Cross survived the shooting.<\/p>\n
Frank confirmed it before dawn.<\/p>\n
The bullet had missed the major vessels in his shoulder, and the hospital placed an officer outside his room. Cross had finally become more useful alive than silent, which meant law enforcement suddenly treated his fear with more seriousness than it had received for ten years.<\/p>\n
The shooter escaped.<\/p>\n
A stolen vehicle was found eleven miles away.<\/p>\n
No weapon.<\/p>\n
No fingerprints that immediately identified anyone.<\/p>\n
Most importantly, nothing yet connected the attack to Charles, Harlan or Whitmore security.<\/p>\n
Frank repeated that last point twice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe follow evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou say that like you\u2019re planning not to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m planning to find Janice Bell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank sighed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew that was coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Maine address Cross gave us belonged to a small house outside Rockland.<\/p>\n
Marisa located property records confirming Janice Bell owned it.<\/p>\n
She was sixty-three.<\/p>\n
No current nursing license.<\/p>\n
No criminal record.<\/p>\n
No obvious connection to the Whitmores after Sarah\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
Frank contacted Maine authorities before we traveled.<\/p>\n
This time nobody argued about precautions.<\/p>\n
Daniel and I would go.<\/p>\n
Frank would accompany us.<\/p>\n
Evelyn wanted to come until Leo asked her to stay.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want somebody here who remembers Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
That settled it.<\/p>\n
Daniel knelt beside Leo before we left.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be back tonight if we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leo looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might take longer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leo considered the answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot promising stuff you don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have an excellent teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leo tried not to look pleased.<\/p>\n
The drive north took hours.<\/p>\n
Autumn had advanced faster there. Trees burned red and gold along the highway while gray clouds gathered above them.<\/p>\n
Daniel spent most of the journey reading Cross\u2019s copied emails.<\/p>\n
One exchange between Harlan and Cross stood out.<\/p>\n
Harlan had written, Transfer failed. Alternative documentation required.<\/p>\n
Cross responded, Charles authorized cleanup only.<\/p>\n
Harlan\u2019s reply was shorter.<\/p>\n
Charles doesn\u2019t need details.<\/p>\n
Daniel read it three times.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father wasn\u2019t controlling Harlan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHarlan was using him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how it looks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank spoke from the front.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t turn \u2018how it looks\u2019 into a conclusion yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel leaned back.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou and Marisa should start a club.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did. It\u2019s called people who keep you out of prison.\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice Bell answered the door after our third knock.<\/p>\n
She was small, with cropped white hair and a cardigan buttoned incorrectly near the bottom.<\/p>\n
Her expression was polite until Frank showed identification.<\/p>\n
Then she looked past us toward the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Samuel alive?\u201d<\/p>\n
That answered one question.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know about the shooting?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone called me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one spoke.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank\u2019s posture changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLast night.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid they threaten you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA photograph was left in my mailbox this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
She disappeared inside and returned holding a plastic grocery bag.<\/p>\n
Inside was an old photograph of Sarah.<\/p>\n
Pregnant.<\/p>\n
Leaving the hospital.<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s face hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was written on it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice turned the bag over.<\/p>\n
Remember what silence bought you.<\/p>\n
She looked at us.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never took money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what did silence buy?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cTime.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy children.\u201d<\/p>\n
She let us inside.<\/p>\n
Her living room overlooked a narrow strip of water beyond the trees. Family photographs covered one wall.<\/p>\n
Janice sat with both hands wrapped around a mug she never drank from.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wondered when this would happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you come forward?\u201d<\/p>\n
She laughed without humor.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe police.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith what? A memory that hospital administrators told me I misunderstood?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw Harlan with Leo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes moved to mine.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Cross kept copies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked almost relieved.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTell us what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was twenty-seven. Night shift. Evelyn Carter was the senior nurse on the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe remembers you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe should. We argued constantly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite everything, I smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds like Evelyn.\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice\u2019s expression softened.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then it vanished.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat night was chaos. Sarah deteriorated quickly. Harlan kept changing instructions. People were coming onto the floor who didn\u2019t belong there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhitmore security?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know who they were then.\u201d<\/p>\n
She described Evelyn bringing Leo back from the attempted transfer.<\/p>\n
Harlan became furious.<\/p>\n
Not loudly.<\/p>\n
That was what Janice remembered most.<\/p>\n
He never raised his voice.<\/p>\n
He simply told Evelyn she was emotionally compromised and ordered her away from the nursery.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Evelyn leave?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a few minutes. She went to find Cross.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHarlan told me another infant needed assistance down the hall.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas that true?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause when I got there, the room was empty.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at Daniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came back immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Leo was gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you raise an alarm?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI started to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat stopped you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Harlan.\u201d<\/p>\n
My hands tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere was he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cComing out of the service elevator.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Leo?\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice nodded.<\/p>\n
Daniel stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere had he taken him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI followed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou followed Harlan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t see me.\u201d<\/p>\n
She described the basement corridor.<\/p>\n
Laundry storage.<\/p>\n
Maintenance rooms.<\/p>\n
A service exit used by ambulances and deliveries.<\/p>\n
Harlan carried Leo in a hospital bassinet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was he doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe met a man.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDescribe him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTall. Dark overcoat. Maybe forty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCharles?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel showed her a photograph.<\/p>\n
Janice shook her head immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMartin Vale?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel Cross?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert Hale?\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat might be him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel and I exchanged a look.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert was helping Sarah.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHarlan told Robert the paperwork was ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat paperwork?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t hear everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
She closed her eyes, reconstructing the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert asked whether Sarah knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHarlan said Sarah wouldn\u2019t be in a position to object.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat exactly did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice\u2019s hands began trembling.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Robert looked into the bassinet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said, \u2018This isn\u2019t what Charles authorized.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re certain?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Harlan say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Charles would understand once it was finished.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was finished?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert refused to take the baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarlan was giving Leo to Robert?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Robert was supposed to drive him somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice continued.<\/p>\n
The two men argued.<\/p>\n
Robert told Harlan he would not move Leo without Sarah\u2019s consent.<\/p>\n
Harlan accused him of losing his nerve.<\/p>\n
Then Robert said something that had stayed with Janice for ten years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Sarah dies, this ends.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt the air leave my lungs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s voice was hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Harlan say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said, \u2018If Sarah dies, it becomes easier.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
No one spoke.<\/p>\n
Frank finally asked, \u201cDid you report that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo Cross?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe looked terrified.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me to bring Leo upstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHarlan walked away after Robert refused. Robert stayed with the bassinet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Robert gave Leo to you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he say anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me to keep the baby where people could see him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Exactly what Evelyn later did.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe gave me an envelope.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat envelope?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Sarah.\u201d<\/p>\n
My pulse jumped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI put it in my locker.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Sarah receive it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe died before my shift ended.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel lowered his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do with it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI took it home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you still have it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice stood.<\/p>\n
Without another word, she went upstairs.<\/p>\n
When she returned, she carried a metal cash box.<\/p>\n
Inside were nursing certificates, photographs, old identification cards and a sealed envelope.<\/p>\n
SARAH was written across the front.<\/p>\n
Not in Robert\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n
Daniel recognized it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my father\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice handed it to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert said Charles gave it to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel opened it.<\/p>\n
The letter was brief.<\/p>\n
Charles told Sarah that he had withdrawn his demand for custody.<\/p>\n
He admitted he had behaved unforgivably.<\/p>\n
He promised Daniel would be allowed to return.<\/p>\n
He promised no one would take her child.<\/p>\n
The date was the day Leo was born.<\/p>\n
Daniel sat down.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe changed his mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently,\u201d Frank said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Harlan continued.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of the basement.<\/p>\n
Harlan telling Robert that Charles would understand afterward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was Harlan trying to finish?\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice stared at her hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve wondered for ten years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel reread Charles\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n
Then he noticed something inside the envelope.<\/p>\n
A smaller sheet.<\/p>\n
A handwritten note from Robert.<\/p>\n
If Harlan says the child died, do not believe him. He has prepared documents. I have copies. I will get them to Daniel.<\/p>\n
Daniel whispered, \u201cRobert knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I kept it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank asked, \u201cWhy leave nursing?\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice looked toward the family photographs.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo days after Sarah died, someone followed my daughter home from school.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was six.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did they say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next morning I found a photograph of her beneath my windshield wiper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Exactly the method used against us.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you left.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Cross threaten you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHarlan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never had to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel folded Charles\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert Hale died a year later.\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ever speak to him again?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout six months after Sarah died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat he had hidden the evidence somewhere Charles would never look.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wouldn\u2019t tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said Sarah had been right about one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Harlan was more afraid of the truth than Charles was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n
He stepped outside.<\/p>\n
When he returned, his face had changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeter Harlan was found at his house this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cDead?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice aren\u2019t releasing details yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas he murdered?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice went pale.<\/p>\n
Frank looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cPack a bag.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not staying here tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
She did not argue.<\/p>\n
On the drive south, Daniel held Charles\u2019s letter in one hand and Robert\u2019s warning in the other.<\/p>\n
Harlan had been alive when Samuel Cross was shot.<\/p>\n
Now he was dead.<\/p>\n
Robert Hale had once possessed evidence proving Harlan created false records.<\/p>\n
Robert was dead too.<\/p>\n
And somewhere, hidden for ten years, were the copies he had promised to deliver.<\/p>\n
Cross survived the shooting. Frank confirmed it before dawn. The bullet had missed the major vessels in his shoulder, and the hospital placed an officer outside his room. Cross had … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32285"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32320,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32285\/revisions\/32320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}