Chapter 4 - ISABELLA'S DOCTOR
Emergency lights glowed red along the floor.
William carried Ethan toward the stairs while Emma used her cracked phone as a flashlight. The signal was gone.
“Isabella!” William shouted. “Open this door!”
Her footsteps faded above them.
Emma searched the walls. “There has to be another exit.”
Ethan pointed weakly toward the cot. “Behind it.”
They moved the bed and found a maintenance hatch. William kicked it twice before the latch broke. A narrow tunnel led toward the wine cellar.
Emma crawled first. Dust filled her mouth. Behind her, Ethan whimpered whenever William shifted him.
They emerged through a wooden panel between racks of rare wine.
A man in a dark suit waited with a medical bag.
Dr. Adrian Vale.
He looked more like a private banker than a pediatric specialist.
“Mr. Sterling,” he said calmly, “your son is experiencing a severe episode. Put him down before you worsen his condition.”
William stood between Vale and Ethan. “You approved that room?”
“It is a therapeutic isolation suite.”
“It has restraints.”
“For safety.”
Emma pulled the pill bottles from her apron. “Did you prescribe these?”
Vale's eyes flicked toward them. “Give those to me.”
“No.”
He moved suddenly.
Emma stepped back, but Daniel Pike entered behind her and seized her shoulders.
William charged him. The two men crashed into a wine rack. Bottles shattered across the floor.
Vale opened his medical bag and drew a syringe.
He aimed for Ethan.
Emma kicked his wrist. The syringe flew into the wall.
Ethan screamed.
William drove Daniel into a table and grabbed the guard's radio.
“Security to the wine cellar!” he shouted.
Static answered.
Vale smiled. “Your security team reports to your wife tonight.”
William's face hardened. “Not anymore.”
He pulled the fire alarm.
Bells erupted through the mansion. Sprinklers flooded the ballroom above. Guests began rushing toward the exits.
Vale tried to escape through the tunnel. Emma caught his medical bag.
It tore open.
Dozens of prefilled syringes scattered across the stone floor. Each was labeled with Ethan's name and a date.
Some dates were months old.
Emma picked up one empty vial.
“This didn't start five days ago.”
Ethan spoke from William's arms.
“She gives me shots when Dad travels.”
William looked sick.
“How long?”
Ethan's lips trembled.
“Since before the wedding.”
Police sirens sounded outside.
Vale stepped close to William and whispered, “Ask your wife why your son's blood tests show a drug no child should have.”
May you like
Then he smiled at Emma.
“And ask who signed every consent form.”
