Chapter 9 - THE HUNT FOR ADRIAN CROSS
Adrian’s disappearance triggered a citywide search.
Police circulated his photograph to airports, train stations, and border authorities.
His bank accounts were frozen.
His passport was flagged.
Richard increased security around me, Miriam, and the board members involved in the investigation.
The public learned more each hour.
News outlets obtained the atrium video.
Former patients began contacting the foundation.
Some reported unexplained charges.
Others described being pressured into procedures they did not fully understand.
Adrian’s reputation collapsed faster than anyone expected.
The celebrated surgeon became the face of institutional corruption.
Yet I knew he would not run without a plan.
Adrian hated uncertainty.
He prepared for every conference, surgery, and negotiation with obsessive detail.
If he disappeared, he had already created a destination.
I returned to our house with police supervision.
Most of the furniture had been searched.
Adrian’s study was sealed.
I walked through the bedroom and noticed that one suitcase was missing.
So were several old photographs and a watch his father had given him.
He had packed emotionally important objects.
That meant he expected to be gone for a long time.
Inside the closet, I found an empty space behind a row of coats.
A floor safe had been removed.
Police had not documented it because they did not know it existed.
I did.
Adrian installed it after completing his first major surgery.
He claimed it contained private patient notes.
Now the safe was gone.
I called Marcus.
He arrived with detectives.
They examined marks on the floor.
The safe had been removed recently.
“Could he have taken it before the hospital incident?” Marcus asked.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“The rug was moved.”
I pointed to a faint line in the dust.
“I cleaned this room three days ago.”
Marcus looked through the closet.
“What was inside?”
“I never knew.”
A detective found a small piece of torn paper near the baseboard.
Only three words were visible.
LAKE ASH RESIDENCE.
I recognized the name.
Adrian’s former mentor, Doctor Lawrence Vale, owned a secluded house near Lake Ash, two hours north of the city.
Vale had retired after a patient safety scandal.
Adrian continued visiting him privately.
Police moved quickly.
They reached the property shortly after midnight.
The house was empty.
A fire burned in the fireplace.
Food remained warm on the kitchen counter.
Adrian had left minutes earlier.
Officers found the missing safe in the garage.
Inside were cash, passports under false names, and a portable drive.
The drive contained encrypted financial records.
It also contained a video message addressed to me.
Marcus did not want me to watch it alone.
We viewed it inside the police command vehicle.
Adrian appeared seated against a blank wall.
He looked tired but composed.
“Claire,” he began.
“You always believed truth was enough.”
“It is not.”
“Truth belongs to the person who controls the room.”
“You controlled the atrium because Richard walked in.”
“You control the board because you carry his name.”
“But without him, you are still the same frightened woman who needed me to make her important.”
I felt anger replace fear.
Adrian continued.
“I have records that can destroy the foundation.”
“Stop helping Richard, and I will disappear.”
“Continue, and every secret St. Catherine’s has buried will become public.”
The video ended.
Marcus removed the drive.
“He is threatening the entire institution.”
May you like
“No,” I said.
“He is asking me to feel small again.”
