Chapter 4 - What the Hospital Knew

The emergency-room doctor examined my burns under bright lights while Dad paced a hole into the waiting-room carpet.

"The irrigation you did immediately was important," Dr. Priya Shah said. "But we need to watch the swelling and reassess the damaged areas. There's no way to promise how they will heal tonight."

She didn't dress the truth up for me. I liked her for that.

My injuries were painful, particularly along my jaw and wrists. After treatment, a careful layer of dressings protected the irritated skin. For the short trip to the ceremony, the team could fit more extensive temporary coverings to shield me, but Dr. Shah wanted me resting, not walking through a crowded event.

"You should postpone the wedding," she said.

"I know," I answered.

"Then why are you asking me whether you can stand for fifteen minutes?"

I thought of the video I had found three days earlier. I thought of the families whose loved ones had died in the Lark Street fire. And I thought of Nathan kissing my forehead the evening before the rehearsal, unaware that I had begun to fear him.

"Because I need to look someone in the eye," I said.

Detective Sofia Moreno arrived a little after midnight. She photographed the bandages and listened while I described the man in the maintenance jacket, the bottle, and the recording.

"You're saying the recording sounded like your fiancé?"

"Exactly like him. But the man played it from another device."

"Do you have it?"

"No. The attacker took my phone."

Dad showed her the cuff link. Moreno slipped it into an evidence envelope. Her expression changed when she recognized the unusual compass emblem.

"Mercer family anniversary design," she said. "I saw the same mark in the Lark Street financial documents."

I watched my father. His color drained.

"Arthur, is there something you haven't told me?" the detective asked.

He glanced at me. "Not in front of my daughter."

"She's the victim here," Moreno said.

Dad finally sat down. "Nine months ago, I signed a fire-safety waiver for a building Owen Mercer controlled. I was told the alarm system would be offline for only two hours."

My mouth went dry.

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"That was the night people died," I whispered.

Dad covered his face with both hands. "And the original waiver disappeared the next morning."