Chapter 7 — The Enemy Inside
Chapter 7 — The Enemy Inside
The most dangerous enemies were not always the ones standing in front of you.
Sometimes they sat beside you.
They shook your hand.
They told you they cared.
And while you were looking for a stranger in the shadows…
They were already inside your home.
Marcus learned that lesson the following morning.
The hospital felt different.
Not because anything had changed.
The same white walls.
The same quiet footsteps.
The same machines keeping people alive.
But Marcus no longer felt safe.
Because for the first time, he understood something.
Isabella had not walked into the hospital alone.
Someone had opened the door for her.
Someone had helped her disappear.
Someone had believed her plan was worth protecting.
And that person was close.
Too close.
Detective Grant sat across from Marcus in the hospital cafeteria.
Daniel Cruz was beside her, holding a folder.
“We traced the deleted recording attempt.”
Marcus looked up.
“And?”
Daniel hesitated.
“The person who accessed the system used a secondary security key.”
“Whose?”
Daniel opened the folder.
A printed access report.
Marcus read the name.
Then stopped.
Kevin Walsh.
“Who is that?”
Daniel answered.
“Hospital IT administrator.”
Marcus frowned.
“Does he know Isabella?”
Detective Grant looked at him.
“That’s what we’re trying to find out.”
An hour later, they found Kevin.
Or rather…
Kevin found them.
He entered the security office carrying a coffee cup.
A man in his late forties.
Quiet.
Ordinary.
The kind of person nobody noticed.
And sometimes…
That was exactly why they were dangerous.
“You wanted to see me?”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
Kevin looked around.
“What’s this about?”
Detective Grant placed a photograph on the desk.
The security access log.
“You accessed the administrator system the night Mrs. Hale was attacked.”
Kevin’s face changed.
Only slightly.
But Marcus noticed.
“I was doing maintenance.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Three hours before the incident?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Kevin shrugged.
“Routine updates.”
Detective Grant leaned forward.
“Routine updates that disabled four cameras?”
Silence.
Kevin looked uncomfortable.
“I didn’t know anything about an attack.”
Marcus watched him carefully.
“Then why delete the backup recording?”
That question changed everything.
Kevin looked at Daniel.
Then at Detective Grant.
Then finally at Marcus.
“I didn’t delete it.”
Nobody spoke.
“What do you mean?”
Daniel asked.
Kevin swallowed.
“Someone used my account.”
Detective Grant narrowed her eyes.
“You expect us to believe that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Kevin looked down.
“Because I was threatened.”
The room became silent.
“By who?”
Marcus asked.
Kevin hesitated.
Then whispered:
“Isabella Moretti.”
Marcus felt his stomach tighten.
“How do you know her?”
Kevin looked ashamed.
“She contacted me two months ago.”
“Why?”
“She said she needed information.”
“What kind of information?”
Kevin looked at Marcus.
“About you.”
The answer was worse than Marcus expected.
“What information?”
Kevin opened his phone.
His hands shook.
“She wanted your schedule.”
Marcus stared.
“Why?”
Kevin swallowed.
“At first, she said she was trying to surprise you.”
Marcus almost laughed.
A bitter sound.
“Surprise me?”
Kevin nodded.
“But later…”
He stopped.
“Later what?”
Kevin looked terrified.
“She said she needed to know when your wife would be alone.”
Marcus stood immediately.
The chair scraped against the floor.
Detective Grant raised a hand.
“Mr. Hale.”
But Marcus was already thinking.
Every appointment.
Every meeting.
Every moment Khloe had been alone.
“She planned this for months.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
But Kevin was not finished.
“There’s more.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Isabella wasn’t the only one asking questions.”
Marcus froze.
“What?”
Kevin pulled up another message.
A conversation.
Another person.
Another account.
Detective Grant read it.
Her expression changed.
“Who is this?”
Kevin shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
The account name was:
H.
Marcus stared.
A single letter.
But somehow it felt familiar.
That evening, Marcus returned to Khloe’s room.
She immediately knew something happened.
“You found someone.”
Marcus nodded.
“But it’s worse.”
He told her about Kevin.
About the messages.
About Isabella knowing their schedule.
Khloe listened quietly.
Then she asked:
“Did she say why?”
Marcus sat down.
“No.”
Khloe looked at him.
“She wasn’t trying to hurt me because she hated me.”
Marcus looked up.
“What do you mean?”
Khloe’s eyes moved toward her stomach.
“She wanted something from me.”
Before Marcus could answer, his phone rang.
Detective Grant.
He answered immediately.
“Detective?”
Her voice was tense.
“Marcus, you need to come back to the security office.”
“Why?”
A pause.
Then:
“We found who the H account belongs to.”
Marcus stood.
“Who?”
The detective was silent for a moment.
Then she said:
“It belongs to someone in your family.”
The hospital hallway suddenly felt colder.
“Who?”
Detective Grant lowered her voice.
“Your cousin.”
Marcus froze.
“My cousin?”
“Yes.”
“Which one?”
Another pause.
“Ethan Hale.”
Marcus felt his heart sink.
Because Ethan was not just family.
He was the person Marcus trusted most.
The person who had helped him through his divorce.
The person who stood beside him when he met Khloe.
The person who called him a brother.
“No.”
Marcus whispered.
“That’s impossible.”
Detective Grant replied:
“I wish it was.”
An hour later, Marcus confronted Ethan.
They met outside the hospital.
Ethan looked exhausted.
Confused.
“Marcus, what’s going on?”
Marcus held up his phone.
“You tell me.”
Ethan saw the message.
His face changed.
Only for a second.
But it was enough.
“You know about Isabella.”
It was not a question.
Ethan looked away.
“Marcus…”
“No.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Don’t lie to me.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
And when he opened them…
Marcus saw something he never expected.
Guilt.
“I didn’t know she was going to hurt Khloe.”
Marcus felt betrayed.
“You knew?”
Ethan’s silence answered.
“How long?”
A long pause.
“Since before the hospital.”
Marcus stared at him.
The person he trusted most had known.
And said nothing.
“Why?”
Ethan’s voice cracked.
“Because Isabella told me the truth.”
Marcus’s expression hardened.
“What truth?”
Ethan looked at him.
“The baby.”
The word hung between them.
“What about the baby?”
Ethan whispered:
“Marcus…”
“Isabella believes the child Khloe is carrying…”
He swallowed.
“Was supposed to be hers.”
Marcus stared.
And for the first time…
He wondered if the biggest threat was not Isabella.
Maybe Isabella was only the weapon.
May you like
Maybe someone else was holding it.
End of Chapter 7
