Chapter 6: The Woman Who Came Back
Renata Voss was standing in the kitchen corridor with her coat over her arm and her phone in her hand when we walked through the door.
She looked up and her expression moved through three things in less than a second — surprise, calculation, recovery.
She settled on concern.
"Damien," she said.
"I heard about the boys.
I came back as soon as I could.
Are they all right?"
"They're stable," Damien said.
"What brought you back, Renata?"
"I told you.
I heard—"
"Who told you?"
A small pause.
"One of the staff mentioned it as I was leaving.
I was already in my car.
I turned around immediately." She glanced at me briefly.
The glance said: who is this person and why is she standing here.
Then it moved away.
"Can I see them?"
"Not yet," Damien said.
"The doctor is still with them."
"Of course." She touched his arm.
"Damien, I'm so sorry.
This is the third time now.
I know how frightening this must be for you.
I've been thinking — and I know this isn't the moment — but we should talk about the care arrangement.
Whether the current setup is really giving them what they need."
There it was.
"What kind of arrangement did you have in mind?" Damien asked.
"Nothing formal.
Not yet.
Just a conversation." Her voice was warm and careful.
"I'm family.
I want what's best for them.
Elena would have wanted—"
"Don't," Damien said.
Renata stopped.
"Don't use her name in this corridor tonight," he said.
His voice hadn't risen.
It was quieter than before, which was worse.
"Not here.
Not now."
Renata recalibrated.
"I understand.
I'm sorry.
I only meant—"
"Victor is in the back room," Damien said.
Her hand tightened on the coat.
Just slightly.
"Victor?
Why?"
"I was hoping you could tell me."
"I don't know what you mean." She looked at me again.
Longer this time.
"Who is this?"
"Ellie Hart," I said.
"I was your server tonight.
Sea bass.
Sparkling water."
Something moved behind her eyes.
"I also used to work at Harmon Medical," I said.
"On the Verathen trial."
The corridor was very quiet.
Renata's expression didn't collapse.
She was too practiced for that.
But the warmth drained out of it completely, and what was underneath was much older and much harder.
"I don't know what she's told you," Renata said to Damien, "but whatever it is—"
"She told me about the powder," Damien said.
"In the bottle."
"There was no—"
"We have the bottle," he said.
"We have the footage of you at the table.
We have Victor in the back room, and Victor is not a man who stays quiet when he's frightened." He tilted his head slightly.
"How long do you think it takes him to decide that cooperation is in his interest?"
Renata looked at him for a long moment.
Then she looked at me.
"You have no idea," she said quietly, "what you've walked into."
"I know exactly what I've walked into," I said.
"I watched Victor use the same compound on two children in a controlled trial and then bury the evidence.
I lost three years of my life because I tried to stop him." I held her gaze.
"I'm not going to lose anything else."
Renata's jaw tightened.
"You can't prove any of this."
"The bottle is already on its way to a laboratory," Damien said.
"It will be back to me by morning."
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That was the moment Renata Voss made her mistake.
She reached for her phone.
