Chapter 8 - THE MAN WHO HAD BEEN WATCHING
|
Marcus moved before Pike could take another step.
He grabbed the man's wrist and forced him against the wall.
Pike struggled, knocking a box from the cabinet.
Holly pulled Nora toward the exit.
“Go!”
Nora stumbled into the corridor.
Behind her, Marcus shouted for assistance.
Pike managed to break free and ran toward the loading bay.
Marcus followed.
Holly kept Nora moving until they reached the parking lot.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Did he touch you?”
“No.”
Holly looked at her stomach.
“Are you having pain?”
Nora shook her head.
But her heart was pounding so hard she could barely breathe.
Marcus returned several minutes later.
“Pike escaped.”
“Who is he?” Nora asked.
“Former security contractor. He worked for Gideon Rourke years ago.”
“Why is he following me?”
Marcus glanced at the folder in Holly's hand.
“Because you found something he was ordered to keep hidden.”
Nora looked down at the photograph.
Her mother had been alive six years after her disappearance.
That meant someone had kept her somewhere.
Someone had known.
Someone had chosen not to tell Nora.
Holly drove them to her office.
They secured the documents and contacted the district attorney's investigator.
By evening, the investigator confirmed that the care facility in New Hampshire had existed under a different name. It had closed years earlier, and its patient records had been transferred to a storage company.
Nora sat forward.
“Can we access them?”
“We can request them,” Holly said. “But it may take time.”
“I don't have time.”
“You're pregnant. You need to think about your health.”
Nora looked at her.
“My mother may have been alive for years while I believed I had no family.”
Holly softened.
“I know.”
“No, you don't.”
The words came out harsher than Nora intended.
Holly accepted them.
“You're right. I don't. But I know you won't help your mother by putting yourself in danger.”
Nora looked at the photograph again.
Then her phone rang.
Camden.
She answered.
“What?”
“Where are you?”
“Not with you.”
“I know you went to the warehouse.”
Nora's blood chilled.
“How?”
“Pike told me.”
“Your man tried to corner me.”
“He was supposed to retrieve company property.”
“You mean the documents proving you stole my ownership?”
Camden exhaled.
“Listen to me. You don't understand what those papers will trigger.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“If you expose everything, the company could collapse.”
“Then perhaps you shouldn't have built it on fraud.”
“People will lose their jobs.”
“Don't use them as a shield.”
His voice became quiet.
“Gideon is dangerous.”
“Then tell the police what he did.”
“You don't know what he did.”
“Then explain it.”
Camden hesitated.
“Your mother wasn't the only person he made disappear.”
Nora went still.
“What does that mean?”
The call ended.
Holly looked at her.
“What did he say?”
Nora stared at the phone.
“He said my mother wasn't the only person Gideon made disappear.”
May you like
Marcus stood.
“Then we need to find out who else is missing.”
