Chapter 6 - The Syringe Beneath the Slab
A rescuer took the syringe from Michael’s hand.
The plastic barrel was cracked, but a torn hospital label still clung to it.
The commander read the patient name.
Not Mason Hale.
Olivia Grant.
I knew the name.
Olivia was the eight-year-old daughter of Daniel’s former business partner, Thomas Grant. She had died six months earlier after collapsing at a charity dinner inside another Hale Development property.
The official cause was a sudden cardiac condition.
Daniel had attended her funeral.
He had held Thomas while the man cried.
“Where did you get that?” the commander shouted into the cavity.
Michael coughed.
“Daniel’s bag.”
Daniel stopped fighting the rescuers.
“You planted it.”
Michael answered with another cough.
Vanessa stared at the syringe.
“Olivia.”
“You know about her?” I asked.
She nodded slowly.
“Her father accused Daniel of poisoning her. Nobody believed him.”
The medic sealed the syringe inside an evidence pouch.
“What was she given?”
Vanessa looked at Daniel.
“Something that made her heart stop.”
Daniel’s face became frighteningly calm.
“You’re listening to a woman who lied about her name, slept with a married man, and helped steal corporate documents.”
The words hit her visibly.
But she did not deny them.
Instead, she looked at me.
“My real name is Vanessa Cole. Michael and I were hired by Thomas Grant to investigate Daniel.”
Daniel laughed.
“Hired? You seduced me.”
“I got close because Olivia died after discovering something in your office.”
“What could an eight-year-old discover?”
“A hidden phone.”
The rescue commander looked between them.
Vanessa continued.
“Olivia took it because she thought it was a game. Thomas found photographs, payment records, and messages about condemned properties.”
Daniel’s company had purchased old buildings cheaply, pushed through redevelopment approvals, and collected insurance when “unforeseen failures” occurred.
Olivia’s death had silenced the only witness connecting him to the phone.
Michael had followed the money.
The report in my purse proved Daniel knew the hotel annex was unstable.
The syringe suggested he had used the same drug on Mason.
“Why hurt his own son?” the paramedic asked.
Daniel turned toward me.
A small smile appeared.
“Ask Emma.”
I felt the air change.
He wanted me to remember something.
Mason had heard us arguing the night before.
Daniel demanded I sign a revised family trust.
I refused.
Mason had been standing in the hallway.
He had seen Daniel strike the wall beside my head.
Later, Mason told me he recorded everything on his tablet.
I thought he meant a game.
“His tablet,” I whispered.
Daniel’s smile disappeared.
Vanessa understood.
“Mason recorded you.”
Daniel looked toward the critical-care vehicle.
The tablet had been in Mason’s blue backpack.
If rescuers found it, they might recover the argument, the threat, and whatever Mason witnessed afterward.
The commander ordered a search of the debris around the family lounge.
Daniel spoke quickly.
“The child is unstable. Every available medic should be helping him.”
“You were willing to leave him under a building.”
“I was in shock.”
“You were organized enough to retrieve a key.”
He looked toward the pocket where the brass key had been confiscated.
The key belonged to Michael’s evidence locker.
The tablet could contain immediate proof.
The rescue commander touched her radio.
“Search teams, locate a blue child’s backpack.”
A rescuer answered from inside the annex.
“We found one.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Bring it out.”
The rescuer appeared carrying the dusty backpack.
One strap was torn.
Inside were Mason’s inhaler, two toy cars, a notebook, and the tablet.
The screen was cracked.
The commander pressed the power button.
Nothing happened.
Daniel exhaled.
Then the tablet vibrated.
A cloud-backup notification lit the damaged screen.
One video had uploaded automatically at 7:43 that morning.
The thumbnail showed Daniel standing over Mason.
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In his hand was a syringe.
📖 Watch what Mason recorded before the earthquake—and learn why the final seconds showed someone else entering the room in CHAPTER 7. 👇
