Chapter 7 - DELANEY’S SECOND LOYALTY
Maxwell assumed betrayal.
Martha did not.
Not yet.
“Delaney warned me.”
“She also left with Celia.”
“Maybe she’s following her.”
“Or maybe she positioned you.”
Possible.
That hurt.
Maxwell called Owen.
“Track them. Do not engage.”
They waited.
One hour.
Two.
Three.
Finally, Owen reported:
Celia and Delaney drove to a clinic outside Providence.
Private pain management practice.
Owner:
Dr. Adrian Cross.
Martha’s stomach tightened.
“Delaney went inside?”
“Yes.”
“Celia?”
“Yes.”
Then:
“Delaney came out alone.”
“Where is she?”
“Driving back.”
Maxwell’s voice turned cold.
“Bring her to me.”
Delaney entered the study thirty minutes later.
No fear.
That bothered Maxwell.
“You went to Cross.”
“Yes.”
“With Celia.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Delaney looked at Martha.
“Because Celia trusts me.”
Maxwell’s eyes narrowed.
“Continue.”
Delaney had suspected medication manipulation for months.
Not because she knew the science.
Because Maxwell changed after certain injections.
Sleepier.
Confused.
Once, unable to remember an entire dinner conversation.
She confronted Celia indirectly.
Celia blamed pain medication.
Delaney pretended to accept it.
Then Martha arrived.
The bathwater.
The movement.
Cross asking questions.
Everything accelerated.
“I went with Celia because she thinks I’m helping remove Martha.”
Martha stared.
“You told her I’m leaving?”
“Yes.”
“Am I?”
“No.”
Good.
Delaney continued.
“Cross wants your medication increased starting tomorrow.”
Maxwell’s face went dark.
“Why?”
“He says agitation and hallucinations.”
“I’m not hallucinating.”
“I know.”
“What else?”
Delaney took out her phone.
A recording.
Celia’s voice:
If he deteriorates enough, Dominic gets medical authority sooner.
Martha stopped breathing.
Another voice.
Cross:
We only need four months.
Four months.
The insurance/control clause.
Eighteen months.
Maxwell had reached fourteen.
There it was.
Not simply keeping him weak.
Running out the clock.
Delaney’s recording continued.
Celia:
What about the maid?
Cross:
She won’t be here long.
Silence.
Then Dominic’s voice.
Martha’s skin went cold.
Dominic:
No accidents inside the house. I won’t have another investigation.
Another.
The implication sat heavy.
Another investigation.
Maxwell looked at Delaney.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
But Maxwell did.
The car crash.
Fourteen months earlier.
Driver dead.
Investigation closed quickly.
He stared at the floor.
Then whispered:
“My accident.”
Martha felt cold.
Delaney nodded slowly.
“I think Dominic was involved.”
Maxwell’s face emptied.
No rage.
Worse.
Grief.
Dominic was not just a cousin.
They had grown up together.
Shared bedrooms during summers.
Buried Maxwell’s father together.
Built the shipping network side by side.
Then Delaney played one final clip.
Cross:
The brake line was cleaner. Medication leaves too many records.
Dominic:
And yet the brake line failed.
Celia:
Maxwell survived.
Dominic:
Not enough to matter.
Maxwell closed his eyes.
May you like
The accident that paralyzed him had not been an accident.
And the people keeping him in a wheelchair had apparently tried to kill him first.
