Chapter 153: ANSWERS THAT REFUSED TO COME
CALLUM’S POV
The doors to the operating theatre had barely finished closing when I stepped toward the other doctor rushing to join his colleague.
"I don’t want reassurances," I said, forcing myself to keep my voice level despite the knot tightening in my chest. "I want you to do everything within your power to save him."
The doctor met my eyes without flinching. He had only recently been appointed to replace Doctor Fenn, and under ordinary circumstances, I would have hesitated before placing so much responsibility on someone still unfamiliar with this level of duty, but these were not ordinary circumstances.
"I understand, Alpha." He bowed his head.
He glanced through the small window in the theatre doors where nurses were already preparing Dane for surgery. "We’re dealing with significant blood loss, but the blade missed the major artery. That’s giving us a chance. I’ll do everything I can."
I held his gaze for another moment before nodding. "Then don’t waste another second."
He disappeared back into the operating room, and the heavy doors swung shut behind him.
There was nothing I could do. All I could do was wait.
Keisha sat several chairs away, staring at the floor without really seeing it. The blood staining her sleeves had dried long ago, yet she hadn’t made any attempt to clean it off. Her hands rested loosely in her lap, trembling ever so slightly.
After several minutes, she spoke. "This happened because of me."
I turned toward her. "No, it didn’t."
She let out a quiet, bitter laugh. "How can you say that after what we just saw?"
"Because it’s true."
She finally looked up. "If I hadn’t gone to that warehouse, Dane wouldn’t have been stabbed."
"If Orin hadn’t lured you there, none of this would have happened."
"I still walked into it."
"You walked into it because someone threatened your sister. I’m sorry I came late." I sighed.
"I should’ve waited. But I feared it was real and—" She lowered her eyes again.
I sat beside her, resting my forearms on my knees. "It was a dangerous decision. But I understand it."
She remained silent.
"The person responsible for what happened today is Orin," I continued. "Not you. He chose to ambush you. He chose to stab Dane. Don’t take responsibility for choices that were never yours."
She pressed her lips together, struggling to hold back another wave of tears. "I watched him fall."
"So did I."
"I thought..." Her voice faltered. "I really thought he was going to die."
The image flashed through my own mind and it was not a pretty one. "Well, he didn’t. And he’s still fighting."
She nodded slowly, though the guilt hadn’t left her expression.
Hours crawled by before the operating theatre doors finally opened and both of us stood at the same time.
The doctor removed his surgical gloves before approaching us. "The surgery was successful."
I let out a deep breath.
"The wound was serious," He continued, "but we managed to stop the bleeding and repair the damage. He’s lost a considerable amount of blood, so he’ll need close monitoring over the next several days. The immediate danger has passed."
Beside me, Keisha closed her eyes briefly. "Can we see him?"
"You can," the doctor replied. "He’ll be asleep for a while yet."
A short time later, Dane was transferred into one of the private recovery wards.
The room was quiet except for the loud beeping of the monitoring equipment. His face looked unusually pale against the white pillow, and thick bandages disappeared beneath the edge of the hospital blanket covering his abdomen.
Keisha stood beside the bed, watching him in silence and I remained near the window, giving her time before finally breaking the quiet.
"You said you learned something."
She nodded without taking her eyes off Dane. "I did. Orin said a few things that may be useful."
I listened carefully.
"The hideout is hidden among the abandoned quarry buildings beyond the northern river," she finished. "He described the approach well enough that I don’t think he was lying."
"I’ll have scouts verify it immediately."
"He also admitted they’re planning something much bigger." She looked up at me with tearstained eyes.
"Treason."
She nodded. "He didn’t explain exactly what, but he spoke as though everything that’s happened so far has only been preparation."
Right.
"You did well remembering all of that," I said.
She finally looked at me. "I almost didn’t get the chance."
A brief silence settled between us, then I spoke again, my voice now hard. "You are never doing something like that again."
Her expression hardened almost immediately. "I informed both you and Dane before I left. I didn’t disappear."
"You still walked into an obvious trap."
"Because there wasn’t time." Her brows scrunched together.
"There is always time to think, Keisha. It’s not your fault but I think we can address that it was utterly reckless."
"There wasn’t time." She folded her arms, refusing to back down. "They threatened Lyra. They knew exactly how to force me into reacting, and if we’d wasted hours debating strategies, we could’ve lost our chance to find Orin."
"We also could have lost you." I took a deep breath.
"I wasn’t alone."
"You may as well have been." I scoffed under my breath.
"Dane was there." Her voice was slightly higher now.
"And now he’s lying in that bed because of it." I reminded her.
The words hit close to home and Keisha looked toward Dane again before speaking more quietly. "You think I don’t know that?"
"I think you’re measuring victory by the information you obtained instead of the cost."
She turned back to face me. "I never asked Dane to jump in front of a knife. But my decision put him in that position."
For a moment, neither of us said anything. Finally, I stepped closer. "I’m not saying you’re incapable."
She waited.
"You’ve proven more than once that you’re intelligent enough to uncover things others miss. You exposed forged evidence the council accepted without question, and today you brought back information that could change this entire investigation."
She listened without interrupting.
"But intelligence alone isn’t enough. You’re carrying too much on your shoulders because you keep believing every problem is yours to solve personally." I held her gaze. "And from this moment onward, you don’t have to."
She frowned slightly. "I don’t understand."
"I’ll find the people responsible for this. I’ll deal with Orin. I’ll dismantle whoever is behind these attacks. I’ll uncover the truth about the Heat Incident, Doctor Fenn and everything else they’re planning." I paused. "But you have to trust me enough to let me."
She didn’t say anything and I didn’t press for answers.
"I’ll check on Dane again later," I said.
She gave a small nod.
After leaving the ward, I didn’t return to the mansion. Instead, I headed for the security holding rooms beneath the administrative wing.
The kitchen maid had been under discreet surveillance for nearly two days. Until now, I’d chosen patience over confrontation, hoping she might unknowingly lead us toward someone higher up.
That hadn’t happened and now, it was time for answers.
The heavy metal door opened as two guards escorted her inside. She looked frightened long before they secured her to the chair waiting in the centre of the room.
Several guards took their positions along the walls.
The maid looked from one face to another before her eyes settled on me. "I don’t understand why I’m here."
"You will." I pulled a chair opposite her and sat down. "I’ll ask straightforward questions. Whether this remains straightforward depends entirely on whether you answer truthfully."
She nodded repeatedly. "I have nothing to hide."
"You delivered a meal to Miss Keisha when she just got to this pack."
"Yes." she frowned, unsure where I was going.
"That meal contained the substance that triggered something."
Her face immediately paled. "I didn’t know that."
"Who prepared the tray?"
"The kitchen staff." She was quick to reply. "They always prepare the tray."
"Who handed it to you?" I pressed.
"I collected it myself."
A frown pulled at my lips. "Did anyone approach you before you took it upstairs?"
She shook her head so quickly that loose strands of hair fell across her face. "No."
"And you wore a black cloak that day? Why?"
"I always wear one when carrying hot meals outside the main kitchen."
I clicked my tongue, my expression hardening. "You were seen disposing of a plastic bag afterwards."
Her voice shook with fear and confusion. "I was."
"Why?"
Her breathing became uneven. "Because I found it."
I watched her carefully. "Explain."
"It was lying near the path behind the kitchens." She swallowed. "I picked it up because someone could step on it. There was a syringe inside, and I thought if a child or one of the staff wasn’t paying attention, they might get hurt. I carried it to the disposal area and threw it away."
"You didn’t examine it?"
"No."
"You didn’t recognise it?"
"I’d never seen it before." She shook her head and her answers came without hesitation.
I checked for contradictions. There weren’t any.
The guards exchanged uncertain glances as the questioning continued and I began to doubt everything.
Everything we’d uncovered through the CCTV footage had pointed toward this woman.
Yet the fear in her eyes didn’t resemble the fear of someone protecting a conspiracy. It looked like the fear of someone who genuinely had no idea why she had suddenly become the centre of an investigation.
I leaned back slowly. If she was lying, she was extraordinarily convincing.
If she was telling the truth.... Then someone had manipulated every piece of evidence we’d relied upon to throw off us track.