Chapter 3 - The VIP Wing
Elias bypassed the main entrance of Seattle General, using his M.E. keycard to access the service elevators. When he reached the 8th-floor VIP wing, the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense.
Two men in dark suits stood outside Room 812.
"Authorized personnel only," the larger of the two grunted, putting a heavy hand on Elias’s chest.
"I'm the county medical examiner, and this patient is state evidence," Elias snapped, flashing his badge.
"Mr. Sterling's orders," the guard replied, unmoving.
Elias noticed an IV bag hanging on a cart outside the room, waiting to be wheeled in. He quickly read the label. Potassium Chloride. A lethal dose. They were going to induce a heart attack and claim she succumbed to her previous injuries.
Suddenly, the elevator dinged. Detective Marcus Reynolds stepped out. Reynolds was an old-school, grizzled homicide cop who owed Elias his career after Elias proved a suspect innocent in a high-profile case five years ago.
"Reynolds," Elias said, pointing to the guards. "Move them."
Reynolds didn't ask questions. He pulled back his jacket, revealing his service weapon. "Gentlemen, you are interfering with a police investigation. Walk away, or I arrest you for obstruction."
The guards hesitated, then backed down, muttering into their earpieces.
Elias and Reynolds burst into the room. Clara was awake. Her eyes were wide with sheer, unadulterated terror. She was violently yanking at her restraints.
"Clara, look at me!" Elias said softly, moving to her bedside. "I'm Dr. Thorne. You're safe. The police are here."
She stopped thrashing, her chest heaving. She looked at Reynolds, then at Elias. Tears spilled down her cheeks.
"He's going to finish it," she rasped, her throat raw from the intubation tube. "Julian... the drug... the trials..."
"What trials, Clara?" Reynolds asked gently, pulling out a notepad.
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"Sterling Pharma," she gasped, gripping Elias’s hand with surprising strength. "Their new Alzheimer’s drug... NeuroGen... it causes fatal aneurysms. They faked the FDA trials. I found the real data on his laptop. He caught me."
Elias and Reynolds exchanged a dark look. This wasn't just a domestic dispute. This was a billion-dollar corporate cover-up.
