Chapter 6 - The Lie Luke Had Been Protecting
Luke closed the study door.
"Sit."
Daniel stared.
"I'm already sitting."
Emma almost laughed.
Nobody else did.
Luke removed his jacket.
"Before I explain, you need to know something."
Daniel's voice was cold.
"You're doing badly so far."
Luke ignored it.
"I've been investigating Hanley for eighteen months."
Silence.
Daniel's expression didn't change.
Emma's did.
"Why didn't you tell him?"
Luke looked at Daniel.
"Because Mercer contacted me."
"You told me that."
"I didn't tell you everything."
Daniel rolled closer.
"Try."
Luke inhaled.
"Mercer wasn't asking for money for himself."
"What?"
"He wanted five million deposited into a legal trust."
"For what?"
"Protection."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
"Whose?"
Luke looked toward Emma.
"Margaret Carter."
Emma froze.
"My mother?"
"Mercer knew she had copied Daniel's records."
Daniel's voice dropped.
"How?"
"Because she worked in medical records at St. Vincent's."
Emma stared.
"My mother never told me that."
"She probably forgot."
Luke continued.
"Mercer believed someone was searching for the original scans. He wanted money to relocate Margaret and Emma."
Emma's face hardened.
"You knew about us?"
"About Margaret."
"Not me?"
"I knew she had a daughter. I didn't know it was you until you were hired."
Daniel studied him.
"Why didn't you pay?"
"I tried."
"What?"
Luke pulled out his phone.
"Mercer vanished before we finalized it."
"Then died."
"Yes."
Daniel's voice became quiet.
"And you decided I didn't need to know."
"I decided you were barely surviving."
"So you lied."
"Yes."
That answer hurt more because Luke didn't hide from it.
Daniel looked away.
"Why St. Vincent's today?"
"I'm trying to access archived pharmacy records."
"Without telling me."
"Because if Vale is involved, I don't know who inside your operation is compromised."
Daniel turned back.
"You thought I was compromised?"
"I thought anyone around you could be."
Emma watched them.
The anger between the two men felt old.
Deeper than this.
Brothers without blood.
Which made betrayal worse.
Luke pulled a folder from his bag.
"I found the fake employee."
"What fake employee?" Emma asked.
Luke placed the paper down.
A woman.
Early twenties.
Blonde.
Hospital badge.
Name:
EMMA CARTER.
Emma stopped breathing.
"That's not me."
Daniel looked at the birth date.
Same as Emma's.
Address.
Same.
Social Security number partly redacted.
Matching.
"What is this?"
Luke answered.
"She was assigned to Danny's rehabilitation team for eleven days."
Daniel stared.
"I don't remember her."
"You were heavily sedated."
Emma touched the photograph.
"Someone used my identity."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Luke turned the page.
"She had access to Daniel's medication cart."
Emma's face went white.
Daniel sat absolutely still.
"Name."
"Rachel Vale."
Daniel looked up.
"Sebastian's niece."
Luke nodded.
"She disappeared after eleven days."
"Where is she?"
"I found her."
Daniel's eyes hardened.
"Alive?"
"Yes."
They drove to a small house outside Naperville.
Rachel Vale opened the door.
She looked older than the staff photograph.
Tired.
Afraid.
When she saw Daniel, she whispered:
"I knew this day would come."
Daniel entered.
Emma stayed beside him.
Rachel looked at her.
"I'm sorry."
Emma's anger rose immediately.
"You used my name."
"Yes."
"You used my identity to drug him."
Rachel looked down.
"I thought I was helping."
Daniel laughed once.
"That's original."
"My uncle told me you were violent during recovery."
"I was."
"He said the medication was necessary."
"Did a doctor prescribe it?"
"Hanley."
Daniel's hands tightened.
Emma asked:
"Why my identity?"
Rachel looked at her.
"Because your mother had access to the original records."
"That doesn't answer—"
"If anything was discovered, Sebastian wanted suspicion directed toward Margaret's family."
Emma stared.
Rachel's eyes filled.
"I didn't know who you were."
"You knew enough to steal my life."
"I was twenty-four."
"So was I."
Emma's voice cracked.
"And while you were helping a billionaire drug a stranger, I was working doubles to keep my mother alive."
Rachel said nothing.
Daniel looked at her.
"When did you realize what you were doing?"
"Three weeks later."
"You only worked eleven days."
"I kept supplying medication through one of your nurses."
Daniel went cold.
"Who?"
"Patricia Shaw."
Daniel remembered.
Kind voice.
Quiet.
Six months in his house.
Then a fatal overdose.
Luke swore.
Rachel nodded.
"She found out your toe moved during a reflex test."
The room stopped.
Daniel whispered:
"What?"
"About four months after the shooting."
Emma gripped the chair.
Rachel continued.
"She told Hanley. Hanley told Sebastian."
"What happened?"
"Patricia wanted to tell you."
Daniel's face changed.
"She died."
Rachel nodded.
"My uncle killed her."
Nobody spoke.
Daniel had remembered Patricia's funeral.
He'd sent flowers.
He'd believed she had been an addict.
A lie.
Another one.
"Why keep me paralyzed?"
Rachel looked toward Luke.
Then Daniel.
"Because Moretti Holdings had something my uncle needed."
"What?"
"Port access."
Daniel frowned.
Vale's construction companies used Moretti shipping facilities.
"That wasn't worth all this."
"No."
Rachel's voice lowered.
"The ports weren't for construction."
"What were they for?"
Rachel hesitated.
Then:
"Money."
"How much?"
"Billions."
Daniel stared.
"Money from where?"
Rachel looked terrified.
"I don't know."
"You do."
"I know only one name."
Daniel waited.
Rachel swallowed.
"Michael."
His face changed completely.
Emma noticed.
"Who's Michael?"
Daniel didn't answer.
Luke did.
"Daniel's brother."
Emma looked at him.
"Where is he?"
Luke's voice became quieter.
"Dead."
Daniel stared at Rachel.
"My brother died twenty years ago."
Rachel shook her head.
"No."
The entire room seemed to shift.
Daniel couldn't breathe.
May you like
Rachel whispered:
"Michael Moretti is alive."
