Chapter 5 - THE WARNING
I ran into Sophie’s room.
The window was closed.
The curtains moved slightly from the air vent.
No one stood near her bed.
A nurse adjusted an IV monitor beside the wall.
I showed her the photograph.
“When was this taken?”
Her face changed.
“I don’t know.”
The angle came from inside the room.
Close to Sophie’s bed.
Detective Ellison locked down the floor.
Hospital security searched staff lockers, service corridors, and camera footage.
The photograph had been sent less than a minute before I received it.
Someone was still inside the building.
Chloe sat upright despite the pain.
“Jonah did this.”
“He’s in custody,” Ellison said.
“Linda?”
“Also in custody.”
“Then Dr. Pike.”
Ellison studied her.
“What makes you certain?”
Chloe’s breath trembled.
“Because he always watched.”
“Watched what?”
“Everything.”
She pressed both hands against the blanket.
“Jonah installed cameras after my accident. He said they were for emergencies.”
“What accident?”
Chloe looked at me.
I knew the story.
A fall down the basement stairs three years earlier had damaged her spine and left her with permanent mobility problems.
Or at least that was what we had been told.
“He said I slipped,” she whispered.
My stomach tightened.
“You didn’t?”
“I don’t remember falling.”
A cold silence filled the room.
She continued.
“I remember drinking tea with Linda. Then waking up in the hospital.”
“Was Dr. Pike there?”
“He signed the surgical consent.”
I looked at Ellison.
“Get the hospital records.”
She nodded.
A security officer entered.
“We found a camera.”
He held up a smoke detector from Sophie’s ceiling.
Inside was a wireless lens.
Ellison took it carefully.
“Hospital property?”
“No.”
The serial number had been scratched off.
My phone vibrated again.
A voice message.
I played it on speaker.
Jonah’s voice filled the room.
“You keep digging, Karina, and Chloe loses everything.”
Ellison grabbed my phone.
“This was sent from outside the jail.”
The message continued.
“You think bruises matter? I have doctors, judges, teachers, and neighbors who will swear she’s dangerous.”
Chloe began crying silently.
“You will not take Sophie from me again,” Jonah said. “And if you try, your sister’s little secret becomes public.”
The recording ended.
Ellison looked at Chloe.
“What secret?”
Chloe’s eyes moved toward me.
Then away.
I sat beside her.
“Tell us.”
She shook her head.
“He’ll destroy you.”
“He’s already trying.”
“No. You don’t understand.”
Her hands trembled.
“After our parents died, you thought the trust was empty.”
I stared at her.
Our parents had left behind debt, a modest home, and no meaningful estate.
At least that was what the lawyer said.
Chloe looked toward the closed door.
“They left money.”
“How much?”
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“Twenty-two million dollars.”
I stopped breathing.
“Where is it?”
“Gone.”
“Who took it?”
She looked at the bruises on her arms.
“Jonah.”
The room fell silent.
Then Detective Ellison’s phone rang.
She listened for several seconds.
Her expression hardened.
May you like
When she ended the call, she looked at me.
“Jonah Miller has been released.”
