Chapter 6 - The Injector with My Name on It
I had no allergies requiring an emergency injector.
Never had.
Yet my full name, date of birth, and home address were printed on the pharmacy label.
Sarah sealed the injector as evidence.
“Do not touch it.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
Thomas looked genuinely terrified.
“That wasn’t the case Mercer showed me.”
“How can you know?”
“The cap was red.”
Lily’s emergency injector had a blue safety cap.
The one labeled for me had blue too.
“What did the red one contain?”
“I told you, I didn’t open it.”
Sarah asked, “Who was the man who took it?”
Thomas looked at Evelyn through the glass.
She was staring at us.
“I want protection before I give you his name.”
My anger surged.
“My daughter is in a hospital bed.”
“And my daughter is dead.”
“Then honor her.”
Thomas recoiled.
I immediately regretted the cruelty.
But I did not retract it.
Sarah intervened.
“We can discuss your concerns separately, Mr. Hart, but withholding a name relevant to an active investigation is not helping anyone.”
Thomas rubbed his forehead.
“Dr. Andrew Vale.”
The surname struck me.
Vale.
The notary on Rachel’s impossible document had been Martin Vale.
“Who is Andrew Vale?”
“He was Rachel’s allergist for several years.”
I frowned.
“Rachel didn’t have allergies.”
“No.”
“Then why did she have an allergist?”
“He ran a specialty immunology clinic the foundation funded.”
I looked at Sarah.
“Is he related to Martin Vale?”
Thomas nodded.
“Brothers.”
The forged notary.
The doctor.
Mercer.
Evelyn.
The pieces weren’t forming a picture yet, but they were touching.
Sarah stepped outside to make another call.
Thomas leaned toward me.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“Do not assume Evelyn wanted Lily dead.”
I nearly came out of the chair.
“You’re defending her?”
“No.”
“She switched my daughter’s dessert.”
“I believe she caused the reaction.”
The calm way he said it made me sick.
“Then what distinction are you making?”
“She expected the injector to be available.”
I stared at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because that was the point.”
“What point?”
“To create a documented medical crisis.”
“Why?”
“To trigger the policy.”
I felt cold all over.
“She deliberately gave Lily an allergen, planning to rescue her?”
Thomas looked down.
“That is what Mercer told me Evelyn intended.”
“But the injector was gone.”
“Yes.”
“Who took it?”
“I don’t know.”
That changed everything.
If Thomas was telling the truth, Evelyn had caused Lily’s allergic reaction.
But someone else may have removed the rescue medication.
Someone had escalated her plan from cruel fraud into possible murder.
Sarah returned.
“Andrew Vale hasn’t practiced clinically in nine years.”
“Where is he?”
“He runs a private medical consulting firm.”
Thomas said, “For Mercer.”
Sarah looked at him.
“You knew that?”
“I knew they worked together.”
“Why didn’t you mention it?”
“Because I didn’t know it mattered until today.”
Sarah’s expression made clear what she thought of that answer.
Lily’s physician entered soon after and told us she was stabilizing.
Her oxygen requirement was decreasing.
Her blood pressure was normal.
For the first time all day, I felt my body loosen.
Then Sarah received a preliminary call from the laboratory.
She stepped into the hallway.
When she returned, her face had changed.
“What did they find?”
“The injector with Lily’s prescription label appears legitimate.”
“The one in Evelyn’s car?”
“Yes.”
“And mine?”
She looked directly at me.
“The device itself is a genuine emergency injector, but someone refilled or altered the internal cartridge.”
“With what?”
“Testing isn’t complete.”
“Then what do you know?”
“It doesn’t contain the medication printed on the packaging.”
Thomas stood.
“What does it contain?”
Sarah hesitated.
“A sedative compound.”
I stared at her.
“What would it do?”
“At a high enough dose? Cause rapid unconsciousness, slowed breathing, and potentially severe cardiovascular complications.”
My mouth went dry.
Thomas whispered, “My God.”
Sarah continued.
“The hospital toxicologist also found something else.”
“What?”
“The second injector has partial fingerprints.”
“Whose?”
“Comparison isn’t finished.”
My phone buzzed again.
Unknown number.
Another message.
ASK THOMAS WHY RACHEL HAD DANIEL’S MEDICAL RECORDS.
I turned the screen toward Thomas.
He looked as if someone had punched him.
“You know what that means.”
He said nothing.
“Why did Rachel have my medical records?”
Thomas sank slowly into the chair.
May you like
“Because she thought someone was preparing to make your death look natural.”
📖 Discover why Rachel secretly collected my medical records before she died—and whose fingerprints investigators found on the altered injector in CHAPTER 7. 👇
