Chapter 2 - The Secretary in the Back SeatSloan sat in the back of Cormack's car without moving.
Snow streaked the windows.
The city passed in blurred lights.
Her phone had been confiscated by her own fear long before Cormack had ever touched it.
She kept checking it anyway.
No messages.
No missed calls.
No updates from Mercy Northside.
Cormack sat beside her rather than in the front.
He had removed his coat.
“You're freezing.”
“I’m fine.”
“That isn't true.”
She looked away.
“You always do that?”
“Do what?”
“Tell people what they're feeling.”
“No.”
He paused.
“Only when they're bad at hiding it.”
Sloan almost smiled.
Almost.
Then her phone rang.
She reached for it.
Cormack looked at the screen.
Mercy Northside Hospital.
Sloan answered instantly.
“Hello?”
A nurse spoke rapidly.
Sloan's face changed.
“What?”
Cormack watched.
“No, that's impossible.”
She stood halfway.
“Don't remove him from the list.”
Silence.
“No. Listen to me. His medical status was stable this morning.”
Her voice broke.
“I understand.”
She ended the call.
Cormack waited.
“What happened?”
Sloan looked at him.
“They suspended Toby's transplant eligibility.”
“Why?”
“Insurance issue.”
“Who controls the insurance?”
“Mercy Foundation.”
“Which is funded by?”
She closed her eyes.
“Gideon Marsh.”
Cormack nodded.
“I thought so.”
Sloan stared.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“Then why didn't you stop it?”
“Because I needed the confirmation.”
Her eyes flashed.
“My brother is not a confirmation.”
Cormack's expression hardened.
“You're right.”
He leaned forward.
“I'll fix it.”
“You can't.”
“I can.”
“Why?”
“Because Mercy Northside owes my foundation eighteen million dollars.”
She looked confused.
“You have a foundation?”
“I have several.”
“Of course you do.”
He smiled.
It was the first time he had genuinely smiled.
Sloan looked out the window.
“Who are you?”
“You know.”
“I know what people say.”
“And?”
“They say you're a monster.”
Cormack shrugged.
“People say many things.”
“They say you own half the south side.”
“Not half.”
“Most?”
“Enough.”
She looked at him.
“And they say people who betray you disappear.”
“They sometimes relocate.”
“That is not better.”
“No.”
He looked toward the windshield.
“I've never claimed to be good.”
Sloan studied him.
“Then why help me?”
Cormack's eyes returned to hers.
“Because you asked.”
That answer stayed with her.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at Cormack's private residence.
It was not a mansion.
That surprised her.
It was an old stone building overlooking the river, guarded but understated.
Inside, warmth filled the halls.
A woman in her sixties approached.
“This is Mara,” Cormack said. “She runs the household.”
Mara looked at Sloan.
“Tea?”
Sloan nodded.
“Thank you.”
Cormack disappeared into his study.
Sloan sat alone.
Ten minutes later, he returned with a folder.
He placed it on the table.
“Toby's case.”
Sloan opened it.
Everything was there.
Medical records.
Insurance documents.
Foundation payments.
The suspension notice.
A handwritten note.
She read it.
Her hands trembled.
“What is this?”
Cormack said nothing.
The note was written by Preston Halloway.
Pressure Tobias. Keep Sloan cooperative.
Sloan stared.
“He knew.”
Cormack nodded.
She flipped the page.
Another note.
If necessary, use the brother.
Sloan closed the folder.
Tears finally fell.
She covered her face.
Cormack remained silent.
He did not touch her.
He waited.
When she looked up, his face was the same.
Controlled.
Calm.
But his eyes were not.
They held anger.
Not at her.
For her.
Sloan wiped her cheeks.
“I have proof.”
Cormack nodded.
“I know.”
“I took the records.”
“Where?”
“My apartment.”
“Is anyone there?”
“No.”
“Then we go.”
They drove to her building.
Police cars were parked nearby.
Her apartment door was open.
Sloan stared.
Cormack stepped in first.
Everything was gone.
Her laptop.
Her files.
Her photographs.
Even the spare clothes.
Nothing had been left behind except one envelope on the table.
Cormack picked it up.
Inside was a photograph of Tobias in his hospital bed.
On the back:
You should have listened.
Sloan's knees nearly gave out.
Cormack caught her.
“Don't.”
She pulled away.
“Don't touch me.”
He stepped back immediately.
She looked at him.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
His voice was calm.
“You don't have to apologize.”
Sloan walked through the apartment.
She stopped at the wall.
One tiny mark remained.
A nail.
She reached behind it.
A hidden cavity.
Inside was a flash drive.
She smiled.
“They missed it.”
Cormack looked at her.
“You planned a contingency.”
“I work in a law firm.”
He almost laughed.
Then her phone buzzed.
A message.
COME TO THE 22ND FLOOR. ALONE.
Sloan showed it to him.
Cormack shook his head.
“No.”
“If I don't go, someone dies.”
“Then they expect you to go.”
“They also expect me to be afraid.”
Cormack looked at the message again.
Then at her.
“What do you want to do?”
Sloan answered:
“Go.”
He nodded.
“I'll be there.”
“No.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“I go alone.”
“You won't.”
“Why?”
“Because you already asked me for help.”
He stepped closer.
“And I'm not done helping.”
The next morning, they entered Halloway and Straoud.
Sloan walked through the lobby in silence.
Everyone stared.
Her employee badge had been deactivated.
Security recognized Cormack.
They immediately stepped aside.
Upstairs, Preston Halloway waited.
He was sitting behind his desk as though nothing had happened.
“Sloan.”
She stood opposite him.
“Where is Toby?”
Halloway sighed.
“You've made this unnecessarily dramatic.”
“Where is my brother?”
“He's receiving treatment.”
“You suspended him.”
“Temporarily.”
“Because I refused to cooperate.”
“Because you failed to understand your position.”
Cormack stepped forward.
“You're done.”
Halloway looked at him.
“This isn't your business.”
Cormack smiled.
“It is now.”
Halloway looked at Sloan.
“Do you know what your mistake was?”
She said nothing.
“You thought your notes mattered.”
Cormack glanced toward her.
“They do.”
Halloway laughed.
“Those notes can destroy people.”
Sloan's voice was quiet.
“That's why I kept them.”
Halloway's smile disappeared.
Cormack looked at Sloan.
“How much do you have?”
“Everything.”
She held up the flash drive.
“Enough to bury your firm.”
Halloway stared at it.
Then he said something that made Cormack's expression change.
“You still think I'm the one you're afraid of.”
A door behind them opened.
A man entered.
Cormack knew him.
Everyone in the city did.
Leon Voss.
The financier who had disappeared three years earlier after allegedly betraying Cormack's organization.
He smiled.
“Hello, Cormack.”
Cormack's eyes turned cold.
Sloan stepped back.
May you like
Leon looked at her.
“Thank you for bringing him to me.”
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