Chapter 5 - The Secret Ward
By five o'clock in the morning, the rain had finally stopped, replaced by a cold, gray dawn over the Wisconsin countryside.
Instead of driving straight to Chicago, Daniel’s convoy stopped at a private airfield outside Kenosha. Frank had arranged for a secure transport helicopter to fly Ivy, Skye, and his primary protective detail to a high-security private compound in northern Michigan owned by Mercer Global Security.
Daniel stood on the tarmac, kneeling beside the helicopter’s open bay door.
Ivy reached out, her small hand wrapping around Daniel’s thumb. “Are you coming with us, Daddy?”
It was the first time she had called him 'Daddy' directly, without prompting, without fear.
The word hit Daniel with the physical force of a tidal wave. He leaned in, kissing Ivy’s forehead, then kissed Skye’s cheek. “I have to go finish some work, sweetie. But I promise you, by tonight, we are going to be together in our new home. Nobody will ever make you run again.”
Skye handed him the yellow plush bear. “Take Barnaby. He keeps the bad people away.”
Daniel took the faded toy, placing it carefully inside his inner suit jacket pocket right next to Claire’s silver medallion. “Thank you, baby. I’ll keep him safe.”
He stepped back, nodding to Frank’s team leader inside the cabin. The helicopter’s blades roared to life, lifting the aircraft into the gray morning sky, carrying his daughters away to absolute safety.
Daniel turned toward Frank, who was standing beside a sleek black armored sedan. “Where is Dr. Vance right now?”
Frank checked his tablet. “Vance’s private vehicle just left his estate in Riverwoods. He’s currently en route to St. Jude’s Medical Center in Milwaukee to retrieve old physical records before the board meeting at ten.”
“He’s erasing the paper trail,” Daniel said, stepping into the passenger seat. “Let's make sure he doesn't get the chance.”
Thirty minutes later, the armored sedan pulled into the rear parking garage of St. Jude’s Private Medical Center. The high-end private hospital was quiet, its pristine marble lobby empty during the early shift change.
Dr. Arthur Vance was sixty-four years old, impeccably groomed, wearing a tailored charcoal suit as he unlocked the door to the hospital’s restricted basement archive room using a master security keycard.
He stepped into the dimly lit, climate-controlled archive room, surrounded by rows of tall metal filing cabinets containing decades of confidential patient records. He walked straight to the back section labeled SPECIAL PROJECTS / TRUST ACCOUNTS.
Vance pulled out a ring of keys, inserting the smallest key into the lock of a heavy fireproof safe mounted in the wall.
“Looking for Claire’s original birth logs, Arthur?”
Vance jumped, dropping his keys onto the concrete floor with a loud metallic clatter.
He spun around, his face going chalk-white as he saw Daniel standing in the doorway, framed by the shadow of Frank Mercer’s tall, imposing figure.
“D-Daniel!” Vance stammered, clutching his chest, his voice trembling violently. “What... what are you doing here at this hour? The board meeting in Chicago isn't until—”
“Shut up, Arthur,” Daniel said smoothly, walking slowly into the room. He picked up the dropped keys from the floor, tossing them lightly in his hand. “You’ve been my family’s physician for twenty years. My wife trusted you. I trusted you.”
“Daniel, listen to me!” Vance begged, taking a step back until his spine hit the filing cabinets. “You don't understand the pressure Margaret put on me! She threatened my medical license! She threatened to bankrupt my sister’s foundation! I had no choice!”
“You kept my wife sedated in this basement for seven months!” Daniel roared, his composure shattering as he slammed his hand against the metal cabinet beside Vance’s head. The loud BANG echoed like a gunshot through the archive room. “You delivered my twin daughters in secret, told me my wife died of cancer, and tried to erase their lives!”
Vance fell to his knees, weeping hysterically. “It was Margaret! She planned it all! When Claire found out she was pregnant with twins, she was so happy, Daniel! She wanted to surprise you when you returned from Tokyo! But Margaret found out first through the routine lab work! Margaret told Claire that you were having an affair... that you didn't want children... she poisoned Claire’s mind while she was weak!”
Daniel froze, a cold, agonizing pain slicing through his heart. “What did you say?”
“Margaret manipulated her!” Vance sobbed, wiping his nose with his sleeve. “She told Claire that if she revealed the pregnancy to you, you would take the children away and divorce her! Claire was terrified, sick, and vulnerable! She agreed to go into isolation at the private pavilion because Margaret promised her that the babies would be raised safely by Helen until Claire recovered!”
“And then Claire died,” Daniel whispered, his voice trembling with sheer horror. “How did she die, Arthur?”
Vance swallowed hard, his eyes darting frantically around the room. “She... she suffered from post-partum hemorrhage after the delivery. We tried to stop the bleeding, but her body was too weak from the confinement... I swear to God, Daniel, we didn't murder her! It was a medical complication!”
“And my mother took those newborn babies and handed them to your sister Helen, ordering her to take them to an orphanage in Europe,” Daniel deduced, his tone dropping into a terrifyingly calm register. “But Helen refused.”
“Helen took them and went into hiding,” Vance confessed, his shoulders slumping in complete defeat. “Margaret spent three years trying to track Helen down. When Margaret saw those girls at your lake house yesterday... she realized Helen had brought them back to you.”
Daniel looked down at the trembling old man kneeling at his feet. The disgust he felt was beyond words.
He pulled out his phone, tapping a record button that had been running since he entered the room.
“Frank,” Daniel said without looking back. “Secure every hard drive, every paper file, and every video log in this basement. Then take Dr. Vance to the State Police Headquarters in downtown Milwaukee. Hand the officers this recording.”
“No! Please, Daniel!” Vance wailed, grabbing at Daniel’s pant leg. “It will ruin me! I’ll go to prison!”
May you like
Daniel kicked his leg free, looking down at the disgraced physician with eyes as cold as granite.
“You’re going to prison, Arthur,” Daniel said softly. “And by ten o'clock this morning, my mother and brother will be joining you.”
