Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Owned the Hallway.
.Victoria Mercer entered with the confidence of someone accustomed to turning buildings into extensions of her will.
The hospital administrator, Dr. Malcolm Reeve, looked uncomfortable beside her.
The attorneys looked less uncomfortable.
Rebecca remained between them and Emma.
Victoria folded her hands.
“Your daughter illegally copied protected records from a private organization.”
Emma pushed herself upright.
“They were fake invoices.”
One attorney immediately spoke.
“Do not make defamatory statements.”
Rebecca turned her head.
“Do not threaten a patient in her hospital room.”
The attorney fell silent.
Dr. Reeve cleared his throat.
“Captain Hale, perhaps we can resolve this calmly.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Start by explaining why a medical hold was signed by a physician who left this hospital six months ago.”
Reeve’s face changed.
Victoria answered for him.
“Administrative irregularities happen.”
“Forged signatures are not irregularities.”
Victoria’s eyes hardened.
“You are making extraordinary accusations with no understanding of the circumstances.”
Rebecca glanced toward the specimen cup on the counter.
“And those pills?”
Victoria did not look at them.
“Routine medication.”
“Then why did you personally bring them to my daughter’s mouth?”
The room became quiet.
Dr. Reeve turned toward Victoria.
She smiled thinly.
“Emma has difficulty swallowing when agitated.”
Emma laughed once, without humor.
“You told me they would help me forget the last two days.”
Victoria’s composure slipped.
Only for a second.
But Dr. Reeve saw it.
So did Rebecca.
The administrator approached the counter.
“What medication is this?”
Victoria’s attorney stepped in front of him.
“Do not handle it without counsel.”
Reeve looked at the lawyer as though he had just realized whose hospital room he was standing in.
Rebecca’s phone rang.
Special Agent Ross spoke briefly.
He was ten minutes away with a federal investigator and a representative from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
Rebecca did not announce that part.
She simply said, “Understood.”
Victoria watched her.
“You enjoy intimidation.”
Rebecca slipped the phone back into her pocket.
“No.”
She looked toward Emma.
“I enjoy documentation.”
Emma suddenly whispered.
“Mom.”
Rebecca followed her gaze.
Martin Crowe stood in the hallway beyond the glass panel.
He was holding a black smartphone.
Emma’s smartphone.
Crowe noticed them looking.
Then he walked away.
Rebecca moved for the door.
Victoria blocked her path.
“You are not leaving this room with hospital evidence.”
Rebecca stopped inches from her.
“That phone belongs to my daughter.”
Victoria lowered her voice.
“That phone belongs to whoever can prove ownership.”
Rebecca stared at her.
It was an absurd statement.
It was also revealing.
Victoria did not want the phone destroyed.
She wanted control of what was inside it.
Rebecca stepped back.
Victoria mistook the movement for surrender.
Then the elevator doors opened at the far end of the hallway.
Three people stepped out.
The first showed federal credentials.
The second carried an evidence case.
The third wore a dark suit with a small gold NCIS badge clipped at his waist.
Victoria’s smile disappeared completely.
May you like
Rebecca looked at her.
“Now we can discuss ownership.”
