Chapter 6 - The Signature That Could Have Killed Him
Tessa called the hospital before leaving the ballroom.
She demanded that Arthur's transfer be suspended immediately.
The charge nurse confirmed that no patient could be removed without proper medical authorization, and Arthur's physician had not approved any transfer.
But someone had submitted paperwork naming Tessa as the person requesting it.
Caroline contacted hospital security.
Leo's driver brought the car around.
Tessa climbed into the back seat beside Caroline.
Leo sat in front.
For the entire drive, he remained silent.
At 10:12, they reached the hospital.
Arthur was still in his room.
He was watching an old Western on television when Tessa appeared.
His face brightened.
She hugged him so tightly he laughed.
A small, uneven laugh.
The most beautiful sound she'd heard all week.
“I'm okay, Daddy.”
Arthur touched her cheek.
Then he glanced at the burgundy dress.
His eyebrows rose.
Tessa laughed through her tears.
“Yes, I dressed up.”
Arthur gave a slow, approving nod.
Leo remained outside the room.
Tessa noticed.
It mattered more than she wanted to admit.
Caroline met with the hospital's legal department while Tessa stayed with her father.
By midnight, they had obtained a copy of the questionable authorization.
It had been transmitted from an office account associated with Hawthorne.
The signature was an image taken from an older healthcare form.
Someone had copied it.
Someone had expected the hospital to accept it.
The hospital agreed to preserve the records and refer the attempted unauthorized transfer for investigation.
Tessa finally stepped into the hallway.
Leo was waiting beside a window.
He looked exhausted.
“Your father's safe,” he said.
“For tonight.”
“Yes.”
She folded her arms.
“Why would Sal want him moved again?”
“Because Arthur can identify him.”
“Then why not just leave him in the hospital? Moving him creates more attention.”
Leo considered the question.
“Maybe the transfer wasn't supposed to succeed.”
Tessa looked at him.
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe somebody wanted to frighten you.”
The idea settled heavily between them.
A warning.
Stop asking questions.
Or the people you love will suffer.
Tessa glanced toward Arthur's room.
Then she made a decision.
“I'm not going back to the hotel.”
Leo immediately straightened.
“The estate has security.”
“No.”
He stopped.
“I wasn't going to finish that sentence,” she said.
“You didn't have to.”
Tessa called Rosa.
The nurse had arranged temporary accommodation with her sister, who lived fifteen minutes from the hospital.
Rosa offered Tessa the spare bedroom.
Tessa accepted.
Leo watched without interfering.
When she finished the call, he spoke quietly.
“Can I ask you something?”
“What?”
“Are you afraid of me?”
Tessa thought about it.
“Friday night, yes.”
He looked down.
“Now?”
“Sometimes.”
The honesty clearly hurt him.
But he didn't argue.
“My father taught me something when I was young,” Leo said.
“He told me that if people feared me, they would never leave.”
Tessa waited.
“He was wrong.”
“Yes,” she replied.
Leo looked at her.
“I'm beginning to understand that.”
They stood in silence.
Then Tessa took a small step toward him.
“What happened to your father?”
Leo's expression changed.
“He was killed when I was twenty-four.”
“I'm sorry.”
“He left behind debts, enemies, and a younger brother who thought violence was the answer to everything.”
“You have a brother?”
“Had.”
The single word ended the conversation.
Tessa didn't push.
Instead, she said, “I don't need you to become a different person overnight.”
Leo's eyes lifted.
“But if you want a place in my life, you need to be somebody I can say no to.”
His voice was barely audible.
“Then say no whenever you need to.”
The elevator doors opened.
Caroline emerged with two officers.
She looked grim.
“There's something else.”
Tessa's stomach tightened.
“What?”
“The hospital reviewed the older form that was used to copy your signature. It was downloaded from their records two days ago.”
“By whom?”
Caroline glanced at Leo.
“The account belongs to a consulting physician who also works for Hawthorne.”
“Name?”
“Dr. Daniel Reeves.”
Tessa recognized him immediately.
He had evaluated Arthur after the stroke.
He had also been the person who recommended Hawthorne.
And three months earlier, he'd told Tessa that her father's memory problems were getting worse.
She remembered arguing with him.
Arthur had been trying to tell her something, but the doctor insisted he was confused.
Now she wondered whether her father's confusion had been convenient.
Leo looked toward Caroline.
“Find out who paid him.”
Caroline shook her head.
“Not us. Investigators will obtain those records.”
Leo nodded.
“Right.”
Tessa watched the exchange.
A week earlier, he would have issued an order and expected someone to obey.
Now he was learning that helping sometimes meant stepping aside.
Her phone vibrated.
Greg.
I found the original insurance projection.
Another message appeared.
I need to tell you something before you see it.
Then a third.
I signed the report.
Tessa stared at the screen.
Greg had spent days helping her uncover the fraud.
But his signature was on the very document that made the sale possible.
She called him.
He answered immediately.
“Greg.”
His voice broke.
“I know how this looks.”
“Then tell me how it is.”
A long silence.
“I knew the numbers were wrong.”
Tessa closed her eyes.
“And you signed anyway?”
“Yes.”
She heard him crying.
“They threatened my job. I told myself it was just a preliminary report.”
Tessa gripped the phone.
“People were going to lose their homes.”
“I know.”
“No,” she whispered. “You knew before I did.”
She ended the call.
Through the window, the city glittered beneath the rain.
Tessa had spent a year believing the world was divided between dangerous men and ordinary men.
Now she understood that ordinary men could make terrible choices, too.
May you like
And dangerous men could sometimes choose to do the right thing.
The question was what happened after they made those choices.
