Chapter 6 - The King Opened His EyesEverett Kane had imagined killing Sterling a thousand times.
He had imagined it while trapped beneath chemical darkness.
He had imagined reaching across a dinner table.
Closing his hands around his cousin’s throat.
Watching the surprise appear on Sterling’s face when the man he had already buried returned to collect his debt.
But when Everett finally opened his eyes and saw Sterling standing in the doorway with a gun, he could barely lift his head.
That humiliation burned almost as much as the betrayal.
Willa moved between them.
“No.”
Sterling stared at Everett.
His face had gone completely pale.
“You’re awake.”
Everett’s voice failed when he tried to answer.
Willa placed one hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t force it.”
Sterling laughed once.
The sound was empty.
“This isn’t possible.”
Willa looked at him.
“You’ve said that already.”
Sterling raised the pistol.
Elena raised hers at the same time.
“Drop it.”
Sterling smiled.
“You shoot me, the house fills with police before sunrise.”
Elena’s hand remained steady.
“You think I care?”
“Yes.”
His eyes moved toward Marco.
“Because your friend may still be breathing.”
Willa looked.
Marco had been shot high in the shoulder.
Blood spread beneath him.
Elena’s face tightened.
Sterling saw the reaction.
“That’s what I thought.”
Everett tried to move his hand.
Willa felt it.
His fingers closed weakly around her wrist.
She looked down.
His eyes shifted toward the medical cart.
Then Sterling.
Willa understood.
Distract him.
She stepped forward.
“You needed me to sign those papers.”
Sterling kept the gun raised.
“I still do.”
“Then you can’t kill me.”
“No.”
He pointed the weapon at Everett.
“But I can correct a medical complication.”
Willa’s heart stopped.
Everett’s eyes remained on Sterling.
No fear.
Only fury.
Willa spoke quickly.
“If Everett dies now, every man who came through those gates knows he woke up.”
Sterling hesitated.
“You kill him tonight, you don’t have a coma death.”
She continued.
“You have a murder investigation.”
Elena added, “And twenty witnesses.”
Sterling’s jaw tightened.
From the corridor came the sound of men shouting.
More footsteps.
Sterling glanced backward.
That was enough.
Everett used everything left in his body to kick the metal medical cart.
It barely moved.
But a tray crashed to the floor.
Sterling flinched toward the sound.
Willa lunged.
She slammed both hands into his gun arm.
The weapon fired.
The bullet shattered a monitor.
Elena crossed the room and struck Sterling across the face with her pistol.
He collapsed.
Willa kicked the gun away.
Three of Marco’s men entered.
“Secure him!”
They dragged Sterling to the floor.
Everett watched through heavy eyes.
After eight months, his cousin was finally on his knees.
Yet there was no satisfaction.
Not yet.
Because Whitfield was missing.
“Doctor,” Everett rasped.
Willa leaned closer.
“Whitfield?”
He blinked.
“Yes.”
Elena looked at the men.
“Find him.”
Marco groaned.
Willa ran to him.
The bullet had passed through the upper shoulder.
Painful.
Bloody.
But survivable.
“Pressure here.”
Elena dropped beside him.
“I’ve got him.”
Willa returned to Everett.
His eyes had closed again.
Fear cut through her.
“Everett.”
They opened.
“Stay with me.”
His gaze focused slowly.
“You…”
“What?”
His voice was barely audible.
“You kept…”
She understood.
“You heard me?”
A faint nod.
His first deliberate head movement.
Willa smiled through tears.
“Every night?”
Another tiny nod.
“That’s embarrassing.”
His mouth shifted.
A hint of something.
Maybe amusement.
She leaned closer.
“You scared me.”
Everett gathered breath.
“So… did you.”
She laughed softly.
Around them, armed men moved through the house.
Sterling cursed from the floor.
Marco bled into Elena’s hands.
The medical monitor flashed warnings.
Yet for several seconds, the room narrowed to only Willa and Everett.
Then Everett’s expression changed.
“Mother.”
Willa frowned.
“Your mother?”
His jaw tightened.
“Alive.”
Willa stared.
Everyone knew Everett Kane’s mother had died when he was twelve.
At least, according to every article Willa had read.
“Your mother is alive?”
He closed his eyes once.
Opened them.
“Yes.
Before Willa could ask more, one of Marco’s men entered.
“Whitfield’s gone.”
Sterling laughed from the floor.
Everett’s eyes turned toward him.
The laugh died.
For the first time, Sterling saw not a helpless patient.
He saw Everett Kane.
Weak.
Barely conscious.
But awake.
Everett forced his voice into the room.
“Untie him.”
Nobody moved.
Marco, pale with pain, looked up.
“Boss?”
“Untie.”
Willa stared at Everett.
“What are you doing?”
His eyes remained on Sterling.
“Chair.”
The men obeyed.
Sterling was placed in a chair.
Everett took several minutes to recover enough breath to speak.
Nobody interrupted him.
Even broken, Everett still possessed the strange gravity of someone accustomed to rooms becoming silent when he decided to talk.
“You heard me,” Sterling said.
Everett looked at him.
“All of it.”
Sterling’s confidence disappeared.
Everett continued slowly.
“South River terminals.”
Sterling swallowed.
“Judge Mallory.”
Another pause.
“Whitfield.”
Sterling’s face changed.
Everett’s mouth curved faintly.
“You talked too much.”
Marco gave a dark laugh.
Sterling stared at the floor.
Everett looked at Willa.
“Notebook.”
She brought it.
He glanced at the pages.
Dates.
Times.
Medication observations.
Whitfield’s visits.
Willa’s handwriting had documented weeks of evidence.
Everett looked at her.
“You did this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The question was simple.
Its weight was not.
Willa looked at the gold ring on her hand.
“Because nobody should be turned into a prisoner inside their own body.”
Everett stared at her for a long time.
Something passed between them that neither named.
Then Marco’s radio crackled.
“Police outside the gate.”
Sterling smiled.
“There it is.”
Marco cursed.
“How many?”
“Too many.”
Willa looked toward the shattered monitor.
“We need a hospital.”
“No.”
Everett’s answer came immediately.
His voice was stronger.
Willa turned.
“You nearly died.”
“No hospital.”
“You need imaging, bloodwork, respiratory monitoring—”
“St. Ambrose owns half the specialists Sterling can reach.”
“Then Northwestern.”
Everett looked at Marco.
“Safe house.”
Willa shook her head.
“You are not going to some warehouse.”
Everett looked at her.
Even weak, his expression carried command.
Willa folded her arms.
“No.”
Marco glanced between them.
Elena almost smiled.
Everett tried again.
“Willa.”
“Don’t ‘Willa’ me.”
Sterling laughed.
Everyone looked at him.
“Enjoy marriage, cousin.”
Everett’s eyes turned cold.
Sterling stopped laughing.
Eventually, a compromise was reached.
A private physician loyal to Marco would meet them at a secure lakeside property outside Chicago.
Police would find Sterling wounded by an unknown intruder during a security breach.
It was not a perfect story.
But the Kane name had survived worse.
Before they left, Everett insisted on one thing.
He wanted five minutes alone with Sterling.
Willa refused to leave the room entirely.
She stood just beyond the partially open door.
Everett remained in bed.
Sterling sat beside him.
“You always hated me,” Sterling said.
Everett’s voice was weak.
“No.”
Sterling looked surprised.
“I trusted you.”
That hurt more.
Sterling looked away.
“You were going to destroy everything our family built.”
“I was going legal.”
“You were making us weak.”
“I was making us alive.”
Sterling laughed bitterly.
“You think our enemies would let Kane Holdings become respectable?”
Everett’s eyes hardened.
“You tried to murder me.”
“I tried to preserve what your father created.”
“My father?”
Sterling went still.
Everett noticed.
“What?”
Sterling looked toward the door.
Then back.
“You don’t know.”
Everett’s expression darkened.
“Know what?”
Sterling smiled slowly.
“You think Whitfield started this with Caroline?”
Willa moved closer to the doorway.
Sterling leaned toward Everett.
“Ask your mother.”
Everett stared.
“What about her?”
“Ask Evelyn Kane why Caroline died.”
Everett’s face changed.
Sterling whispered, “And ask her why she paid Dr. Whitfield fifteen years ago.”
Willa felt ice move through her veins.
Everett’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re lying.”
“Maybe.”
Sterling leaned back.
“But I know where she is.”
Everett tried to rise.
Pain stopped him.
“Where?”
Sterling smiled.
“Sign the South River terminals back to me, and I’ll tell you.”
Everett’s expression became terrifyingly calm.
“Marco.”
Marco entered.
“Yes?”
Everett looked at Sterling.
“Take him downstairs.”
Sterling’s smile faded.
Everett continued.
“And find my mother.”
Sterling was dragged away.
Willa approached the bed.
“You believed him.”
Everett looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
“Your mother is alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
He closed his eyes.
“Convent.”
Willa waited.
“Why would everyone think she died?”
Everett opened his eyes again.
“Because she wanted them to.”
At dawn, they left the estate through a service tunnel.
Everett lay in the back of an armored ambulance.
Willa sat beside him.
Marco and Elena followed in another vehicle.
For the first time in eight months, Everett saw the sky.
Pink morning light spread over Lake Michigan.
He stared through the window.
Willa noticed.
“Pretty dramatic comeback.”
Everett looked at her.
“You married me.”
“You weren’t exactly available for discussion.”
A faint smile touched his mouth.
Then his eyes moved to her ring.
“Why didn’t you leave?”
Willa looked out at the water.
“Because somebody had to stay.”
Everett watched her.
Neither spoke again.
Twenty minutes later, Marco’s vehicle suddenly swerved behind them.
Gunfire erupted.
The ambulance windshield cracked.
The driver shouted.
Willa ducked over Everett.
A black SUV appeared beside them.
Its window lowered.
Dr. Alan Whitfield sat inside.
May you like
And beside him was Ruth Hayes.
Willa’s mother.
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