All Chapters of The Debt He Can't Collect: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Emma arrived back at the Connecticut safe house at 7:15 PM.Forty-five minutes until she had to leave for the city. Forty-five minutes to brief Victoria and Sophie on Rachel's findings, Marcus's reaction, and the pediatric file that had been weaponized against her conscience.She found them in the basement lab, surrounded by printouts and open laptops, the network map of seventeen trials projected across three monitors."You look terrible," Sophie said by way of greeting."Thanks." Emma dropped her bag on the nearest workstation. "Rachel found markers. Liver enzyme elevation in eight participants, cardiac changes in three. The compound is causing damage."Victoria looked up from her computer. "How severe?""Subclinical. Not dangerous yet. But trending exactly like early Compound 7 data." Emma pulled up the lab results on her phone, sent them to Victoria's email. "Rachel's suspending the trial. Participants stopped dosing as of this afternoon.""Including Marcus?" Sophie asked quietly.

The Red Hook warehouse loomed against the night sky like a monument to industrial decay.Emma killed the car's headlights three blocks away, coasting to a stop in the shadow of an abandoned shipping container. The neighborhood was quiet at 10:45 PM—too late for the few businesses still operating, too early for the bar crowd stumbling home.Perfect for a hostage situation no one would witness.Damien sat in the passenger seat, studying the warehouse through binoculars. Sarah was in the back, her breathing audible in the confined space, tension radiating off her in waves."Two vehicles in the lot," Damien reported quietly. "Black SUV—that's Chen's personal car. And a van with no plates. Probably what they used to transport Victoria."Emma checked her phone. Airplane mode, like Damien's. No GPS tracking. No digital footprint. They were offline, invisible to whoever was monitoring their communications.Except they'd already been inside the safe house. Already knew about the Connecticut pr

Boston Children's Hospital rose against the gray November sky like a fortress dedicated to healing impossible cases.Emma stood in the visitor parking lot at 2:47 PM, trying to steady her breathing before entering. The four-hour drive had been exhausting despite spending most of it reclined with her eyes closed. Her cardiac monitor had alarmed twice more—once when Sophie read aloud another threatening message, once when they hit traffic and Emma's stress spiked at the delay."You don't have to do this today," Damien said, watching her with concern. "We can get a hotel room. Let you rest properly before confronting Nathan.""Sixteen children don't have time for me to rest properly," Emma said. She checked her phone—the emergency petition to the FDA had been filed an hour ago by Damien's legal team. No response yet. "Let's go."They entered through the main lobby, navigating the maze of corridors to the research wing. Nathan Cross's lab was on the fourth floor, behind security doors tha

Emma burst through the doors of Boston Children's Hospital's pediatric intensive care unit at 6:23 PM, Detective Kim close behind, both of them moving past startled nurses toward the central monitoring station."I need to see the attending physician for the genetic disorders wing," Emma said, showing her medical credentials. "Immediately. This is an emergency."A nurse behind the desk looked up, recognized Emma from the news coverage. "Dr. Lawson? You're not authorized—""I'm a physician with evidence that sixteen patients in this unit have been deliberately sabotaged," Emma interrupted. "Get me your attending now or I'm calling the hospital director."The nurse paged overhead. Within ninety seconds, a tired-looking doctor in his forties appeared, name tag reading Dr. Michael Park."Dr. Lawson. I'm the attending for this unit. What's this about sabotage?"Emma pulled out her phone, showed him the medication records Detective Kim had reviewed. "All sixteen children from Nathan Cross's

Emma stared at the photo of Victoria, her exhaustion replaced by cold fury.Twenty-four hours. Same deadline as before. Same threat. Different captors."We call the FBI," Sophie said immediately. "Tell them Victoria's been taken from protective custody. They'll mobilize—""They'll do exactly what they did last time," Emma interrupted. "Treat it as a kidnapping, coordinate resources, waste hours planning while Victoria suffers. By the time they're ready to move, the deadline expires.""Then what do you suggest?" Damien asked.Emma's phone buzzed. Another message from the unknown number.No FBI. No police. No lawyers. Just you, Dr. Lawson. Come alone to the address we send at noon today. Bring all copies of the recordings Sarah Chen provided. Every backup. Every file. You get Victoria back. We get our insurance against prosecution. Everyone walks away.A second message followed with coordinates. Emma pulled them up—an address in Newark, New Jersey. Industrial area. Abandoned factory dis