Chapter 14 - THE NURSE WHO KEPT THE TRUTH|
Eleanor was gone by the time Graham's security team reached the nursing home.
Her room had been emptied.
The staff claimed she had been transferred that morning, but nobody could identify the hospital responsible.
Graham immediately suspected Simon Hale.
The doctor had disappeared after Anthony's escape.
"Find him," Graham ordered.
Meanwhile, Tabitha and Catherine visited Eleanor's former room.
There was little left.
A folded blanket.
An empty medicine bottle.
And a photograph of Isabella holding Graham as a baby.
Catherine picked it up.
"She used to tell me stories about a woman who saved her life."
"That was Eleanor?"
Catherine nodded.
"She said Eleanor was the only person who knew what happened after the shooting."
Tabitha examined the photograph.
Something was written beneath the frame.
A telephone number.
They called it.
A weak voice answered.
"Hello?"
Tabitha froze.
"Mrs. Eleanor?"
Silence.
Then the woman whispered:
"Elizabeth's daughter?"
"Yes. I'm Tabitha."
"Oh, sweetheart."
The elderly woman began crying.
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Please. We need your help."
Eleanor took a shaky breath.
"Is Catherine with you?"
"Yes."
Another pause.
"Then both of you must listen carefully. Your mother did not die alone."
Tabitha closed her eyes.
"What happened?"
"Victor arrived at the mansion that night. He argued with Isabella. She threatened to expose him. He struck her."
Eleanor's voice broke.
"I tried to help her. But Simon Hale stopped me."
Catherine covered her mouth.
"Did he kill her?"
"No. Victor did. Simon falsified the medical report afterward."
Tabitha felt sick.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"Because Victor threatened to kill Catherine. I was told she would be sent somewhere safe if I stayed quiet."
Catherine's eyes filled.
"Was I safe?"
Eleanor hesitated.
"No. You were hidden. There is a difference."
Graham, listening on speaker, leaned forward.
"Where are you?"
"At a small church in Brooklyn. The priest is helping me."
Graham immediately dispatched a vehicle.
But Eleanor wasn't finished.
"There is one more thing. Isabella gave me a key before she died. She said it would open the family vault."
Graham looked at Tabitha.
"Where is it?"
"I hid it inside a music box."
Tabitha remembered the piano Graham had purchased.
She remembered the old melody her mother used to sing.
The music box.
Her mother had given her a small wooden one when she was a child.
It had remained packed in her suitcase.
They returned to the mansion.
Tabitha retrieved the box from her bedroom.
Inside, beneath the velvet lining, was a tiny brass key.
Graham examined it.
"That's the one."
He looked toward the staircase.
"Prepare the car."
Before they could leave, the mansion's alarm sounded again.
A security officer rushed inside.
"Boss, we've lost contact with the Brooklyn team."
Graham turned.
"How many men?"
"All four."
Then another message arrived.
It contained a photograph of Eleanor.
She was sitting inside a church.
Behind her stood Simon Hale.
His message was simple.
BRING THE KEY. COME WITHOUT YOUR SISTERS.
Graham looked at Tabitha.
She shook her head.
"We're not letting him take another person."
May you like
He nodded.
"Then we're ending this tonight."
