Chapter 13 - The Betrayal in the Car
Marcus denied accessing the file.
He denied it calmly, which made the accusation worse.
"I was with you at the archive," he said. "Then I joined the search team at Kite House."
"The access occurred at twelve fourteen," Agent Monroe replied. "Your credentials were used from a terminal inside the hospital."
Marcus looked at Cameron. "Someone copied my credentials."
The old Marcus would have made an immediate decision. He would have ordered an internal investigation, frozen accounts, and removed anyone who might be compromised.
The new Cameron had learned that trust could be damaged by haste just as easily as by betrayal.
"No one leaves," he said. "Not until we know how the login occurred."
They returned to the hospital under heavy guard. Elena was placed in a private room. Hope stayed beside her, refusing to sleep.
The security terminal showed the login had been made with Marcus's password and a biometric confirmation from a fingerprint scanner.
Marcus held up both hands. "I have never been on this floor."
Ortiz studied the access log. "The terminal was inside the administrative wing."
"Who works there?" Cameron asked.
The hospital administrator provided a list. One name stood out: Dr. Nathan Bell, head of patient records and Cameron's former college roommate.
Cameron remembered Bell appearing at the hospital earlier that night. He had offered to help with Elena's treatment, then disappeared during the blackout.
They found him in a conference room, packing a suitcase.
"I am leaving for a medical conference," Bell said.
Ortiz blocked the door. "Your credentials were used to access a protected patient file."
Bell looked at Cameron. "You think I took Elena?"
"Did you?"
Bell laughed nervously. "I have spent twenty years treating patients. I am not part of your family drama."
Agent Monroe placed the security footage on the table. It showed Bell entering the administrative wing at twelve ten, followed by a man wearing a physician's coat. The face was obscured, but the man's height and posture matched Victor Vale.
Bell's expression collapsed.
"He threatened my wife," he whispered. "He had photographs of her leaving work. He said if I did not give him access, he would kill her."
"Where is she now?" Monroe asked.
"At home."
"Call her."
Bell dialed. No one answered.
Victor had not died in the tunnel. He had used the collapse as cover and escaped through a drainage channel.
The only person who could know where he went was someone he had forced to help him.
Bell provided the location of a private medical storage facility outside the city. Victor had used it to obtain sedatives and surgical equipment.
Cameron wanted to go, but Elena caught his wrist.
"You cannot keep running toward every trap."
"This one is built around Marcus."
Marcus stood at the window, silent.
"What are you not telling us?" Cameron asked him.
Marcus turned slowly.
"I knew Elena was alive."
Cameron went still.
"What?"
"Three years ago, I received a letter from her. She asked me to keep you away. She said she was being watched and that anyone close to you would be used against her."
"You knew she had Hope?"
"I knew she had a child. I did not know the child was yours until tonight."
"Why did you never tell me?"
Marcus's eyes filled with shame.
"Because she sent proof. Photos of men following you. A report saying your father was investigating her. She told me if I contacted you, the Circle would kill you both."
Cameron felt betrayed and understood the betrayal at the same time.
"You made the choice for me."
"Yes."
"You decided I could not handle the truth."
"I decided you were too much like your father. You would have attacked the problem instead of protecting Elena."
The words struck deeply because they were not entirely wrong.
Elena looked from one man to the other.
"Marcus kept us alive," she said. "He sent money when we needed to move. He found doctors who did not ask questions. He never came near us because he believed I wanted distance."
Cameron stared at Marcus.
"You paid for Hope's treatment?"
"Not directly. I used a charitable foundation."
"You could have told me."
"You would have found her."
"Yes."
Marcus nodded. "That was the point."
The room fell silent.
Hope sat beside Elena, listening.
"Adults keep secrets because they think they are protecting children," she said. "But secrets make everybody scared."
No one argued.
At the storage facility, police found Victor's abandoned vehicle, medical supplies, and a wall covered with photographs of Cameron, Elena, Hope, Marcus, and Anna.
The photographs had been taken over months.
Victor had been watching all of them.
One image showed Cameron leaving his office with a woman in a blue dress. On the back was written: The final account holder.
The woman was Cameron's chief financial officer, Rebecca Sloan.
Rebecca had worked beside him for ten years. She had handled the company's investments, charitable foundation, and private accounts.
The evidence pointed to her.
But a second image showed Rebecca meeting Adrian Vale in a parking garage. She appeared frightened, not confident.
Agent Monroe examined the photograph.
"She may be a victim too."
The team returned to headquarters, where Rebecca was waiting in Cameron's office.
She did not run.
She placed a folder on his desk.
"I knew you would find me eventually," she said.
"How long have you been working for the Circle?"
"Since my brother disappeared."
"You moved money through my foundation."
"Under threat."
"You helped them find Elena."
Rebecca began to cry. "I tried to stop them. I sent her money. I warned her when I could. But they had my brother in a private facility. They said they would keep him alive as long as I obeyed."
She opened the folder.
Inside were bank records and an address.
"My brother is still alive," she said. "Victor moved him yesterday. If we find him, we find Victor."
The address belonged to a closed children's hospital in Maine.
Cameron looked toward Hope.
May you like
The Circle had begun with children.
Now it was leading them back to one.
