Chapter 4 - I Was the Missing Piece in a Secret I Never Knew Existed

The next morning, Naomi told me something that changed everything.

"You may have been drugged as a child."

I stared at her.

"Why would anyone drug me?"

"To make you forget."

"Forget what?"

She looked at Dominic.

He didn't answer.

I became furious.

"Stop looking at each other and tell me."

Naomi sighed.

"When your mother died, you were twelve."

"I know."

"After her death, you were hospitalized."

"I was?"

"For three days."

I remembered being sick.

A fever.

A hospital room.

My mother holding my hand.

But the memory felt distant.

Naomi placed a file in front of me.

"There were sedatives in your blood."

I stared at the report.

"Who ordered them?"

"Dr. Samuel Hart."

I felt my stomach turn.

"Why?"

"Because you were saying things."

"What things?"

Naomi hesitated.

"You kept repeating a name."

"What name?"

"Anthony."

Dominic's jaw tightened.

I looked at him.

"I knew your father?"

"You may have."

"No."

"You were twelve."

"I would remember."

Naomi shook her head.

"That's what the medication was for."

Suddenly the room seemed to tilt.

I remembered something.

A hallway.

A red door.

My mother crying.

A tall man kneeling beside me.

Anthony Vale.

He had placed a finger over his lips.

"Never tell anyone what you saw."

I gasped.

Dominic grabbed my shoulder.

"What did you remember?"

"I saw him."

"Who?"

"Your father."

I told him everything I could.

A basement.

A locked room.

My mother arguing with Hart.

A woman crying.

Anthony carrying a black suitcase.

Then a gunshot.

My mother screaming.

And Hart telling someone:

"The girl saw everything."

Dominic stared at me.

"Grace."

I closed my eyes.

Another memory surfaced.

My mother shoved something into my hands.

The brass compass.

Then she whispered:

"If you ever lose me, find the Vale boy."

I opened my eyes.

Dominic looked stunned.

"She told you to find me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

Naomi suddenly entered.

"We have a problem."

She showed us a live news report.

St. Bartholomew's had released a statement claiming that Dominic Vale had attacked hospital employees.

My face appeared on the screen.

The headline read:

NURSE ASSISTS NOTORIOUS CRIME BOSS IN DEADLY HOSPITAL SHOOTOUT.

I stared at the television.

"They're framing us."

Dominic looked calm.

"Of course they are."

"They're going to arrest me."

"They'll try."

"Then what are we doing?"

"Finding evidence."

We returned to the hospital that night.

The building was officially closed.

Dominic had obtained security access through an old contact.

We entered through the morgue.

The air smelled of disinfectant and smoke.

Naomi led us toward records.

There was a fire door at the end.

Behind it was a hidden room.

Inside were boxes labeled with numbers instead of names.

One box contained files on my mother.

Another contained files on Dominic's father.

A third had my name.

I opened it.

It contained photographs of me from childhood.

School.

Home.

Hospital.

Someone had been watching me for years.

"Why?"

A voice came from behind us.

"Because your mother left you something."

We turned.

Dr. Samuel Hart stood in the doorway.

He wasn't alone.

Four armed men stood around him.

Dominic raised his gun.

Hart smiled.

"You've always been predictable, Anthony's son."

Dominic's eyes hardened.

"What happened to my father?"

Hart looked at me.

"Ask your daughter."

I froze.

"Daughter?"

Hart's smile grew.

"Your mother never told you?"

Dominic looked at me.

"What is he talking about?"

Hart stepped forward.

"Your mother had a daughter before Grace was born."

I stared.

"No."

"Yes."

"Who?"

Hart glanced toward Dominic.

"She was supposed to be his wife."

Silence.

I didn't understand.

Hart said:

"Eleanor Walker's first child was Victoria Vale."

Dominic went completely still.

"My sister?"

Hart nodded.

"Anthony's firstborn."

Dominic lowered his gun slightly.

"Where is she?"

Hart smiled.

"Closer than you think."

The lights suddenly went out.

A fight exploded in the dark.

By the time the emergency lights returned, Hart was gone.

But one of his guards wasn't.

Marcus forced him onto the floor.

Dominic leaned over him.

"Where is Victoria?"

The man laughed.

"Ask the woman you call Grace."

I felt cold.

"What does that mean?"

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The man looked directly at me.

"Because Grace Walker isn't your real name."