Chapter 6 — Thomas Reed’s Last Night
Chapter 6 — Thomas Reed’s Last Night
The church doors slammed behind us.
Daniel pulled me through the darkness while Julia ran beside us.
Behind us, footsteps thundered across the old wooden floor.
Someone shouted.
“Stop!”
We didn't.
We burst through a side entrance and ran into the alley.
Cold air hit my face.
My shoes slipped on wet pavement.
Julia nearly fell.
I caught her arm.
“Keep moving!”
A black SUV turned the corner.
Its headlights swept across the alley.
Daniel pushed us behind a concrete wall.
“Stay down.”
The SUV stopped.
Two men got out.
One of them looked directly toward us.
My heart pounded so violently I thought he could hear it.
Daniel leaned close.
“When I tell you to run, don't look back.”
“What about you?”
“Just run.”
“No.”
“Rachel.”
“No.”
He stared at me.
For twelve years, Daniel had been the man who told me what to do.
For twelve years, I had trusted him.
Now I finally understood why he was afraid.
He wasn't afraid of losing his marriage.
He was afraid of losing me.
The men began moving toward the wall.
Daniel looked at Julia.
“Ready?”
She nodded.
“Three.”
The men were almost there.
“Two.”
One of them raised his flashlight.
“One.”
Daniel threw a metal pipe in the opposite direction.
It crashed through a window.
The men spun around.
“Go!”
We ran.
We didn't stop until we reached a parking garage six blocks away.
Daniel locked the doors of the car.
Everyone was breathing heavily.
Julia leaned against the seat.
I looked at Daniel.
“What happened to Thomas?”
He stared at the windshield.
“Tonight was the night he was supposed to die.”
“Tell me.”
He remained silent.
“Daniel.”
He closed his eyes.
“Thomas found the ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“The original financial records.”
“Of your father's organization?”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“Thomas contacted me.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“What did he tell you?”
“That patients were being used as financial assets.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Certain patients were selected because of their insurance coverage and family assets.”
“Then their medical histories were manipulated.”
“Exactly.”
“Why?”
“To create fraudulent claims.”
I looked at Julia.
She nodded.
Thomas had discovered the system.
And that had made him dangerous.
“What happened on his last night?”
Daniel took a breath.
“Thomas asked me to meet him at the hospital.”
“Which hospital?”
“St. Vincent's.”
“Not Northwestern?”
“No.”
“What time?”
“11:40 p.m.”
“Three years ago?”
“Yes.”
I leaned back.
“Tell me everything.”
Daniel stared into the darkness.
Then he began.
Three Years Earlier
Thomas Reed arrived at St. Vincent's at 11:37 p.m.
He was carrying a brown leather briefcase.
Inside were copies of financial records.
Patient files.
Bank statements.
Names.
Numbers.
Enough evidence to destroy the entire organization.
Daniel was waiting in an empty consultation room.
Thomas entered.
“You came.”
Daniel nodded.
“What did you find?”
Thomas placed the briefcase on the table.
“Everything.”
Daniel opened it.
His face changed.
“These aren't just insurance records.”
“No.”
“They're payments.”
“Yes.”
“From your father.”
Thomas nodded.
“Your father is only one of them.”
Daniel looked up.
“Who else?”
Thomas handed him a list.
Doctors.
Lawyers.
Investors.
Hospital administrators.
Politicians.
And one name that made Daniel's blood run cold.
Richard Bennett.
Daniel stared.
“I knew.”
Thomas frowned.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“You didn't tell Rachel.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because she's his daughter.”
Thomas shook his head.
“That's exactly why she needs to know.”
Daniel closed the file.
“Not yet.”
“Daniel.”
“Not until I know how deep it goes.”
Thomas stepped closer.
“It's already too deep.”
Then he pulled out another document.
“This is what they did to Julia.”
Daniel froze.
Julia's medical file.
The diagnosis was fake.
The treatment was fake.
Her death certificate was fake.
“They tried to kill her.”
“I know.”
“They'll try again.”
“I know.”
Thomas stared at him.
“Then you know what happens next.”
Daniel didn't answer.
Thomas whispered:
“They'll come for me.”
At 12:15 a.m., the lights in the hospital went out.
Thomas looked toward the hallway.
“That's not normal.”
Daniel reached for his phone.
No signal.
Thomas whispered:
“They're here.”
A door opened.
A man stepped inside.
Daniel recognized him.
His father's security chief.
“Dr. Bennett.”
Daniel stood.
“What are you doing here?”
The man smiled.
“I'm here to collect the file.”
Thomas stepped backward.
“There is no file.”
The man's eyes moved toward the briefcase.
“Don't make this difficult.”
Daniel stood between them.
“You're not taking anything.”
The man looked at him.
“You're making a mistake.”
“Leave.”
“Your father won't like this.”
Daniel's voice hardened.
“Tell him I don't care.”
The man smiled.
Then he pulled out a gun.
Thomas froze.
Daniel moved first.
He grabbed the man's wrist.
A struggle.
The gun went off.
The bullet struck the wall.
Thomas ran.
Daniel followed.
They escaped through the service corridor.
But someone was waiting outside.
A second man.
Thomas was hit.
He fell.
Daniel caught him.
“Thomas!”
Blood spread across his shirt.
Thomas grabbed Daniel's sleeve.
“Don't let them take the file.”
“I won't.”
“Rachel.”
Daniel froze.
Thomas looked at him.
“Protect Rachel.”
Then he stopped moving.
Daniel carried Thomas into an empty treatment room.
He called emergency services.
But before help arrived, another doctor entered.
A doctor Daniel didn't know.
The man looked at Thomas.
Then at Daniel.
“I'm sorry.”
“What?”
“He's gone.”
Daniel stared.
“No.”
“Time of death—”
“Don't.”
The doctor looked at him.
“You need to leave.”
“Who are you?”
The doctor didn't answer.
Then the hospital alarms started.
Someone had triggered a fire evacuation.
Patients were being moved.
Staff were running through the corridors.
And in the chaos—
Thomas disappeared.
I stared at Daniel.
“You said he died.”
“Yes.”
“But he didn't.”
“No.”
“Then who was in the treatment room?”
Daniel looked at Julia.
She answered.
“An unidentified patient.”
I felt cold.
“They switched the bodies.”
Daniel nodded.
“The organization needed Thomas officially dead.”
“So they created a death certificate.”
“Yes.”
“And Thomas?”
“Alive.”
“Where?”
Daniel looked away.
“I don't know.”
My heart dropped.
“You don't know?”
“Not anymore.”
“But you spoke to him.”
“Three years ago.”
“Then what happened?”
“He disappeared.”
Julia interrupted.
“He didn't disappear.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What?”
“He was taken.”
“By whom?”
Julia shook her head.
“I don't know.”
I stared at both of them.
“You're telling me Thomas survived the shooting, was secretly moved somewhere, and then vanished?”
“Yes.”
“And now he's calling me.”
“Yes.”
“Why me?”
Neither answered.
I stood.
“Why me?”
Julia finally spoke.
“Because Thomas knew something about your father.”
“What?”
“That your father wasn't the person controlling the organization.”
I frowned.
“Then who was?”
Julia looked at Daniel.
Daniel's face became pale.
“I don't know.”
Julia whispered:
“Yes, you do.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“No.”
I stared at him.
“What are you hiding?”
He looked at me.
Then finally said:
“Thomas believed your father was taking orders from someone else.”
“Who?”
Daniel's voice dropped.
“Someone inside our family.”
I froze.
“My family?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
I demanded:
“Who?”
Before he could speak, Julia's phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Her face went white.
“It's Thomas.”
Julia answered.
“Thomas?”
Static.
Then a weak voice.
“Julia.”
She covered her mouth.
“Where are you?”
“Doesn't matter.”
“Thomas, Rachel is here.”
Silence.
Then:
“I know.”
I grabbed the phone.
“Thomas?”
His breathing changed.
“Rachel.”
“Yes.”
“I need you to listen.”
“I'm listening.”
“Your father isn't the one you should fear.”
I closed my eyes.
“Then who?”
Thomas whispered:
“Your husband.”
I stared at Daniel.
He went completely still.
“Why?”
Thomas continued:
“Because Daniel knew what would happen that night.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Thomas, stop.”
“You knew.”
“I didn't.”
“You gave them the location.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Thomas continued:
“You gave them my location.”
“I was trying to save you.”
“You led them to me.”
“I was trying to protect Rachel.”
Thomas laughed bitterly.
“You sacrificed me.”
The line went dead.
I looked at Daniel.
He looked devastated.
“Is it true?”
“No.”
“Did you give them Thomas's location?”
“I thought they were going to protect him.”
“That's not what I asked.”
He didn't answer.
“Daniel.”
“Yes.”
The word barely left his mouth.
I stepped backward.
“You betrayed him.”
“I didn't know they would kill him.”
“But you gave them his location.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
“No.”
I felt tears burn my eyes.
“All these years…”
“I was trying to save you.”
“You keep saying that.”
“I was.”
“You betrayed a man to save me.”
Daniel looked broken.
“I thought I had no choice.”
I shook my head.
“You always had a choice.”
Thomas called again.
This time, he didn't speak to Daniel.
He spoke directly to me.
“Rachel.”
“Yes.”
“There's something I need you to know.”
“What?”
“The person who ordered my death wasn't your father.”
I closed my eyes.
“Who was it?”
“Someone who has been inside your life from the beginning.”
My blood ran cold.
“Who?”
Thomas whispered:
“Someone you trust.”
Then the call ended.
I looked at Daniel.
He looked at Julia.
Julia looked terrified.
Suddenly, Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
“Hello?”
A man's voice came through.
Daniel's face changed.
“What?”
He listened.
Then:
“No.”
A pause.
“Where?”
Another pause.
Daniel dropped the phone.
“What happened?”
He looked at me.
“They found Thomas.”
“Where?”
“St. Vincent's.”
I stared at him.
“That hospital was abandoned three years ago.”
“I know.”
“Then why are they there?”
Daniel whispered:
“Because Thomas wants us to find him.”
We drove through the night.
The abandoned hospital appeared ahead.
Its windows were dark.
Its doors were chained.
But one light was visible on the fourth floor.
A single light.
Waiting.
I looked at Daniel.
“That's where Thomas is.”
He nodded.
We got out.
Julia stayed in the car.
Daniel and I entered through the side entrance.
The building smelled like dust and mold.
Our footsteps echoed.
We climbed the stairs.
One floor.
Two.
Three.
At the fourth floor, the light flickered.
Then a voice came from the hallway.
“Rachel.”
I froze.
Thomas.
We followed the voice.
At the end of the corridor stood a man.
Older.
Thinner.
Scar across his cheek.
But alive.
Thomas Reed.
He looked at me.
Then at Daniel.
“You finally came.”
I stared at him.
“You're alive.”
He nodded.
“I've been waiting three years.”
“For what?”
He looked directly at me.
“For the right person to find me.”
“Why me?”
Thomas reached into his coat.
Pulled out a small recording device.
Then said:
“Because I didn't survive that night by accident.”
He handed me the device.
“Your father saved me.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
Thomas looked at Daniel.
“And he did it because he was afraid of the person who gave the order.”
I pressed the recorder.
A voice filled the empty hallway.
A voice I knew.
A voice I had heard every Sunday for my entire childhood.
My father's voice.
But the words he spoke weren't the ones I expected.
They were a warning.
“If they come for my daughter, don't let Daniel protect her.”
The recording ended.
I looked at Thomas.
“What does that mean?”
Thomas shook his head.
“It means your father wasn't trying to destroy your life.”
He looked toward the darkness behind us.
“He was trying to keep you alive.”
Then the lights suddenly went out.
A gunshot echoed through the hallway.
Thomas collapsed.
May you like
And someone whispered from the darkness:
“Now you know too much.”
