Chapter 7 - The Doctor's Bag
"Take your finger off it."
Dominic did not raise his voice.
Marco obeyed.
Slowly.
Harris exhaled.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me."
Dominic took the pistol from Marco's hand.
"You're both coming upstairs."
Marco stared at him.
"You think I'm involved?"
"I think my son was locked in a room using a code connected to a threat against a three-year-old child. Right now I think everybody is involved."
We moved to a secured conference room beside the security office.
Ethan went upstairs under a guard Dominic chose himself.
I stayed.
Harris's medical bag sat in the center of the table.
Dominic emptied it piece by piece.
Epinephrine pens.
Stethoscope.
Blood pressure cuff.
Sedatives.
Sterile syringes.
Then the silver box.
The latch clicked.
Inside were labeled allergy reagents.
Cashew.
Peanut.
Shellfish.
Milk protein.
My stomach turned.
"Lily saw a box like that."
Harris nodded.
"Every allergist carries one."
Marco leaned against the wall.
"Convenient."
Harris looked at him.
"More convenient than controlling every camera in the building?"
Dominic slammed one palm on the table.
"Enough."
He turned to Harris.
"Could this material kill Ethan?"
"Not in normal diagnostic concentrations."
"Could you concentrate it?"
Harris hesitated.
Wrong move.
Dominic saw it.
"Could you?"
"Yes."
The room went quiet.
Harris pointed at the labels.
"But the sealed vials are inventoried. Check them."
Marco's mouth flattened.
"Already did."
He opened a tablet.
"One cashew vial missing from the medical office inventory."
Harris stared.
"No."
Marco turned the screen.
The report showed a red discrepancy.
One unit.
Authorized inventory scan: M-11.
I stood so fast my chair scraped backward.
"There."
Dominic looked at the code.
Marco said, "Old maintenance account."
"You keep saying that."
I stepped toward him.
"Who owns it?"
"Nobody."
"Accounts don't belong to nobody."
His eyes hardened.
"You run housekeeping."
"And you run security. Yet somehow a killer walked into a cold room, erased cameras, cloned my card, threatened my daughter, and kidnapped Ethan. Maybe we should both stop bragging about our job titles."
Dominic's mouth almost moved.
Not a smile.
Close.
Marco saw it.
His face tightened.
Dominic took the tablet.
"Lock Harris in interview two."
Marco reached for the doctor.
Harris twisted away.
"Dominic."
"You'll get your chance."
"No. Now."
Marco seized his arm.
Harris fought him.
Not toward the door.
Toward me.
"Anna!"
I backed into the table.
"Get him out."
Harris's shoes slid across the floor as Marco dragged him.
"Ask who controlled the cameras when Michael died!"
Everything stopped inside me.
Marco yanked him harder.
Harris shouted over his shoulder.
"Your husband knew Marco!"
Marco punched him.
Harris hit the wall.
Blood appeared at his lip.
Dominic grabbed Marco by the jacket and threw him back.
"I said lock him up. I didn't say shut him up."
Marco straightened slowly.
"He was reaching for her."
"He was talking."
I stared at Harris.
"What did Michael know?"
Harris wiped blood from his mouth.
He smiled at Marco.
"More than she does."
"Tell me."
Marco stepped between us.
"Don't listen to him."
I looked at Dominic.
"Move him."
Dominic's eyes stayed on Marco.
"Do it yourself."
Marco's face changed.
Only for half a second.
Then he stepped aside.
I approached Harris.
"What did my husband know?"
Harris leaned close enough that I could smell blood on his breath.
"He found the ghost account."
"M-11?"
His eyes flickered.
That was the first real answer I'd gotten all night.
"Where are his files?"
Harris whispered one sentence.
"Ask your dead husband why he hid them from Dominic."
May you like
Then the lights went out.
