Chapter 3 - THE DOCTOR WHO BURIED THE TRUTH
Dr. Malcolm Reed had been declared dead four years ago.
Ethan remembered reading the obituary.
A boating accident in Maine.
No body recovered.
At the time, Ethan had considered it an unfortunate ending for a doctor who had once tried to save his family.
Now he understood.
Malcolm Reed had never tried to save them.
He had helped erase them.
Ethan’s team traced Victor’s SUV toward the interstate.
A state police helicopter joined the search.
Within thirty minutes, they found the abandoned vehicle near an industrial warehouse.
Amelia was not inside.
Neither were Victor or Reed.
But the back seat contained a medical oxygen line and fresh adhesive from an IV.
Samuel examined it.
“She was transported alive.”
Ethan stood in the rain.
“That means they still need her for something.”
Samuel looked at him.
“Or they need her alive long enough to make her death appear natural.”
Back at Hawthorne Ridge, investigators began tearing through records.
Almost everything related to Amelia had been deleted.
Almost.
A young nurse named Jenna Price had secretly copied patient intake documents after becoming suspicious two years earlier.
She handed Ethan a folder.
“Your wife was admitted under the name Anna Bell.”
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
“The night of the fire?”
“Three days afterward.”
Ethan opened the file.
The admission authorization contained Victor’s signature.
Below it was another signature.
Malcolm Reed.
Diagnosis: severe traumatic brain injury.
Memory impairment.
Limited verbal function.
Long-term neurological supervision required.
Ethan looked at Jenna.
“Was she conscious?”
“Sometimes.”
“Did she know who she was?”
Jenna hesitated.
“She repeated one name.”
Ethan already knew.
“Lily.”
Jenna nodded.
“She said it constantly during the first year.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
Amelia had remembered their daughter.
Somewhere in the darkness of those seven years, she had remembered.
“What happened after that?”
“Dr. Reed started visiting.”
“He gave her medications that weren’t listed in her chart.”
“What medications?”
“I never knew.”
“After his visits, she would barely speak for days.”
Samuel took the medical records.
“These dosages could suppress memory formation.”
Ethan looked toward the room where Nora was being questioned.
“Bring her to me.”
Nora was escorted inside.
Ethan placed Amelia’s chart in front of her.
“What did Victor do to my wife?”
Nora stared at the pages.
“He kept her confused.”
“Why?”
“Because killing her was too dangerous.”
Ethan gave a bitter laugh.
“He already murdered half a hospital.”
“No.”
Nora shook her head.
“That fire wasn’t supposed to destroy the hospital.”
Ethan stopped.
“What?”
“It was supposed to destroy one maternity wing.”
“But something went wrong.”
“An oxygen line exploded.”
“Twenty-three people died.”
Ethan remembered every name.
He had funded memorial scholarships for the families.
Victor had attended the dedication ceremony beside him.
Nora continued.
“After Amelia survived, Victor panicked.”
“He wanted Reed to kill her.”
“Reed refused.”
“Why?”
“Because Amelia had seen him.”
Ethan frowned.
“Seen him doing what?”
Nora looked toward the investigators.
Then back at Ethan.
“Switching the babies.”
The room became silent.
Ethan felt something colder than fear move through him.
“What babies?”
May you like
Nora whispered.
“Lily wasn’t the only Blackwood baby born that night.”
