Chapter 10: The Nurse Who Knew Too Much
I called Patricia Wells back seventeen times.
Every call went straight to voicemail.
On the eighteenth attempt, someone answered.
“Stop calling this number.””
It was a man's voice.
I recognized it immediately.
Daniel.
“Where is Patricia?”” I demanded.
A short laugh came through the speaker.
“You really should learn when to stop asking questions, Marcus.””
“Put her on the phone.””
“She doesn't want to speak to you.””
“She called me less than a minute ago.””
“And now she's changed her mind.””
I stood so abruptly that my chair toppled backward.
“If you've touched her—”
“Careful,” Daniel interrupted.
“Threats won't help you. You have a wife, two children, and a mother in a hospital. I suggest you remember that before you decide to become a hero.””
The call ended.
For several seconds, I stared at my phone.
Then I turned toward David.
“He has Patricia.””
“We don't know that for certain,” my attorney replied, already reaching for his own phone.
“But we're reporting the call and the potential threat immediately.””
I paced the room while David contacted the investigator assigned to our case.
My thoughts kept returning to Patricia's final words.
Your father wasn't the only one who made a deal.
Who else had made a deal?
Renee?
My mother?
Yolanda?
And what had they agreed to conceal?
An hour later, an investigator called with an update.
Patricia's last known address had been checked. Her car was parked outside her home, but she wasn't answering the door. A neighbor reported seeing a dark sedan in the street earlier that morning.
The authorities were treating the situation seriously, but they couldn't conclude that Patricia had been abducted.
I understood the caution.
I also understood that Daniel was counting on every unanswered question to buy himself time.
By noon, I was at the hospital beside my mother.
She looked smaller than I remembered, her shoulders disappearing beneath a pale blue blanket. The heart monitor beside her bed beeped steadily.
When she saw me, she reached for my hand.
“Did you find the nurse?””
“She called me. Then Daniel answered her phone.””
My mother's fingers tightened around mine.
“Oh, God.””
“Mom, I need you to tell me what Dad knew.””
She stared at the ceiling.
“Your father discovered that Daniel had been using forged documents to access money connected to the family. At first, he thought it was a business dispute. Then he found evidence that Daniel had used your identity.””
“Was Renee involved?””
My mother closed her eyes.
“She discovered the fraud before the accident.””
I leaned forward.
“What fraud?””
“Your father had been helping Renee investigate unusual financial transactions. She found payments being routed through companies that didn't seem to exist. Daniel's name appeared in some of the records.””
“Why didn't she tell me?””
“Because Daniel had convinced her that you were involved.””
I pulled my hand away.
“No.””
“Marcus, listen. Renee didn't believe it at first. But she found documents bearing your signature. She thought you had made an agreement with Daniel without telling her.””
“I never signed anything.””
“I know that now.””
I stared at my mother.
“Did Dad know I was innocent?””
“Yes.””
“Then why didn't he tell me?””
“Because he believed Daniel had access to information about you and the children. He thought keeping you ignorant would make you harder to manipulate.””
I laughed bitterly.
“Instead, I spent eight years mourning my wife.””
My mother's eyes filled with tears.
“I know.””
“No, Mom. You don't know what that was like.””
She began crying.
I wanted to take back the words, but I couldn't.
I had spent years trying to be strong for Nia and Malik. I had worked through sleepless nights, attended school meetings alone, and answered questions about their mother with a smile I didn't feel.
I had told myself that grief was something we survived together.
Now I was discovering that the people closest to me had been withholding the truth.
“Did Renee survive the accident?”” I asked.
My mother nodded.
“The doctors managed to stabilize her. She had serious injuries, but she was alive.””
I gripped the bed rail.
“Then why was there a funeral?””
My mother looked away.
“Daniel arranged the paperwork. He told your father that Renee had to disappear temporarily while they investigated the fraud.””
“And Dad agreed?””
“He thought it would be for a few days. Then a few weeks. Then Daniel said it was too dangerous for her to come back.””
I stared at her.
“You let me believe my wife was dead for eight years because Daniel told you to?””
“No,” she whispered.
“Your father made that decision. I found out later, and by then I was terrified.””
“Terrified of what?””
She looked directly at me.
“Daniel told us he had enough false evidence to make you look responsible for the fraud. He said if we exposed him before we could prove what he'd done, you could lose your job, your home, and your children.””
I shook my head.
“He was bluffing.””
“Perhaps. But your father was dying. He couldn't fight him alone.””
I looked at the monitor beside her bed.
Every beep reminded me that time was running out.
“Did Dad leave any other evidence?””
My mother hesitated.
Then she reached toward the bedside drawer.
Inside was a small envelope, yellowed at the edges.
“I kept this after he died. I was supposed to give it to you when the time was right.””
I opened it.
There was a handwritten letter and a photograph.
The letter was addressed to me.
Marcus,
If the truth has reached you, then I failed to protect you from Daniel.
I made a terrible decision. I believed I could keep Renee safe until I found enough evidence to expose him. I thought if I stayed quiet, he would leave you alone.
I was wrong.
Renee agreed to disappear because she believed Daniel would target you and the children if she remained visible. She thought it would be temporary. She thought she could return once the investigation was complete.
But Daniel demanded something in exchange.
He wanted control of the trust.
I refused to give him ownership, but I signed a temporary management agreement because I believed it would buy time.
That agreement may have given him more power than I understood.
I stopped reading.
My father had made a deal.
He had sacrificed the truth, believing he was protecting his family.
And Daniel had used that sacrifice to tighten his grip.
The letter continued.
There is one final document. Renee signed it before she disappeared. It explains why she agreed to stay away and identifies the person who helped Daniel create the false records.
I entrusted it to Patricia Wells.
If Patricia is gone, find the woman who signed the original hospital discharge form.
Her name is Yolanda Carter.
I lowered the letter.
My mother's expression crumpled.
“Your father said he couldn't trust anyone else with the truth.””
I felt cold all over.
Yolanda hadn't merely been manipulated into signing financial papers.
She had signed something connected to Renee's disappearance.
I stood.
“Did Yolanda know Renee was alive?””
My mother covered her face.
“I don't know what Daniel told her.””
“Mom, I need the truth.””
She lowered her hands.
“Your father told me that Yolanda believed she was helping Renee escape a dangerous situation. She was told that you had agreed to the arrangement.””
I stared at her.
“But I never agreed.””
“I know.””
I left the hospital with the letter in my pocket.
By the time I reached the parking lot, David had called with an update.
“Patricia has been located,” he said.
“She's at a police station outside the city. She went there herself.””
Relief rushed through me.
“Is she safe?””
“She appears to be. She says someone followed her, but she managed to get away.””
“Can we speak to her?””
“Not until the authorities finish their initial interview. But she asked me to tell you something.””
“What?””
David paused.
“She says the original hospital records show that Renee was transferred under a different name. She also says she knows where Renee went afterward.””
I gripped the phone.
“Where?””
“She won't disclose the location over the phone.””
I closed my eyes.
For the first time in eight years, I felt something other than grief.
Hope.
Then David added, “There's another complication. Patricia says Renee didn't disappear alone.””
I stopped walking.
“What does that mean?””
“She says Renee left the hospital with a child.””
I felt the blood drain from my face.
A child.
Renee had given birth to Nia and Malik years before the accident. She hadn't been pregnant when she died—or when we believed she died.
“Whose child?”” I asked.
David's voice lowered.
“Patricia says Renee was carrying a newborn when she was transferred.””
I stared across the parking lot.
The world seemed to tilt.
If Renee had been carrying a newborn, then there was another child.
A child I had never known about.
May you like
A child who might have spent eight years growing up without me.
Before I could ask another question, David said, “Marcus, Patricia believes Daniel has been searching for that child ever since.””
