Chapter 5 - The Man Who Benefited Most
Sebastian Vale waited in Daniel's study.
He looked exactly as powerful men preferred to look.
Silver hair.
Dark suit.
Expensive watch.
No visible concern.
Daniel entered first.
Emma stayed near the doorway.
Luke stood behind her.
Vale smiled.
"Danny."
"Sebastian."
Vale looked at Emma.
"And you must be Emma."
Emma's stomach tightened.
"How do you know my name?"
"I make it a habit to know the people around Daniel."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
"Apparently."
Vale smiled.
"I heard there was trouble at the care facility."
"From whom?"
"Chicago talks."
"Chicago usually talks to me first."
Vale's smile weakened.
"Old habits."
Daniel rolled closer.
"Why were you at St. Vincent's Hospital three days before my prognosis?"
Vale didn't react.
That bothered Daniel more than surprise would have.
"Two years ago?"
"Yes."
"I visited you."
"The photograph shows you with Dr. Hanley."
"Hanley treated you."
"You recommended him?"
Vale paused.
"Luke did."
Daniel looked toward Luke.
Luke's face stayed calm.
Vale continued.
"If you're suggesting some medical conspiracy—"
"I didn't suggest anything."
Daniel placed Mercer's report on the desk.
Vale looked down.
For the first time, something shifted in his eyes.
Tiny.
Real.
Recognition.
"You've seen that."
Vale leaned back.
"I've seen hundreds of medical documents."
Daniel smiled.
"You didn't ask what it was."
Silence.
Emma watched them.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
Vale recovered quickly.
"What exactly do you think happened?"
"I think somebody wanted me alive but useless."
"Danny."
"Someone changed my treatment."
"That's a serious accusation."
"It's not an accusation."
Daniel leaned forward.
"It's a warning."
Vale stood.
Luke moved instinctively.
Vale looked at Daniel.
"You've become paranoid."
"Paranoia kept me alive."
"So did people like me."
Daniel smiled without warmth.
"Did you?"
Vale's expression hardened.
"I held your companies together."
"You took control of them."
"You couldn't work."
"I signed temporary authority."
"And you benefited."
Vale stared.
"There it is."
"What?"
"Your real problem."
He looked at the wheelchair.
"You're angry at everyone who kept living."
Daniel's hands tightened.
Emma saw.
Vale saw too.
He continued anyway.
"Luke still walks into meetings."
Silence.
"I still travel."
Daniel's jaw clenched.
"The world continued, Danny."
Emma stepped forward.
"That's enough."
Everybody looked at her.
Vale smiled.
"The maid speaks."
Daniel's eyes became lethal.
"Careful."
Vale glanced at him.
Something in Daniel's tone changed the room.
He could insult Daniel.
Not her.
Vale noticed.
Interesting.
Emma noticed too.
"She's not a maid anymore," Daniel said.
Emma looked at him.
Vale smiled.
"Clearly."
He gathered his coat.
"Find another doctor. Get evaluated. I hope Mercer was right."
Daniel didn't answer.
Vale walked toward the door.
Then stopped beside Emma.
"Be careful around men who confuse protection with possession."
Emma stared at him.
Vale left.
Luke closed the door.
Daniel said:
"Find me a spinal specialist Vale has never met."
Luke nodded.
"And Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't tell anyone."
Luke paused.
Then:
"Understood."
Emma waited until he left.
"You suspect him."
Daniel looked at her.
"I suspect everyone."
"Including me?"
"Especially you."
She crossed her arms.
"Why?"
"You're irritating."
"Solid evidence."
Daniel almost smiled.
Then his expression disappeared.
"He knew about the box."
"Maybe somebody told him."
"Only four people knew."
"You, me, Luke..."
"Margaret."
Emma shook her head.
"She didn't."
"Then somebody followed us."
"Or Luke told him."
Daniel didn't answer.
Emma studied him.
"How long have you known Luke?"
"Eighteen years."
"Longer than Vale?"
"No."
"Who do you trust more?"
"Luke."
"Then why is your face saying something else?"
Daniel looked away.
She was becoming far too good at reading him.
That night, Luke located Dr. Samuel Reeves.
Spinal injury specialist.
Milwaukee.
No connection to Vale.
No connection to Moretti Holdings.
Daniel agreed to travel under an assumed name.
Emma came.
"Why?"
"Because you fire doctors."
"I'm not going to fire Reeves."
"You haven't met him."
"I already dislike him."
"Exactly."
Reeves examined Daniel for four hours.
Electrical testing.
Muscle stimulation.
Imaging.
Reflexes.
Daniel hated every second.
Emma stayed in the room.
At one point, Reeves pressed a blunt instrument against Daniel's foot.
"Anything?"
"No."
Another spot.
"No."
Higher.
Nothing.
Then near his ankle—
Daniel's breath changed.
Reeves looked up.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Mr. Moretti."
Daniel looked at Emma.
She had noticed.
"Do it again," she said.
Reeves pressed.
A faint pressure.
Impossible to describe.
Not touch exactly.
But something.
Daniel whispered:
"I feel... something."
Emma's eyes widened.
Reeves stayed professional.
"Where?"
"Left ankle."
Another test.
Then another.
Afterward, Reeves sat across from him.
"Your injury is incomplete."
Daniel said nothing.
Emma grabbed the chair.
"What does that mean?"
"It means there is preserved neural transmission."
"Can he walk?"
Reeves hesitated.
Daniel hated him instantly.
"Answer."
"I cannot promise that."
"Can I?"
"With extensive rehabilitation, there may be potential for assisted standing."
Emma covered her mouth.
Daniel stared at the floor.
Reeves continued.
"Possibly limited walking."
The room went quiet.
Daniel's throat tightened.
Two years.
Two years stolen.
Emma reached toward him, then stopped.
She remembered his rule.
Don't touch without warning.
Daniel noticed.
He held out his hand.
Emma took it.
His fingers closed around hers.
Reeves left to arrange tests.
Daniel stared at their joined hands.
"I'm scared."
Emma looked at him.
It was the first time he'd said those words.
"Of what?"
"Trying."
"Why?"
"If I fail..."
She crouched.
"Then you fail."
Daniel frowned.
"That's your inspirational speech?"
"Yes."
"It's terrible."
"You can survive failing."
Her hand tightened.
"But if you never try because someone lied to you, they keep controlling you."
Daniel looked at her.
Then slowly nodded.
"Okay."
Emma smiled.
"Okay."
That evening, they returned to Chicago.
Luke met them inside the mansion.
"Well?"
Daniel looked at him.
"I'm starting rehabilitation."
Relief crossed Luke's face.
Real relief.
Daniel wanted to believe it.
Then Emma noticed something on Luke's wrist.
A hospital visitor band.
St. Vincent's.
Fresh.
She stared.
Luke saw.
His sleeve dropped immediately.
Too late.
Emma looked at Daniel.
Daniel looked at Luke.
"Why were you at St. Vincent's today?"
May you like
Luke went still.
And for the first time since she'd met him, Emma saw fear in his eyes.
