Chapter 3 - The Woman Laura Trusted Most
Laura refused to believe it.
“Eleanor loved Michael.”
David’s expression remained grim.
“She loved controlling Michael.”
“She gave him his first executive position.”
“And that is exactly why she believed he belonged to her.”
They abandoned the loading dock before police arrived.
David drove them to a small house twenty miles outside the city.
Inside, every curtain was closed.
Multiple monitors covered one wall.
Newspaper clippings.
Hospital floor plans.
Photographs.
Laura saw Michael’s face everywhere.
“What is this?”
“My life for fourteen months.”
David connected Michael’s USB drive to an isolated laptop.
Password protected.
Laura tried Michael’s birthday.
Wrong.
Their anniversary.
Wrong.
Ranger’s adoption date.
Wrong.
Then she remembered something Michael often said.
“When everything becomes complicated, go back to the first promise.”
Their first promise had been made during their wedding ceremony.
No secrets.
Laura typed:
NOSECRETS.
The drive opened.
Folders appeared.
FINANCIAL.
PATIENTS.
VOSS.
COLE.
And one folder named LAURA.
Her heart stopped.
She opened it.
Inside was a video recorded three days before Michael’s death.
Michael appeared on-screen.
Tired.
Terrified.
“Laura, if you’re watching this, then I failed to keep this away from you.”
Her hand flew to her mouth.
Michael continued.
“St. Matthew’s is not what we thought it was.”
He explained everything.
Fraud.
Falsified drug trials.
Patients deliberately made sicker.
Executives paid through shell companies.
Then he said something worse.
“They’re using one physician to administer untraceable overdoses.”
Laura looked toward David.
“Cole?”
Michael answered from the recording.
“Nathan Cole is involved, but he is not the architect.”
Laura leaned closer.
“The architect is someone I trusted.”
Michael paused.
“I need proof before I name her.”
Laura’s eyes filled.
Eleanor.
But Michael continued.
“Laura, if anything happens to me, do not trust appearances. And do not assume everyone standing beside the guilty person is guilty too.”
Then Ranger appeared in the old recording.
Michael smiled for the first time.
“If Ranger reacts to somebody, listen to him. He already saved me once.”
The video ended.
Laura wiped her tears.
“What does that mean?”
David answered.
“Ranger attacked Cole seventeen months ago.”
Laura remembered Michael’s torn shirt.
“The night Michael came home injured?”
“Yes. Cole confronted him in the parking garage. Ranger intervened.”
Emily looked toward the dog.
“That explains why he recognized Cole.”
Megan opened another file.
“Guys.”
They gathered around.
A spreadsheet listed dozens of patients.
Dates.
Medications.
Insurance payouts.
Deaths.
Emily whispered, “This is horrifying.”
Then Laura saw one name.
SOPHIA BENNETT.
Her sister.
Laura stopped breathing.
Sophia had died eight years earlier from complications after routine gallbladder surgery.
At St. Matthew’s.
“Why is my sister on this list?”
David didn’t answer.
Laura turned.
“You knew?”
“Michael discovered her file shortly before he died.”
Laura’s voice broke.
“My sister was murdered?”
“We don’t know.”
“Her name is in a murder ledger!”
David’s face crumpled.
“He wanted proof before telling you.”
Laura walked away.
For eight years she had blamed fate.
For fourteen months she had blamed Michael’s heart.
Now both deaths might lead to the same hospital.
The same people.
The same woman.
Eleanor Voss.
A phone rang.
Everyone jumped.
It was the stolen attacker’s phone.
David answered silently.
A woman spoke.
“I assume Laura is with you.”
Eleanor.
Laura grabbed the phone.
“Why is Sophia’s name in Michael’s files?”
Silence.
Then Eleanor sighed.
“You opened the drive.”
“Answer me.”
“Laura, there are things Michael misunderstood.”
“Was my sister killed?”
“No.”
“Was my husband?”
Another pause.
Too long.
Laura’s knees weakened.
“Eleanor?”
“I did not order Michael’s death.”
Not the answer Laura wanted.
“Who did?”
“I can’t tell you over the phone.”
“You expect me to trust you?”
“No.”
Eleanor’s voice lowered.
“But I expect you to understand one thing. If Nathan Cole knows you opened that drive, you will not survive until morning.”
David grabbed the phone.
“Where is Cole?”
“I don’t know.”
“You always know.”
“Not anymore.”
Then Eleanor said something that silenced them all.
“Nathan disappeared six hours ago.”
Laura frowned.
“I saw him at the hospital.”
“That wasn’t what I meant.”
Eleanor’s voice trembled.
“Six hours ago, the board discovered Nathan transferred twelve million dollars out of a research account.”
David looked at Laura.
“So he’s running.”
“No,” Eleanor whispered.
“He’s cleaning up.”
A loud crash sounded outside the safe house.
Ranger erupted.
May you like
The lights went out.
And from the darkness behind Laura came the click of a gun being cocked.
