Chapter 2 - THE PRICE OF SAVING A VOSS|
The ambulance doors slammed shut, and Adrien climbed inside before the paramedic could object.
“Sir, you need to sit back.”
“Tell me whether she's going to survive.”
“We're working on it.”
“That's not an answer.”
The paramedic looked at the blood soaking through Clare's uniform and then at the enormous man blocking half the ambulance.
“Then let us work.”
Adrien stepped aside, but he did not release Clare's hand.
Across from him, Lily sat wrapped in a paramedic's blanket. She had stopped crying, although her fingers continued trembling.
“Adrien?”
He turned immediately.
“I'm here.”
“Is she going to die because of me?”
The question struck him harder than any accusation.
“No.”
“You don't know that.”
He looked at Clare's pale face.
“No,” he admitted. “I don't.”
At the hospital, a surgical team took Clare through the emergency doors. Adrien tried to follow, but a nurse stopped him.
“You cannot enter the operating room.”
“I can buy this entire hospital.”
“And that won't change the rules.”
Maya arrived twenty minutes later, carrying a tablet and a spare jacket for Lily.
“Marcus is in custody,” she reported. “He had a false employee badge, a burner phone, and a second weapon in his vehicle.”
“Who hired him?”
“He hasn't said.”
“Then find out.”
Maya glanced toward the surgical doors.
“Who is she?”
“Clare Bennett.”
“You already know her name?”
“Her manager was shouting it when she ran toward the attacker.”
Maya studied him.
“You've been asking about her for five minutes.”
Adrien's expression hardened.
“She saved Lily.”
“I noticed.”
“Then stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you think I'm going to do something stupid.”
Maya gave him a level stare.
“You've threatened three hospital administrators, offered to purchase the building, and nearly broke a security guard's wrist because he asked you to wait outside.”
Adrien said nothing.
“That's what stupid looks like,” she added.
For once, he had no immediate response.
Lily sat down and buried her face in her hands.
“I want to see her.”
“After the doctors finish,” Adrien promised.
A nurse eventually emerged with an update. Clare had lost a dangerous amount of blood, but the surgical team had controlled the bleeding. She was alive and would remain under close observation.
Adrien closed his eyes.
For the first time since entering the restaurant, he allowed himself to breathe.
“Can we see her?” Lily asked.
“Not yet,” the nurse said. “She needs rest.”
Then she examined the information on her clipboard.
“There's also a problem with her emergency contact. We haven't been able to reach her brother's guardian.”
“Her brother?” Adrien asked.
The nurse explained that Clare had listed an eleven-year-old sibling named Noah Bennett as the person she cared for. The number on file went to an apartment where nobody answered.
Adrien looked at Maya.
“Find him.”
“Adrien, we should let the police handle the investigation first.”
“I'm not asking you to investigate Marcus. I'm asking you to make sure a child isn't sitting alone somewhere wondering why his sister hasn't come home.”
Maya nodded.
“I'll send someone to check on him.”
Within an hour, one of her security officers located Noah in a small apartment on the South Side. He had a blanket around his shoulders, an untouched bowl of soup on the table, and a phone clutched in both hands.
When Maya's officer knocked, Noah opened the door cautiously.
“Are you from the hospital?”
“Your sister is there.”
“Is she dead?”
“No. She's alive.”
Noah's knees nearly gave way with relief.
“Then why isn't she answering?”
“She was hurt, and the doctors are taking care of her.”
Noah began to cry.
“She promised she'd be home.”
At the hospital, Adrien received a video call showing the boy sitting on the edge of a worn sofa.
“Who are you?” Noah asked when Adrien appeared on the screen.
“Adrien Voss.”
“Did you hurt Clare?”
“No.”
“Then why is she in the hospital?”
“Because she saved my sister.”
Noah wiped his face.
“That's what she does. She saves people.”
Adrien looked at the frightened child and felt the weight of those words.
He had built an empire by making people fear what would happen if they crossed him.
Clare had built her life around preventing others from feeling afraid.
And now, because she had chosen to protect Lily, the boy she loved most was alone.
Adrien leaned closer to the screen.
“Your sister is going to have the best medical care I can arrange. And until she's able to come home, you won't be alone.”
Noah hesitated.
“Are you going to make her pay you back?”
Adrien stared at him.
“No.”
“Promise?”
For a man whose promises had moved millions of dollars and frightened entire organizations, the answer came surprisingly quietly.
“I promise.”
But as the call ended, Maya entered the corridor with a disturbing update.
Marcus Reed had finally spoken.
He hadn't been paid to kill Lily.
May you like
He had been paid to make Adrien watch her die.
And the person who hired him knew exactly where Adrien would be sitting that night.
