Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-One
Malachi's POV
I hadn't slept in three days.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Emily's face. Heard her voice. The way she'd looked at me like I was something broken and unsalvageable.
Maybe I was.
I sat in my office staring at the files Maurice had compiled. Everything we'd found on Emily's death. Or what we thought was her death.
The hospital records were legitimate. At least, they looked legitimate. Birth certificate for the baby. Death certificate for Emily. All signed by the attending physician.
Except the physician didn't exist.
Dr. Marcus Chen. Licensed. Credentialed. But when we dug deeper, we found nothing. No medical school records. No previous employment. The license number was fake.
Someone had created an entire identity just to sign those documents.
"This took planning," Maurice said. He stood by the window, looking out at Dark City's skyline. "Years of planning. This wasn't something she did on impulse."
"I know."
