Chapter 7 - The Second Set of Records|
Nathan had spent his adult life believing that information was the most valuable asset a person could possess.
He paid for intelligence. He rewarded discretion. He kept meticulous records of business relationships and personal favors because he understood that every powerful person had something to hide.
Yet the photograph of Claire entering the cardiac institute made him feel like an amateur.
Someone had been watching his wife.
Someone had known about her medical condition.
And someone had placed evidence in a hospital where she might die before she could explain it.
Nathan called Martin Sloan.
“Find out who had access to Claire's medical records.”
Martin sounded half asleep.
“It's nearly four in the morning.”
“Then you'll have plenty of time to wake up on the way to the office.”
“What happened?”
“Claire is in critical condition. I need every record connected to her appointments, every person who accessed her files, and every financial transaction involving Whitmore Capital.”
There was a pause.
“Why Whitmore?”
“Because Charles Whitmore signed the document that canceled my mother's treatment.”
Martin went silent.
Nathan's grip tightened around the phone.
“You knew.”
“I knew there had been irregularities.”
“What irregularities?”
“Your father was involved in several questionable investments before his death. I assumed the hospital payment was part of the same pattern.”
“You assumed?”
“I was trying to protect the company.”
Nathan stared through the glass at Claire's room.
“Everyone seems to have been protecting something.”
“I'm not your enemy, Nathan.”
“Then prove it.”
He ended the call.
At sunrise, Evelyn Brooks arrived at the hospital. She was Claire's attorney, a sharp-eyed woman in her fifties who wore a charcoal suit and carried a leather briefcase.
Nathan met her outside the intensive-care unit.
“I need to know what my wife found.”
Evelyn regarded him carefully.
“Does Claire know you're asking?”
“She cannot speak.”
“Then I will honor her instructions.”
Nathan felt anger rise.
“She could die, and you're still protecting secrets.”
“Especially because she could die.”
Evelyn opened her briefcase and removed a folder.
“Your wife retained me after discovering that money had been diverted from a medical foundation. She believed the transfers were connected to your mother's death and to a more recent scheme involving Whitmore Capital.”
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“Because she was afraid you would dismiss her concerns as a personal reaction to your relationship with Vanessa.”
Nathan had no answer.
Evelyn continued.
“She also discovered that someone had accessed her medical file without authorization. The information was sent to a private consulting firm linked to Charles Whitmore.”
“Why would he want her medical records?”
“We don't know.”
Nathan looked through the glass at Claire.
“Did she believe someone was trying to hurt her?”
“She believed someone wanted her silent.”
Evelyn handed him a second folder.
“These are copies of the records she found. I will give you access to the financial evidence, but I will not release her private correspondence until she is able to make that decision herself.”
Nathan accepted the folder.
Inside were bank transfers, company registrations, and a list of payments stretching back twenty-three years.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Martin Sloan.
Nathan's oldest adviser had been receiving payments from a company controlled by Charles Whitmore since the year Rose died.
He stared at the figures.
“Martin told me he knew about irregularities.”
Evelyn nodded.
“He was more involved than he admitted.”
Nathan called Martin again.
This time, the call went straight to voicemail.
An hour later, Samuel arrived carrying a laptop.
“I found something in Mrs. Mercer's files.”
He opened a spreadsheet containing dozens of transfers between shell companies. Several were labeled as consulting fees. Others were categorized as medical reimbursements.
One transaction had been highlighted.
A payment of $2 million, dated the night Rose Mercer died.
The account belonged to a company registered under Martin Sloan's name.
Nathan felt sick.
“Why would Martin receive the money?”
Samuel opened another document.
“Because he was the one who arranged the hospital transfer.”
Nathan leaned closer.
The transfer request had not been signed only by Daniel and Charles. A third document showed that Martin had instructed the hospital to cancel Rose's appointment.
Nathan stood so abruptly that the laptop nearly fell.
“Find him.”
Samuel's phone rang.
He answered, listened, and looked up.
“Mr. Mercer, the security team just reported that someone entered your house.”
“Who?”
“They don't know. The cameras were disabled.”
Nathan looked toward Claire's room.
“What was taken?”
Samuel hesitated.
“Nothing from the safe. Nothing from your office.”
“Then what?”
“The blue envelope is missing from the study.”
Nathan's stomach tightened.
The original evidence was gone.
But the person who stole it had made one mistake.
Claire had not kept the only copy.
Nathan looked at Evelyn.
“Where is the original letter from my mother?”
Evelyn's expression changed.
“Claire told me it was hidden somewhere no one would think to look.”
“Where?”
Evelyn reached into her briefcase and removed a small brass key.
“Your wife said you would know when you saw it.”
May you like
Nathan recognized the key immediately.
It belonged to the locked drawer in his mother's old piano.
