“Then let’s make sure it’s on paper.” He was, I thought, the second decent person I’d met that day, after a nurse who could have kept walking.

It is strange how a day that shows you the worst of your own blood can also show you the quiet courage of near-strangers.

Chapter 9 — Witnesses, Not an Audience

Back in the corridor my phone buzzed — Brady again.

I slid back into the frightened sister.

“Did you send it?” he barked.

“What’s taking so long?

The team’s waiting, the anesthesia won’t run until the money clears escrow.” I let my voice shake.