Chapter 8 - The Night Transfer.
.The hidden-camera footage changed everything and solved nothing.
Marcus had proof Vivian pushed Claire.
He had proof Daniel Price knew Claire was injured and delayed help.
He had proof of a conspiracy to manipulate the family's security authority.
But evidence mattered only if they could get it outside Price's control.
Keller copied the files onto three encrypted drives.
One went to Detective Sofia Ramirez, who had arrived to take Halden into custody for questioning.
One went to Ethan at Vale Tower through a wired fax-data relay used for disaster recovery.
The third stayed with Marcus.
Dr. Morris checked Claire again.
Her expression had become more serious.
"The contractions are progressing."
"How long?" Marcus asked.
"I don't know."
"But I want her near an operating room now."
The main surgical floor was secure according to city police.
The problem was reaching it.
The elevators had been placed in fire mode.
The east stairwell had electronic doors that Price could lock remotely.
The west stairwell was open, but Claire could not descend four floors on foot.
Keller found an old service lift on the original hospital blueprint.
"It runs on a separate mechanical controller," he said.
"Laundry and equipment only."
"Can Price control it?"
"Not from the network."
Morris nodded.
"Then we use it."
They moved after dark, though darkness meant little inside the sealed hospital.
City police cleared the service corridor.
Claire lay on a narrow transport bed with Morris beside her.
Marcus walked at her shoulder.
Keller led the group.
The service lift waited behind two heavy steel doors.
Its interior smelled faintly of detergent and hot machinery.
"No cameras," Keller said.
"Normally that would bother me."
"Tonight I prefer it."
They rolled Claire inside.
Marcus entered last.
The doors closed.
The lift began descending.
One floor.
Two.
Then it stopped.
Claire looked at Marcus.
"No."
Keller hit the control button.
Nothing.
Morris checked the fetal monitor.
"Stay calm."
Claire laughed once without humor.
"I am trapped in a service elevator while someone is trying to steal my medical rights."
"I'm allowed to be a little upset."
Marcus almost smiled.
Then something struck the roof of the lift.
Everyone froze.
A second impact followed.
Keller drew his weapon.
"There's a maintenance hatch."
Marcus looked up.
The square panel above them moved.
Keller shouted.
"Police and security below!"
The hatch opened two inches.
A metal cylinder dropped through the gap.
Marcus recognized it from the corridor attack.
Smoke canister.
He kicked it into the far corner as Keller grabbed a fire blanket and covered it.
White vapor leaked beneath the fabric.
Morris pulled an oxygen mask over Claire's face.
Marcus climbed onto the handrail.
"What are you doing?" Claire demanded.
"Stopping whoever is above us."
Keller grabbed his leg.
"No."
"That is my job."
Marcus looked down.
"Your deputy built this trap."
"And that is exactly why I know what he expects."
Keller climbed instead.
He pushed the hatch open with one hand and disappeared halfway through.
A struggle erupted overhead.
Metal slammed against metal.
Someone cursed.
Then Keller fell back into the car.
A man dropped through the hatch after him.
Daniel Price.
He landed on one knee.
For a second, everyone stared at him.
He wore hospital maintenance coveralls over body armor.
His face was calm.
"Marcus," he said.
"You always were difficult to protect."
Keller raised his weapon.
Price kicked the fire blanket into him.
Smoke exploded through the lift.
Marcus moved without thinking.
He drove his shoulder into Price and slammed him against the wall.
Price struck back hard.
Marcus's head hit steel.
Claire screamed his name.
Keller recovered and seized Price from behind.
The two men crashed against the control panel.
The lift jerked downward.
Morris threw herself over Claire's bed.
Marcus grabbed the rail.
Price reached into his coveralls.
Marcus saw the black grip of a weapon.
He caught Price's wrist with both hands.
Keller drove an elbow into Price's shoulder.
The weapon fell.
It was not a gun.
It was an injector.
A medical syringe filled with clear fluid.
Morris stared at it.
"What is that?"
Price smiled through blood on his lip.
"Insurance."
The lift suddenly dropped half a floor and stopped again.
Its emergency brake screamed.
Police voices sounded outside the doors.
Keller pinned Price to the floor.
Marcus kicked the injector away.
The doors were pried open from outside.
Detective Ramirez appeared with two officers.
Price laughed as they cuffed him.
Marcus did not understand why until Price looked directly at Claire.
"You think this ends because you caught me?"
Claire stared back.
Price's smile widened.
"The transfer already happened."
Marcus felt ice in his veins.
"What transfer?"
Price said nothing else.
Ramirez dragged him from the lift.
Marcus grabbed Keller's tablet.
The hospital system showed no patient transfer.
No newborn transfer.
No equipment transfer.
Then Claire whispered, "My records."
Marcus looked at her.
"The transfer wasn't me."
"It was my identity."
Keller searched the insurance registry.
May you like
Claire Vale's complete medical file had been exported forty-two minutes earlier to St. Arden Private Center.
Along with a signed consent for immediate newborn guardianship review.
