Chapter 16 - THE INSIDE TRACK
Dr. Evans did not blink. He sat at his desk, the heavy titanium brace resting on his medical blotter.
David leaned forward, the grease from his auto shop still embedded in the creases of his knuckles. “You see it, don’t you?”
Evans slowly rotated the hinge. The wear mark was barely a millimeter deep, a shiny crescent of stripped metal hidden beneath the joint’s protective housing. But to a mechanic, it was a flashing siren.
“This isn’t standard wear and tear, David,” Evans finally said, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. “The friction is on the internal locking track. This brace isn’t supporting Lily’s leg. It’s actively resisting her extension.”
David felt the air leave the small examination room. “You’re saying it’s defective?”
“I’m saying it was altered,” Evans corrected, looking up. His eyes were perfectly flat. “Someone filed down the primary stop-pin. Every time your fourteen-year-old daughter tries to straighten her knee, this joint forces it backward. It’s deliberately inducing muscle atrophy.”
David stared at the piece of metal. His chest tightened. Only three people had access to that brace: David, Lily, and David’s wife, Claire.
“I need to keep this for evidence,” Evans said, reaching for a plastic evidence bag.
“No.” David snatched the brace off the desk. “I need to see what else has been touched.”
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He walked out of the clinic before the doctor could stop him, leaving Evans in a stunned, dangerous silence.
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