Chapter 12 - THE SAFE HOUSE
Following the midnight attack, Miller didn't take any chances. Under heavy police escort, Nathan, Clara, and four-year-old Ellie were moved out of St. Leopold Memorial and transferred to a secure police safe house tucked away in a residential neighborhood of Oak Park.
Inside the quiet house, blind drawn against the persistent rain, Nathan sat at a heavy wooden table. His hands were steady now, his strength returning rapidly as his body cleared the last traces of the paralytic drug.
Across the table, Miller laid out a digital tablet displaying the architectural schematics of St. Leopold's lower levels.
"We swept Julian's apartment," Miller told them. "He panicked after cutting his hand on the glass. He packed a bag and vanished before my officers arrived. We've issued an interstate warrant for his arrest."
Clara leaned against the doorframe, her face pale, her hands trembling as she held a warm cup of tea. "I trusted him... He held my hand at the funeral home, telling me everything was going to be okay."
Nathan reached across the table, taking Clara’s hand in his. "He was always desperate for Vance’s approval, Clara. But this goes beyond Julian. Vance is running something illegal under that hospital."
Nathan tapped his finger against a specific area on the tablet screen—a blank, grayed-out box situated thirty feet below the old boiler facility.
"This is where I saw the reinforced blast doors," Nathan said. "The original municipal plans call it an air-intake shaft. But when I surveyed it, the power draw was off the charts. It was drawing enough high-voltage electricity to run a specialized bio-tech laboratory."
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"I can't get a search warrant based on technical power anomalies alone," Miller noted frustratedly. "Vance’s legal team will tie up the request in court for weeks."
"Then don't ask for a warrant," Nathan said, looking Miller dead in the eye. "I built the structural blueprints for the expansion wing. I know the blind spots in their security grid."
