Chapter 6 - THE FALSE AMBULANCE
Green Valley Dialysis Center was nearly empty when they arrived.
Rain struck the windows.
A private ambulance waited beneath the entrance canopy.
Its engine was running.
Two men in medical uniforms stood beside a wheelchair.
Sarah’s mother, Margaret Collins, sat beneath a gray blanket.
She appeared confused.
Sarah jumped from the vehicle before it stopped completely.
“Mom.”
One of the men blocked her path.
“You cannot interfere with a medical transfer.”
“There is no transfer.”
Sarah tried to move around him.
The second man reached for the wheelchair.
Arthur’s security team surrounded the entrance.
Marcus raised his badge.
“Step away from Mrs. Collins.”
The men exchanged a quick glance.
Then they ran.
One disappeared through a side exit.
The other tried to reach the ambulance.
A security guard stopped him before he reached the door.
Inside the ambulance, Detective Reyes discovered no medical supplies.
There were restraints.
A camera.
And a folder containing documents that claimed Margaret was mentally incompetent.
The signature authorizing the transfer belonged to Sarah.
It was a perfect forgery.
Sarah knelt beside her mother.
Margaret touched her face.
“I thought you sent them.”
“I didn’t.”
Sarah fought back tears.
“They said you were in trouble.”
Arthur stood several feet away.
His expression had become dangerously calm.
Reyes approached him.
“The ambulance company is fake.”
“The license plates were stolen.”
“Someone arranged this quickly.”
“Vanessa contacted them before her arrest?”
Arthur asked.
“Possibly.”
Reyes held up a small radio found in the driver’s compartment.
“Or someone is still coordinating everything.”
Bella remained inside the security vehicle.
She watched through the rain-covered window.
When Arthur approached, she pointed toward the parking lot.
“The helmet.”
Arthur turned.
A motorcycle sped away from the rear entrance.
Marcus ordered two vehicles to follow.
They lost it near the highway.
Reyes reviewed footage from the clinic’s security cameras.
The rider’s face remained hidden.
But one detail was visible.
A black stone ring on the rider’s right hand.
Arthur stared at the image.
“Malcolm.”
Reyes did not look convinced.
“Or someone wants you to believe it is Malcolm.”
Sarah overheard them.
“What happens now?”
Arthur looked toward her mother.
“We move both of you to a secure location.”
Sarah shook her head.
“I’m not running.”
“This is not a request.”
“You do not control me.”
Arthur lowered his voice.
“No.”
“But Claire refused protection because she thought she could expose them alone.”
“She died before she reached me.”
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He looked at Sarah with raw honesty.
“I will not make that mistake twice.”
