sister is a coward.”
“She is afraid of your father.”
“She benefited from him for years.”
“So did you.”
Daniel looked toward the windows.
“Are the children inside?”
“Yes.”
“I need to see them.”
“They do not want to see you tonight.”
“You are controlling them.”
“No.”
“They are making a choice you dislike.”
He laughed bitterly.
“You sound pleased.”
“There is nothing pleasing about this.”
“You took my career.”
“I did not submit false expenses.”
“You took my children.”
“I did not ask them to lie.”
“You took my home.”
“You tried to forge it out of my name.”
He stepped closer.
“I made mistakes.”
“You committed acts that investigators believe may be crimes.”
“I saved hundreds of lives.”
“You believe that excuses everything.”
“It should matter.”
“It does.”
“Your good actions mattered to the people you helped.”
“They do not erase what you did to Emily, Vanessa, the children, or me.”
At Emily’s name, something changed.
“You never knew her.”
“No.”
“But I know what you did to her memory.”
“She was leaving with my children.”
“She had a right to leave you.”
“She was going to destroy everything.”
“What happened at the lake house?”
Daniel looked away.
“Nothing.”
“You followed her.”
“I tried to stop her from making a mistake.”
“Did you damage her car?”
His head snapped toward me.
“No.”
“Did Richard?”
“No.”
“Did you know something was wrong with the brakes?”
“No.”
The denials came too quickly.
“Then why did you tell Lauren that Emily should have listened?”
He became still.
“I was angry.”
“Why were you near the crash?”
“I followed her after she drove away.”
“Why did you never tell the police?”
“My father said it would make me look suspicious.”
“Did you see the crash?”
Daniel’s silence answered before his words did.
“I arrived seconds later.”
“Was she alive?”
His face collapsed.
I had never seen that expression before.
“She was breathing.”
“What did you do?”
“I called my father.”
Not emergency services.
His father.
“Why?”
“I did not know what to do.”
“You were a physician.”
“I was in shock.”
“How long before you called for help?”
Daniel looked toward the ground.
“Daniel.”
“How long?”
“Eleven minutes.”
The number was almost impossible to process.
He had stood beside the injured mother of his children for eleven minutes.
He called Richard.
They discussed what to do.
Only then did he call for an ambulance.
“Could she have survived?”
“I do not know.”
“You were a doctor.”
“I said I do not know.”
His voice broke.
The front door opened.
Owen stood behind me.
He had heard everything.
“You let her die.”
Daniel looked at his son.
“No.”
“You called Grandpa instead of an ambulance.”
“I was scared.”
“So was she.”
Owen’s face hardened.
“But she still tried to protect us.”
Daniel took a step toward him.
“Owen, please.”
May you like
The boy stepped backward.
“Do not come near me.”
