Chapter 19 - The Ghost At The Banquet
The Grand Ballroom of the Palmer Regency Hotel sparkled with crystal chandeliers and silver champagne buckets.
Hundreds of doctors in black-tie tuxedos and donors in silk evening gowns mingled beneath giant banners bearing the emblem of St. Jude Hospital.
On the main stage, a massive oil painting of Marcus hung beside an enlarged photograph of Chairman Arthur Sterling shaking hands with the state governor.
I stood in the service corridor behind the stage, wearing Claire’s old black server’s uniform, my hair tucked beneath a dark cap.
My heart beat with a steady, lethal calm.
All the fear had evaporated, replaced by the righteous fury of an eleven-year debt coming due.
In my pocket, the micro-film negative and Marcus's final cassette tape rested against my ribs.
Through the cracked service door, I watched Sterling step up to the podium.
The room erupted into polite, glittering applause.
Sterling smiled his practiced, benevolent smile, raising both hands to quiet the audience.
"We stand on the shoulders of giants," Sterling’s voice boomed through the speakers.
"None greater than our fallen brother, Dr. Marcus Hayes."
"Marcus gave his life to our pediatric wing."
"His sacrifice reminds us that the healing of a child’s heart is the highest calling known to man."
"And tonight, as I accept this prestigious honor, I announce a five-million-dollar endowment in his memory—"
I didn't wait for him to finish his lie.
I pushed open the heavy mahogany service door and stepped directly onto the stage.
The bright stage lights blinded me for a fraction of a second before the crowd registered my presence.
A murmur rippled through the front row of dignitaries.
Sterling’s smile froze, his eyes widening in pure horror as he recognized the woman walking toward him across the hardwood floor.
"Marcus Hayes didn't sacrifice his life for your endowment, Arthur," my voice rang clear and unwavering into the podium microphone.
May you like
The entire ballroom went dead, suffocatingly silent.
"He died trying to stop you from murdering the children in Ward 6."
