The Camera Vanessa Forgot
Chapter 02 - The Camera Vanessa Forgot
The footage showed everything: Vanessa placing the forged documents on the table, grabbing Grace’s wrist, demanding the drive, and pushing her to the floor.
Ethan stared at the screen as if he no longer recognized his sister.
“That video is altered,” Vanessa said.
“It’s a live hospital archive,” Ethan replied. “You can’t edit it from inside the room.”
Vanessa had disconnected the visible camera near the door. She did not know St. Catherine’s had installed a second emergency camera inside every high-risk maternity suite after a patient-safety investigation.
Grace gasped as another contraction began. Ethan knelt beside her and pressed the medical alert button.
Vanessa moved toward the hallway, but two security officers appeared. Behind them stood Detective Maya Torres, who had been attending the gala.
Grace reached into a pocket sewn inside her white dress and removed a silver drive.
“This has the missing hospital records.”
Vanessa lunged for it.
Ethan blocked her. “Enough.”
Detective Torres took the drive and ordered security to detain Vanessa. Yet Vanessa’s fear changed into confidence.
“You think those files prove I stole anything?” she said. “The transfers were authorized by Ethan.”
Grace shook her head. “His signature was copied.”
Vanessa looked at her brother. “Tell them about the offshore account.”
Ethan went pale.
Three years earlier, he had created an emergency account during a lawsuit against the hospital group. He never used it, but Vanessa knew the credentials. She routed the stolen money through that account so investigators would believe Ethan approved every transfer.
Before anyone could question him, the lights went out.
The emergency system should have activated instantly. It did not.
A woman in hospital scrubs entered through the service door and struck one security officer with a metal tray. Vanessa slipped out behind her.
Detective Torres drew her weapon, but both women disappeared into a restricted corridor.
On the television, the security archive changed to a red warning:
MATERNITY FLOOR LOCKDOWN OVERRIDDEN.
Grace gripped Ethan’s hand. “She has help inside the hospital.”
Then Ethan’s phone rang.
Vanessa whispered, “Bring the trust documents to the operating wing, or your wife’s medical records become her death sentence.”
A nurse checked Grace’s chart and froze. It now showed an allergy she did not have and the wrong blood type.
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Someone had altered the system.
Grace was in labor, and the hospital no longer knew which medical information was real.
