Chapter 3 - The Secret Inside Room 408
Voss closed the door without making a sound.
He wore his full police uniform.
That was the terrifying part.
He wasn't hiding.
A man planning murder had walked through Mercy Point Hospital wearing a badge because he believed the badge made him untouchable.
Malcolm watched his right hand.
Black glove.
Then his left.
Another black glove.
Voss glanced toward the heart monitor.
“Still ticking.”
Malcolm's fingers moved beneath the blanket toward the hidden phone.
Voss noticed.
“Don't.”
Malcolm stopped.
Voss approached.
“You created quite a problem.”
Malcolm struggled to speak through the oxygen mask.
“You created it.”
Voss smiled.
“You still think this is about me?”
He pulled a chair beside the bed.
“There are judges who owe favors. Business owners. Contractors. Guys in evidence control. People you'd never suspect.”
Malcolm stared at him.
Voss leaned closer.
“You thought you found a few crooked cops collecting envelopes.”
He laughed quietly.
“You found an economy.”
Malcolm's blood ran cold.
“Dayne?”
Voss's smile vanished.
“Captain Dayne gave people order.”
“You call extortion order?”
“I call it reality.”
Malcolm remembered Mercer's words.
Thirty-seven officers and accomplices.
Perhaps she had underestimated it.
Voss continued.
“Do you know how easy your life could have been? You retired. You had a pension. Family.”
His eyes hardened.
“But you needed to be righteous.”
Malcolm thought about Samuel Ortiz.
“No.”
Voss frowned.
“I got tired of being afraid.”
Something shifted in Voss's face.
Malcolm saw anger.
Good.
Angry men talked.
“You should be afraid.”
“Of you?”
Voss stood.
“Of what happens when ordinary people forget their place.”
Malcolm's hand tightened beneath the blanket.
The hidden phone was recording.
What neither man could see was that the recording wasn't staying on the phone.
It was being transmitted.
Three floors below, inside an unmarked federal command vehicle, Rachel Mercer listened through headphones.
Every word.
Beside her, Agent Daniel Ruiz stared at the audio levels.
“He's confessing.”
“Not enough.”
“He threatened the witness.”
“Still not enough for Dayne.”
Ruiz looked toward her.
“You're gambling with Avery's life.”
Mercer knew.
And she hated herself for it.
Upstairs, Voss walked toward the window.
Malcolm forced himself to remain calm.
“You said Dayne gave people order.”
Voss turned.
“That's right.”
“He ordered Highway 9?”
Silence.
Malcolm knew he'd struck something.
“Did he tell you to kill me?”
Voss stepped closer.
“You ask too many questions.”
“That's why you're here.”
Voss stared at him.
Malcolm pushed harder.
“Dayne sent you.”
Voss leaned over the bed.
“You think Captain Dayne gets his hands dirty?”
There.
Malcolm's pulse jumped.
“He gives an order,” Voss continued, “and problems disappear.”
Downstairs, Mercer straightened.
Ruiz whispered, “We have it.”
But Mercer raised one hand.
Not yet.
Voss walked toward the cabinet.
He opened it.
Malcolm watched.
Voss removed a spare hospital pillow.
His heart monitor accelerated.
Voss looked at the screen.
“You're nervous.”
Malcolm's mouth went dry.
“You won't get away with this.”
“I already did.”
He approached.
“Your medical chart shows serious cardiac complications following traumatic injuries.”
Malcolm stared at him.
“How do you know what's in my chart?”
Another mistake.
Voss realized it immediately.
Malcolm saw it.
Someone inside the hospital was helping them.
Voss lifted the pillow.
“Enough talking.”
Downstairs, Mercer heard the rustle of fabric.
Her expression changed.
“Move.”
Federal agents poured from the command vehicle.
They entered through a secured service entrance.
Elevator.
Fourth floor.
Mercer watched the numbers.
2.
3.
The elevator seemed impossibly slow.
Inside Room 408, Voss leaned over Malcolm.
“You should've stayed retired, old man.”
Malcolm's eyes remained fixed on him.
Voss lowered the pillow.
Malcolm's hands came up.
Weak.
Desperate.
The pillow pressed against the oxygen mask.
Air disappeared.
Malcolm fought.
Pain tore through his ribs.
His monitor screamed.
Voss pushed harder.
The room blurred.
Malcolm's hands slipped.
The ceiling lights stretched into white streaks.
His lungs burned.
Somewhere far away, he thought he heard footsteps.
Then nothing.
Voss whispered through clenched teeth.
“Stop fighting.”
Malcolm's consciousness began to disappear.
May you like
And outside Room 408, Rachel Mercer raised her weapon.
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