Chapter 6 - Betrayal at St. Jude'sThe morning sun rose behind heavy gray clouds as a battered stolen van pulled into the emergency bay behind St. Jude’s Medical Center. Mia sat in the passenger seat, her eyes hollow with fatigue, while Victor checked the perimeter from behind the wheel.
"We can't go to a public hospital, Victor," Mia urged nervously, looking at Tommy, who was running a slight fever from the night's freezing rain. "Harrison's men control the city precincts."
"We aren't going to the public ward," Victor replied, pulling a pair of medical keycards from his pocket. "We’re going to see Dr. Elena Vance."
Mia’s head snapped toward him. "Vance? Another member of Julian’s family?"
"Elena is Julian’s estranged daughter," Victor explained gently. "She cut ties with him fifteen years ago when she discovered he was using her medical research facility to synthesize illegal toxins. She runs a private pediatric research clinic on the fifth floor. She’s the only doctor in this state who cannot be bought by her father."
Ten minutes later, inside a private, sterile room on the fifth floor, Dr. Elena Vance—a sharp, intelligent woman in her late thirties with dark hair and piercing green eyes—carefully examined baby Tommy.
"He’s fine, Mia," Dr. Elena said softly, placing her stethoscope back around her neck. "Just mild exhaustion and a slight chill. I’ve administered a gentle sedative and an antibiotic. He’ll sleep safely for the next six hours."
Mia let out a long, ragged breath, collapsing into an armchair beside the crib. "Thank you, Dr. Vance."
Elena walked over to a small counter, pouring three cups of black coffee. She handed one to Mia and one to Victor. "Call me Elena. My father’s name is a curse I’ve spent my life trying to erase."
Elena leaned against the counter, her eyes fixed on the black hard drive resting on the table beside Victor. "Victor told me what happened in the vault. If that hard drive contains the original clinical trial data from twenty years ago, it proves my father used unauthorized human testing to seize control of the pharmaceutical market."
"It contains even more than that," Victor said, booting up a secure laptop. "It contains the financial records showing that Julian financed Evelyn Sterling’s rise to power in exchange for fifty percent of Sterling Global's real estate portfolio."
Suddenly, the landline phone on Elena’s desk rang sharply.
Elena answered it, listening in silence for ten seconds. Her expression transformed from calm concern into sheer horror. She slowly put the receiver down, looking up at Mia with eyes wide with panic.
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"What is it, Elena?" Mia asked, standing up instinctively.
"Evelyn Sterling," Elena whispered, her voice trembling. "She just escaped from the federal transit van outside the precinct. And she didn't run away... she’s holding the hospital board of directors hostage downstairs."
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