Chapter 7 - THE MIDNIGHT TRANSFER

Victor drove through the hospital exit barrier without slowing.

The wooden arm snapped against the roof and spun into the road.

Ortiz fastened her seat belt.

Adam leaned forward between the seats.

“Do not lose them.”

Victor glanced into the mirror.

“I have been following people since before you learned to drive.”

“This is my wife.”

“And that is why you are not driving.”

The transport van moved two cars ahead.

Its emergency lights were off.

It blended into the evening traffic like an ordinary medical vehicle.

Ortiz called dispatch using a secured radio.

“Unlawful patient transfer in progress.”

She gave the license plate and direction.

The response came immediately.

“Order shows judicial authorization.”

“The order is based on fraudulent documents.”

“Supervisor review required.”

“We do not have time.”

“Stand by.”

Ortiz ended the transmission.

“They will delay until she reaches the facility.”

“Which facility?” Adam asked.

“The order lists Northlake Behavioral Center.”

Victor shook his head.

“They are not going to Northlake.”

“How do you know?”

“The van turned east.”

“What is east?”

“The old Carter Women’s Clinic.”

Adam had visited the clinic as a child during Foundation events.

It had closed five years earlier.

The building remained owned by a Carter subsidiary.

“Why take her there?”

“Privacy,” Victor said.

“And records they can control.”

The van turned through a yellow light.

Victor accelerated.

A delivery truck entered the intersection.

He swerved around it.

Ortiz braced one hand against the seat.

“Try not to kill us before we reach her.”

Victor ignored the comment.

Adam called Lily’s phone.

It rang somewhere inside the van.

Mercer answered.

“Adam.”

“Let her go.”

“She requires treatment.”

“You are not her physician.”

“I have known your family longer than Rachel Kim has been practicing medicine.”

“You entered my home with drugs.”

“I entered because your mother believed Lily was in danger.”

“You planned her medical record before touching her.”

Mercer chuckled.

“You found the tablet.”

“I found enough to put you away.”

“You found what Victor wanted you to find.”

Adam looked at his uncle.

Victor kept his eyes on the road.

“What does that mean?”

“Victor has spent years waiting for an opportunity to control the trust.”

Mercer’s voice remained calm.

“He needs Evelyn removed.”

“You tried to harm my child.”

“Your child is the reason everyone is moving so quickly.”

“Why?”

“You still do not know.”

“I know about the trust.”

“You know one part.”

“What is the other?”

Mercer lowered his voice.

“Ask Victor why Jonathan warned you not to trust him.”

The call ended.

Adam looked at Victor.

“What are you hiding?”

“A great deal.”

“Does the trust transfer to you?”

“No.”

“Who receives control?”

“I do not know.”

“Mercer says you do.”

“Mercer says whatever keeps people divided.”

“My father warned me about you.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Victor turned hard onto an access road.

“Because I helped Evelyn hide Grace.”

Adam stared at him.

“You knew where she was.”

“I arranged the first transfer.”

“How old were you?”

“Twenty.”

“You helped them steal me.”

“I believed Grace was dangerous.”

“You believed Evelyn.”

“I was her younger brother.”

“That is not an excuse.”

“No.”

Victor’s voice stayed flat.

“It is an explanation.”

The van turned through the gates of the abandoned clinic.

Victor stopped a block away.

The building stood behind a line of leafless trees.

Most windows were dark.

A single light glowed near the rear entrance.

Ortiz checked her weapon.

“We need backup.”

“Backup will notify Ellis,” Victor said.

“He already knows where they are going.”

“Then we have minutes.”

Adam opened the door.

Ortiz grabbed his sleeve.

“You stay behind me.”

“My wife is inside.”

“That does not make you bulletproof.”

“I am not waiting in the car.”

Victor removed a key card from the console.

“There is an underground service tunnel from the adjacent pharmacy building.”

“How do you know?”

“I approved the renovation.”

They crossed the alley.

Victor unlocked a steel door behind the empty pharmacy.

The tunnel smelled of damp concrete.

Emergency lights glowed along the floor.

Adam heard machinery ahead.

They reached a staircase beneath the clinic.

Ortiz moved first.

At the top, they entered a storage room filled with unused furniture.

Voices came from the hallway.

Mercer spoke to someone.

“She needs another dose.”

A woman answered.

“The fetal rate dropped after the last one.”

Adam recognized Margaret Sloan, Victor’s assistant.

Mercer sounded irritated.

“The child only needs to remain viable until the transfer documents are completed.”

Adam’s body went cold.

Ortiz raised one hand, signaling him to wait.

Margaret continued.

“Evelyn said no visible complications.”

“Evelyn is not here.”

“She is on her way.”

Victor whispered to Ortiz.

“The procedure room is around the corner.”

Ortiz moved silently toward the doorway.

Adam followed despite her warning look.

Through the narrow opening, he saw Lily on a hospital bed.

Her restraints had been removed, but she appeared weak.

Mercer stood beside an IV pole.

Margaret held a clipboard.

Two private guards waited near the opposite wall.

Lily’s eyes moved toward the storage room.

She saw Adam.

Her expression did not change.

She understood that reacting would expose him.

Adam loved her fiercely in that moment.

Mercer adjusted the IV line.

Ortiz stepped into the hallway.

“Chicago Police.”

The guards reached inside their jackets.

“Hands where I can see them.”

One guard froze.

The other drew a weapon.

Victor threw a metal cart into the hallway.

The weapon fired.

The sound exploded through the clinic.

Ortiz moved behind the wall and returned fire.

The guard dropped his weapon and fell against the floor.

The second guard raised both hands.

Adam ran to Lily.

Mercer grabbed a syringe.

“Stay back.”

Adam stopped.

Mercer held the needle near Lily’s IV port.

“One step and I administer the entire dose.”

Lily looked at Adam.

Her breathing remained controlled.

“You won’t,” Adam said.

Mercer smiled.

“You still believe doctors are guided by conscience.”

“I believe you need the baby alive.”

Mercer’s smile faded slightly.

“You heard too much.”

“What happens when he is born?”

“The trust activates.”

“And?”

Mercer glanced toward Victor.

“Your uncle becomes very wealthy.”

Victor stood behind Ortiz.

“That is a lie.”

“Is it?”

Mercer pressed the syringe closer to the port.

“Jonathan’s trust names a protector.”

“Who?” Adam asked.

Mercer looked at him.

“The oldest surviving child of Jonathan Carter.”

Adam frowned.

“I am his only child.”

Mercer’s eyes shifted toward Lily.

“No.”

The distraction lasted less than a second.

Lily pulled the IV line from the port.

The syringe plunged into the empty tubing.

Adam crossed the room and struck Mercer’s arm away.

Ortiz rushed forward.

Mercer fell against the equipment cart.

Victor restrained him.

Margaret attempted to run.

David Kim appeared in the doorway with two federal courthouse officers.

He blocked her path.

“My sister called,” he said.

Adam lifted Lily carefully.

“You came.”

Her voice was weak.

“I promised.”

“Are we safe?”

“Not yet.”

Dr. Kim arrived with an emergency team.

She checked Lily and the baby.

The fetal monitor produced a rapid heartbeat.

“Take her back now,” Dr. Kim ordered.

Ortiz handcuffed Mercer.

He watched Adam with a strange expression.

“You think this ends with me?”

“It ends with you in prison.”

Mercer leaned closer as Ortiz pulled him away.

“Ask Evelyn why Jonathan’s oldest child is not listed in any family record.”

Adam stared after him.

Victor’s face had gone pale.

“You know what he meant.”

Victor looked toward Lily.

“This is not the place.”

“Tell me.”

“Jonathan had another child.”

“With Grace?”

Victor did not answer.

“Where is that child?”

“I don’t know.”

Adam grabbed his arm.

“Boy or girl?”

“A girl.”

“What happened to her?”

“She was born two years before you.”

“And?”

“Evelyn took her too.”

Adam released him.

“Where did she go?”

Victor looked toward Detective Ortiz.

Adam followed his gaze.

Ortiz stood near the doorway, staring at both men.

Her face had become completely still.

“What?” Adam asked.

Ortiz reached beneath her blouse and pulled out a small chain.

A black onyx pendant hung from it.

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