Chapter One: The Fifty-Million-Euro Scar

Outside the medical center, two unmarked black vans waited in the rain, and there were three times as many security guards as usual. “Level minus two is sealed,” Serge, the night supervisor, said, slapping a temporary pass into Lin's palm. “You clean Examination Room One and the corridor. Don't look, don't ask questions, and don't take out your phone. Call me when you're done.” Lin had no phone to take out. A collection agency had frozen his account the month before, and his service had been cut off soon afterward. He clipped the pass to his gray uniform and nodded. The door to Examination Room One stood slightly open. French, English, and Spanish voices overlapped inside. “Left knee stable. Oxygen normal. Hamstring fibers... perfect.”