Chapter 13 - THE DOCTOR WHO CHANGED THE RECORDS|
Dr. Samuel Bennett had retired twelve years earlier and lived in a quiet suburb north of Chicago. He was in his late seventies, with thin white hair and a habit of looking over his glasses before answering questions.
When Dominic showed him Claire's letter, the doctor's face went pale.
“I wondered when this would happen,” he said.
Dominic sat across from him.
“Tell me about Rose's birth.”
The doctor folded his hands.
“Emily came to me shortly before her due date. She was frightened. She said someone had been following her.”
“Did she mention Anthony?”
“No. She mentioned a man who claimed to be your father's friend.”
“Robert Hale?”
The doctor shook his head.
“Victor Sloane.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“What did he want?”
“He wanted access to Emily's medical records. He claimed there was a family emergency and that your father had authorized him to retrieve them.”
“Did you give them to him?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Dominic noticed.
“Doctor, I have no interest in punishing an old man for protecting himself. But a little girl has been kidnapped, and the people responsible are connected to her mother's death. If you lie to me, you may be the reason she never comes home.”
The doctor's shoulders sagged.
“I changed one record.”
“Which one?”
“Emily had been treated at my clinic for a pregnancy before Rose was born. She lost that child. Later, she became pregnant again, and Victor wanted to know whether she had delivered.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed the baby was connected to your father's hidden accounts.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“Emily was pregnant with my child. Why would Victor care?”
“Because he believed your father had created a trust for the next generation. A trust that could only be accessed through a biological heir.”
Dominic went still.
“Rose?”
“Possibly. Or the child Emily lost.”
“Did Emily have another baby?”
The doctor shook his head.
“I never saw evidence of a second delivery.”
Dominic studied him.
“Then why did you change the record?”
“Victor paid me to make it appear that Emily had been transferred to another hospital. I thought it was a way to keep him from tracking her. I didn't understand how dangerous he was.”
Dominic stood.
“Where did the records go?”
The doctor pointed toward a locked cabinet.
“I kept copies. I couldn't destroy them.”
He opened the cabinet and removed a folder.
Inside were medical forms, hospital transfer slips, and a handwritten note from Emily.
The note was addressed to Samuel.
If anything happens to me, make sure Rose never learns that the people who claim to love her may be the ones who want her most.
Dominic felt a chill.
“Did Emily know she was being watched?”
“Yes.”
“Did she ever tell you where she hid the key?”
“No. But she asked me to keep a small blue book for her.”
Dominic stared at him.
“Where is it?”
The doctor led him into a back room and opened a safe.
Inside lay a blue notebook.
Dominic turned the pages carefully. Most contained ordinary notes, but the final section held a series of numbers and initials.
One page contained a sketch of the Vitale mansion.
A red circle marked the old greenhouse.
Beneath it, Emily had written:
The truth is under the roots.
Dominic called Marcus.
“Search the greenhouse. Every inch.”
Twenty minutes later, Marcus reported that the security team had discovered a metal box buried beneath the remains of a rose bush.
Inside were bank records, copies of encrypted files, and a sealed envelope addressed to Dominic.
He opened it.
Emily's letter began with an apology.
My love, if you're reading this, then I couldn't tell you the truth myself. I discovered that your father created a trust to protect the children from the Black Wolf Circle. Anthony wants it because it contains evidence of his crimes. But there's something he fears even more.
Dominic turned the page.
The trust can only be opened when the surviving heirs stand together.
He read the sentence twice.
Then his phone rang.
It was Marcus.
“Boss, we found something else in the box.”
“What?”
“A photograph of Rose with Serena.”
Dominic frowned.
“That's impossible. Rose was a baby when Emily died.”
“Exactly.”
Marcus paused.
“The photograph is dated six months ago.”
Dominic's heart stopped.
May you like
Because the woman standing beside Rose wasn't Serena.
It was Emily.
