Chapter 7 - THE RECKONING AT SAINT JUDE
The midnight air at Saint Jude Memorial Hospital was ghostly quiet.
Victoria pushed Lily down the dimly lit corridors toward the basement laboratory, where the medical record archives were kept. Her two mercenaries trailed behind, dragging the semi-conscious Mr. Thomas.
"Which locker is it?!" Victoria hissed, shoving Lily toward a row of high-security steel cabinets.
Lily stood in front of locker #404. Her heart pounded against her ribs like a trapped drum.
"It's in here," Lily whispered, tapping a random sequence into the digital keypad.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. ERROR.
Victoria’s face turned bright red with rage. She grabbed Lily by the collar, dragging her up off her feet. "You lied to me!"
"I didn't lie," Lily said softly, looking past Victoria’s shoulder into the darkness of the hall. "I just delayed you."
CLICK.
Suddenly, the floodlights in the basement ceiling roared to life, blinding Victoria and her men!
"DON'T MOVE! POLICE!"
Dozens of heavily armed SWAT officers emerged from every door, rifles raised, red laser sights painting Victoria’s chest and head!
Behind the wall of tactical shields stepped Richard Sterling, accompanied by Dr. Julian Ross and a fully recovered—and furious—Noah Sterling!
"Victoria!" Richard bellowed, his voice carrying the full thunder of a father betrayed. "It's over!"
Victoria panicked, grabbing Lily and pulling her tightly against her chest as a human shield, pressing the gun barrel hard against the child's temple.
"STAY BACK!" Victoria shrieked frantically. "Stay back or I’ll blow her head off! Drop your weapons! Arthur! Help me!"
From the shadows behind the police line, Arthur Sterling stepped out—not as an ally, but in heavy steel handcuffs, flanked by federal agents.
"It's finished, Victoria," Arthur said hollowly, his face bruised and pale. "Richard found the wire transfers. The federal authorities raided my office an hour ago. We're done."
"No... NO!" Victoria screamed, her mind snapping completely. "I won't go to prison! If I fall, this brat dies with me!"
"Victoria, look at the screen!" Dr. Julian shouted, pointing to a large wall monitor in the lab.
Victoria glanced up instinctively.
On the screen was a live broadcast. Millions of viewers were watching. When Victoria took Lily to the hospital, Dr. Julian had left the security feed live, and the police had rigged a body-cam on Lily’s tracker. The entire city—the entire nation—had just watched Victoria confess to attempted murder, extortion, and child abuse in real-time on national news!
"You are live on every news channel in the country," Richard said coldly. "There is nowhere on Earth you can hide."
Victoria’s hand began to tremble violently. The gun shook against Lily’s head.
This was her chance.
Lily didn't freeze. She drove her heavy heel straight down onto Victoria’s foot with all her force!
"AHHH!" Victoria gasped in pain, dropping her grip for a split second.
Noah screamed: "NOW, LILY!"
Lily dropped to the floor, rolling away!
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SNIPER SHOT!
A single non-lethal shock-bullet echoed through the room, striking Victoria directly in the shoulder. She crashed to the floor, the gun clattering away as SWAT officers swarmed her, pinning her to the ground in handcuffs while she wept hysterically.
