Chapter 2 - THE DOCTOR WHO LIED ABOUT DEATH
Z
Carmine's pistol lay between my shoes.
For one wild second, I thought I could grab it.
Then I remembered I had never fired a gun in my life, and that two armed guards stood beside the door.
Gabriel's hand slipped from Carmine's wrist.
His eyes closed again.
He was alive, but barely.
Carmine recovered first.
"Finish him," he ordered.
Neither guard moved.
"What are you waiting for?"
The older guard, Vincent, stared at Gabriel.
"Boss?"
Carmine rounded on him.
"He's delirious. The poison damaged his brain."
Vincent looked toward the physician.
"Doctor?"
The physician swallowed.
"His pulse is present. He's breathing spontaneously. He requires emergency hospital treatment."
Carmine raised his pistol from the floor.
"You're all forgetting who runs this family now."
I had spent eleven months cleaning Gabriel's mansion. I knew every corridor, every security camera, every household routine.
And I knew something Carmine didn't.
The medical wing's emergency telephone connected directly to the security office when its red button was pressed.
I'd pressed it beneath the sheet before Carmine entered.
The line was still open.
"Vincent," I whispered, "the security office can hear us."
His eyes flicked toward the telephone.
Carmine turned.
That moment of distraction was enough.
Vincent stepped between the pistol and the examination table.
"Put it down."
Carmine laughed.
"You work for me."
Vincent shook his head.
"I worked for Gabriel before you were old enough to shave."
Carmine aimed the pistol.
Then the hallway filled with footsteps.
The door opened.
Four estate security officers entered, led by a woman with short silver hair.
Captain Elena March.
Gabriel's former military security adviser.
She looked at the pistol, then at the man on the table.
"Someone explain why a dead man is breathing."
Carmine backed toward the wall.
Elena didn't raise her voice.
"Weapon down."
For the first time that night, Carmine obeyed.
The next twenty minutes passed in fragments.
A medical emergency team arrived from an independent hospital.
Gabriel was transferred to a monitored stretcher.
The physician who had declared him dead stood in the corner, shaking.
Elena took control of the room.
"Nobody leaves until investigators arrive."
Carmine protested.
Elena ignored him.
Then she turned to me.
"Matilda Higgins?"
I nodded.
"Tell me what happened."
I looked toward Gabriel.
His face was almost colorless.
"Someone wanted him buried before anyone checked whether he was alive."
Elena studied me.
Then asked the question that changed everything.
"How did you know to come here tonight?"
I frowned.
"I didn't. I just couldn't leave him alone."
She glanced toward the physician.
"Interesting."
"What is?"
Elena lowered her voice.
"Because somebody removed the cardiac monitoring records before you arrived."
My stomach dropped.
"Who?"
She looked toward Carmine.
"That's what we're going to find out."
At 5:38 A.M., the ambulance carrying Gabriel left the estate.
I watched its taillights disappear beyond the gates.
Elena stood beside me.
"You should go home."
I shook my head.
"Not until I know he's safe."
She studied my bloodshot eyes.
Then nodded.
"Get in the car."
I looked at her.
"Where are we going?"
"To the hospital."
She opened the passenger door.
"And Matilda?"
May you like
"Yes?"
"Whatever happens next, don't assume that everyone wearing a Falcone uniform is on Gabriel's side."
