Chapter 3 - The Ghost of Atlanta
By 3:00 AM, St. Catherine’s Medical Center had been placed under complete lockdown by the Atlanta Police Department and my private security team, Vanguard Tactical.
Detective Sarah Reyes, a sharp-eyed homicide investigator with fifteen years on the force, stood inside the private lounge, looking over the evidence bags containing the tea bottle, the syringes, and the CCTV footage from the hallway.
"The tea was ordered through the hospital's internal dietary portal at 11:15 PM," Reyes said, flicking through her tablet. "The portal was accessed using a stolen nurse credential belonging to a woman named Clara Higgins—who was found tied up in a supply closet on the second floor forty minutes ago."
"So whoever planted the toxin knew the hospital systems," I said, sitting across from her, a cup of untouched black coffee sitting on the table before me.
"Or worked with someone who knew them," Reyes corrected. "We checked the security footage from the alley behind the kitchen. A gray Audi sedan pulled up at 11:00 PM. A woman got out, wearing scrub bottoms and a heavy winter coat. She used a master keycard to enter the service elevator."
"Show me the footage," I demanded.
Reyes turned the tablet toward me and hit play.
The video was grainy, but the woman's movements were distinctive. She walked with a slight limp in her right leg—a subtle favor toward her left side—and when she reached up to adjust her surgical mask in front of the elevator camera, I saw her left hand.
On her ring finger was a heavy gold band with an oval cut sapphire, set between two paved diamond bands.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
I knew that ring. I had bought it seven years ago at an auction in Savannah.
It belonged to Evelyn Vale—Vanessa Vale’s mother, and the former majority owner of Vale Steel, the company Sloane Infrastructure had acquired in a hostile takeover eighteen months ago.
"Evelyn Vale," I whispered.
"Who is she?" Reyes asked, leaning forward.
"Eighteen months ago, Vale Steel was going under because of massive environmental fraud committed by her late husband," I explained, my mind putting the pieces together with terrifying speed. "I bought the company's distressed assets at bankruptcy court, saved three thousand factory jobs, but stripped Evelyn and her daughter of their board seats and their golden parachutes. Evelyn threatened to kill me on the courthouse steps."
"Where is Evelyn Vale now?" Reyes asked.
"She's supposed to be in a private psychiatric facility in Zurich," I said, pulling out my phone. "She was committed after her husband committed suicide in prison."
I dialed my chief security officer, Knox, who was stationed outside the ICU door.
"Knox," I said. "Where is Vanessa Vale?"
"She left the building twenty minutes ago, boss," Knox reported over the line. "Said she was going home because she felt sick. I had a team follow her vehicle."
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"Where are they?"
"They just trailed her to a private hangar at Fulton County Airport. Boss... there's a medical transport plane on the tarmac with its engines running."
