THEY DECLARED HER DEAD—THEN ORDERED HER CREMATED WHILE SHE WAS STILL ALIVE!

The ambulance scraped the bridge barrier and stopped sideways across the narrow road. Cole braked hard. Beyond them, the river churned beneath the steel beams, black under the midnight sky.

Vale climbed out with Nora in front of him. One arm locked across her shoulders. In his other hand he held a small case of medical vials.

"Put the gun down!" he yelled at Cole.

Cole stepped out slowly. His weapon stayed low. "Nora walks over here, and we talk."

"No. You hand me the card and call off the police."

Lena came around the truck. She could see Nora shaking. The girl was trying so hard not to cry that it made Lena furious.

"It's over, Adrian," she said. "Your records are public. The patients are being rescued."

Vale gave a bitter laugh. "You think I'm the only doctor on those forms? You think a hospital board doesn't ask where the money comes from?"

"Then tell us who else signed them."

"You want names? Look at who paid for the new wing. Look at the people cutting ribbons while the old one filled up."

Behind Cole, police sirens grew louder. Nia's live stream was already being watched by thousands. Lena raised her phone and let Vale see the red recording light.

"They can hear you," she said.

For the first time, he looked afraid.

Nora's fingers moved at her side. Three quick taps against her leg, then a pause. It was a game she played with Maya: three taps meant I'm ready.

Lena held the phone steady. "Nora, honey, look at me."

"I am," Nora whispered.

Vale pulled her closer to the damaged rail. Cole took a step forward. The metal groaned under their feet.

"Don't move," Vale shouted. He lifted the case as though it were a weapon. "I'll throw this in the water. You'll never know what we used."

"We don't need it," Lena said. "We have you."

Nora drove her heel into Vale's foot. He shouted and loosened his hold. She ducked under his arm, but her sneaker struck loose gravel at the edge of the bridge.

The broken rail was behind her.