Chapter 6 - Lorenzo Declared War on the Men Who Controlled Chicago’s Hospitals
The next twenty-four hours changed Chicago.
Lorenzo released selected evidence to federal investigators.
He turned over financial records.
He exposed shell companies.
He froze accounts.
Within hours, three hospital administrators resigned.
Two pharmaceutical executives disappeared.
Commissioner Bell was arrested.
But Elias Crane vanished.
So did Gabriel Shaw.
Mia spent the day at Mercy Children's Hospital.
She monitored incoming shipments.
The suspicious medication was scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
At 5:42, the shipment arrived.
Mia inspected the crates.
The labels were wrong.
“These are not approved.”
The driver reached for a weapon.
Lorenzo's men surrounded him.
Police arrived moments later.
The drugs were seized.
But Elias Crane had anticipated them.
Another shipment entered through a second hospital.
Then another.
Three cities.
Multiple routes.
Mia realized the network was too large for one raid.
They needed the person controlling the entire system.
Lorenzo found the final clue in the hard drive.
A private foundation.
The Katherine Foundation.
Mia stared at the name.
“My father.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“He created it.”
“My father had a foundation?”
“Legally.”
“For what?”
“Medical research.”
She found records.
The foundation had received enormous donations.
Then moved the money through overseas accounts.
Her father had been laundering the evidence.
Not stealing.
Hiding.
He had created the foundation to move money away from Elias Crane.
Mia understood.
“He was protecting the hospitals.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he disappear?”
“Because he knew the only way to protect you was to make everyone believe he had betrayed them.”
She cried.
For the first time in years, she finally understood his disappearance.
He hadn't abandoned her.
He had been running.
Lorenzo stood beside her.
“He loved you.”
Mia wiped her eyes.
“So did your father.”
Lorenzo looked away.
“Maybe.”
That night, Elias Crane called.
“You have thirty minutes.”
“For what?”
“Bring the hard drive to the old train station.”
“No.”
“Then hundreds of patients will die.”
Lorenzo took the phone.
“Try it.”
Elias laughed.
“You think this is about hospitals?”
“What then?”
“Family.”
The line died.
Lorenzo looked at Mia.
“Don't go.”
“I have to.”
“No.”
“He wants me.”
“He wants the drive.”
“He wants my father."
“Same thing.”
Mia understood.
The final secret wasn't money.
It was identity.
Elias had been hiding behind another name.
The hard drive held a genetic record.
Mia opened it.
The DNA match was incomplete.
But one name appeared.
Thomas Katherine.
And another.
Daniel Crane.
Mia stared.
“Daniel Crane?”
Lorenzo leaned closer.
“Elias's brother.”
“No.”
She looked at the birth records.
“That's my father.”
Lorenzo froze.
“What?”
“My father was Daniel Crane.”
She had spent her entire life believing Thomas Katherine was her father.
But Thomas had been an alias.
Her father's real name was Daniel Crane.
Which meant—
“I am Elias Crane's niece.”
Lorenzo stared.
“That changes everything.”
Mia's voice shook.
“He didn't want to kill me.”
“Then what?”
“He wants me to inherit something.”
“What?”
The hard drive opened a final file.
A legal trust.
Beneficiary:
Mia Katherine Crane.
Assets:
Eight hundred million dollars.
Mia stared.
Her father had been worth a fortune.
He had hidden it.
And Elias wanted it.
The train station waited.
Lorenzo looked at her.
“Now we know what he wants.”
May you like
Mia closed the laptop.
“Then let's make him come get it.”
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