Chapter 4 - The Hospital RoomMercy Northside was surrounded by snow.
Police.
Security.
News vans.
Cormack's vehicles approached through a private entrance.
Sloan was beside him.
She could barely breathe.
“Toby.”
Cormack looked at her.
“You stay with me.”
She nodded.
They entered the hospital.
A nurse guided them to the cardiac wing.
Gideon stood outside Tobias's room.
Two armed men beside him.
He smiled when he saw Cormack.
“You came.”
Cormack looked through the glass.
Tobias was unconscious.
Machines surrounding him.
Sloan made a sound that tore through Cormack's chest.
She moved toward the door.
Gideon raised a hand.
“Not yet.”
Cormack stepped forward.
“What do you want?”
“The same thing I wanted three years ago.”
“What?”
“Riverline.”
“You could have had money.”
“I don't want money.”
Gideon smiled.
“I want control.”
Cormack's voice lowered.
“You won't get it.”
“I already have it.”
He looked at Sloan.
“She is the final vote.”
Sloan froze.
“What?”
Gideon explained.
The old trust placed voting control in her hands.
Her mother had hidden it.
Gideon had discovered it.
The legal firm had spent years trying to manipulate Sloan into signing the necessary documents.
Her brother had been leverage.
Cormack understood.
“The gala.”
Gideon smiled.
“She was supposed to sign tonight.”
Sloan stared.
“You were going to force me.”
“Yes.”
“Why involve me at all?”
“Because the trust requires your signature to transfer.”
Cormack stepped closer.
“What happens if she refuses?”
Gideon's smile disappeared.
“Then your friend dies.”
He pointed toward Toby's room.
Cormack's expression became unreadable.
“Open the door.”
“No.”
Cormack took one step.
The armed men raised their weapons.
Then the lights went out.
Darkness.
A second later, glass shattered.
Cormack moved.
His men appeared.
Gunfire erupted.
Sloan dropped.
Cormack pulled her behind a wall.
The fight lasted less than a minute.
When the lights returned, Gideon was gone.
The door to Tobias's room was open.
Sloan ran inside.
“Toby!”
His monitor flatlined.
Doctors rushed in.
Cormack stood behind her.
“What's happening?”
A doctor shouted instructions.
Then, unexpectedly, the monitor came back.
Sloan collapsed beside the bed.
Tobias's eyes opened.
He looked at her.
“Hey.”
She cried.
Cormack turned away.
He had seen violence.
Death.
Loss.
But watching someone get their brother back after almost losing him felt strangely private.
He waited outside.
Fitz came beside him.
“We found the trail.”
“Leon?”
“No.”
“Gideon?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Fitz handed him a photo.
A woman.
Silver hair.
Dark coat.
Cormack's face changed.
“Dr. Evelyn Ward.”
“The woman from the gala?”
“Yes.”
“What is she?”
“Family physician to several wealthy families.”
Cormack looked at the picture.
“She has been moving money through Mercy for years.”
“Why?”
“Not for herself.”
“For whom?”
Fitz hesitated.
“The Rors.”
Cormack went still.
The Ror family controlled one of the largest financial networks in Chicago.
Their name had been appearing in Riverline documents.
Cormack had assumed they were competitors.
They weren't.
They were partners.
He turned toward Sloan.
She was holding Tobias's hand.
Her eyes met his through the hospital glass.
Cormack entered.
“There is something you need to know.”
“What?”
“The woman who has been treating your brother is connected to the Ror family.”
Sloan frowned.
“So?”
“So she may be the person protecting you.”
Sloan's eyes widened.
“Why would she?”
“Because your mother may have worked for them.”
Silence.
Sloan looked down.
“My mother hated rich people.”
Cormack smiled slightly.
“Then she worked for interesting rich people.”
The next morning, Tobias was moved to another facility under Cormack's protection.
Sloan refused to leave his side.
Cormack respected that.
He also noticed how she read everything.
Every form.
Every contract.
Every medical document.
“You studied law,” he said one evening.
She looked up.
“Two years.”
“Why did you stop?”
“My parents died.”
“Both?”
“Yes.”
“Same time?”
“Same winter.”
Cormack nodded.
He understood grief better than most people.
“What if I told you there is a possibility your mother was murdered?”
Sloan looked at him.
“I'd want proof.”
He nodded.
“You're more like her than you know.”
“How?”
“She didn't trust easy answers.”
Sloan smiled.
“Neither do I.”
Then the hospital alarm sounded.
Cormack stood.
A nurse ran in.
“Tobias is missing.”
Sloan froze.
“What?”
“We don't know how.”
Cormack was already moving.
He reached the room.
Empty bed.
Open window.
A rope hanging outside.
On the pillow was a folded piece of paper.
Cormack opened it.
Four words.
Bring me the girl.
Sloan's blood went cold.
“They took my brother.”
Cormack looked at her.
“No.”
“What?”
“They didn't take him to get you.”
He held up the note.
“They took him to make sure I follow.”
Sloan stared.
Cormack looked toward the window.
“Someone wants me angry.”
“Why?”
“Because angry men make predictable decisions.”
He turned to Fitz.
“Find him.”
May you like
Then he looked at Sloan.
“And find out who wants me dead.”
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