Chapter 6 - THE CHILD THEY USED AS A TRACKING DEVICE
Daniel returned to the hospital with Sofia.
The red umbrella rested inside a signal-blocking bag.
Sofia looked frightened.
“Did I do something bad?”
Victoria’s chest tightened.
“No. An adult did something bad without telling you.”
The tracker was attached beneath the umbrella’s plastic handle.
Security footage from the alley showed Marcus’s driver brushing against it while everyone focused on Victoria.
The device transmitted Daniel’s movements after he left the scene.
Marcus wanted to know whether Daniel had retained the earpiece, heard the transmission, or spoken to police.
Tracking the umbrella allowed him to follow Daniel without approaching him directly.
He had placed surveillance on an object carried by a seven-year-old.
Daniel’s brother Nathan admitted authorizing Northwatch personnel to monitor the alley.
He claimed he believed the job involved recovering stolen corporate property.
Marcus told him Victoria had taken company secrets and might falsely accuse executives after a mental-health episode.
Nathan knew the men were armed.
He knew they were ordered to frighten and restrain her.
He insisted no one was supposed to seriously injure her.
Again, a line drawn to preserve self-image.
Daniel stared at his brother through the interview-room glass.
“You knew they were following a woman.”
“I thought she was dangerous.”
“You never asked her.”
“I trusted the client.”
“You trusted the money.”
Nathan looked away.
His messages revealed he had ordered the men to take Victoria’s glasses specifically.
Marcus understood she was severely nearsighted.
Without them, she could not identify attackers, drive, or move safely through the city.
The injury to her ankle may not have been planned, but helplessness was.
Daniel’s report to his supervisor had gone directly to Nathan, giving him time to change the attack route.
Daniel’s attempt to stop harm had unknowingly exposed that he was paying attention.
That was why Marcus tracked Sofia’s umbrella.
He feared Daniel had become a witness.
The truth did not make Daniel feel heroic.
It made him furious with himself.
“I should have pushed harder.”
“You reported what you heard,” Victoria said.
“And believed my brother when he dismissed it.”
“So did I,” she replied. “With Adrian. With Marcus. With half my board.”
They had both mistaken familiarity for evidence of character.
Different worlds.
Same failure.
Meanwhile, the Lantern scandal widened.
Independent investigators found Adrian had altered only part of the data. Marcus had directed the original financial incentives, but several research leaders accepted bonuses tied to favorable trial accuracy.
The corruption was institutional.
Not the work of one villain.
Victoria refused the board’s demand that she resign immediately without transition.
Not because she wanted to cling to power.
Because an abrupt resignation would allow directors connected to the cover-up to control the investigation.
Instead, she proposed temporary independent oversight, suspension of implicated leaders, patient compensation funding, and public release of verified findings.
The board split.
Some directors supported her.
Others attempted to remove her before the plan could be adopted.
The deciding votes belonged to an employee pension trust holding a small but crucial block of shares.
Its representative was Daniel’s late wife, Maya Carter—or so the records stated.
Daniel went pale when Victoria mentioned the name.
“Maya died five years ago.”
The trust had continued voting under her digital authorization.
Someone had used a dead woman’s identity to influence Hayes Biotech elections.
Nathan Carter administered Maya’s estate.
The connection suggested Northwatch’s role began years before the alley attack.
Then Naomi discovered that Maya had not invested in Hayes Biotech voluntarily.
Her pension had been enrolled through a clinic connected to Project Lantern.
She had been one of the seven patients listed in the hidden report.
Daniel’s wife had died after a procedure triggered by a falsified risk score.
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He had unknowingly rescued the CEO of the company that concealed her case.
Cliffhanger: Daniel’s kindness had saved Victoria—but the company she built had helped destroy his family long before they met in the rain.
