Chapter 10 - MIDPOINT: THE DEATH BEFORE DANIEL’S
Marcus spent the next forty-eight hours doing something he had spent nine years refusing to do.
He reopened his father’s death.
Charles Callaway had collapsed during a board strategy meeting.
Official cause.
Massive myocardial infarction.
He had known heart disease.
He smoked when he was younger.
He worked too much.
No autopsy had been performed.
There had been no reason.
Until now.
Naomi obtained hospital records through Eleanor.
Charles had been admitted three weeks before his death for dizziness and irregular heart rhythm.
Tests showed mild coronary disease.
Nothing immediately fatal.
His cardiologist prescribed medication.
Then, four days before Charles died, his medication list changed.
A new drug appeared.
One that could dangerously interact with his existing prescription.
Marcus stared at the record.
“Who prescribed it?”
Naomi pointed.
“Not his cardiologist.”
“Then who?”
“Private concierge physician.”
“Name?”
“Dr. Warren Hale.”
Marcus looked up.
“Hale.”
Naomi nodded.
“Victor’s older brother.”
Marcus felt the room tilt.
Sarah sat across from him in Eleanor’s dining room.
Maya was still in Atlanta with Rosemary.
Sarah had cried when she called her that morning.
Maya told her not to worry.
“We sold three cinnamon rolls.”
Sarah asked whose cinnamon rolls.
Maya said, “The bakery’s.”
Sarah laughed for the first time all day.
Now she stared at Charles’s medical record.
“You think they killed him.”
Marcus shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“But they were watching him.”
“They changed his medication.”
“And Victor’s brother was the doctor.”
Naomi closed the file.
“That’s not proof of homicide.”
“Then get proof.”
“Nine years later?”
“Try.”
Naomi looked at him.
“I will.”
Marcus walked outside.
The mountains were blue in the distance.
His father had brought him here as a child.
Fishing.
Hiking.
Arguments.
Lessons.
Charles had been difficult.
Demanding.
Often absent.
But Marcus had never doubted one thing.
His father believed the company carried responsibility.
Not just profit.
Responsibility.
Samuel had mocked him for that.
Marcus remembered.
“Charlie thinks trucks have souls.”
Samuel used to say.
Charles would answer, “No.”
“Drivers do.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Sarah stepped onto the porch.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Marcus looked at her.
She leaned against the railing.
“People keep asking that when the answer is obvious.”
“It’s exhausting.”
Marcus nodded.
“Fair.”
For a while, neither spoke.
Then Sarah said, “Daniel admired your father.”
“I didn’t know.”
“He met him once.”
“Charles visited Atlanta during a safety campaign.”
“Daniel came home talking about him.”
Marcus smiled faintly.
“What did he say?”
“That your dad yelled at a manager for dispatching a driver who hadn’t slept.”
Marcus laughed quietly.
“That sounds like him.”
“He said Charles told the room, ‘If a schedule requires somebody to risk dying, the schedule is wrong.’”
Marcus looked toward the mountains.
“He said that to me too.”
“Then maybe Daniel knew exactly who to trust.”
Marcus nodded.
“And we failed him.”
Sarah didn’t soften it.
“Yes.”
That was why Marcus trusted her more than most people now.
She did not lie to make pain easier.
His phone rang.
Naomi.
Marcus answered.
“What did you find?”
“A former nurse.”
“From my father’s doctor?”
“Yes.”
“Her name is Linda Carver.”
“She worked for Warren Hale.”
“She remembers Charles.”
Marcus’s pulse quickened.
“What does she remember?”
“Dr. Hale changed Charles’s medication after a private phone call.”
“With who?”
“She doesn’t know.”
“But she says he was nervous afterward.”
“Anything else?”
“She kept old appointment notebooks.”
“Why?”
“Tax dispute.”
“One entry says ‘SC requested urgent adjustment.’”
Marcus stopped breathing.
“SC.”
“Could be Samuel Callaway.”
“Could be something else.”
“Where’s Linda?”
“Knoxville.”
“I’m going.”
Sarah said, “We.”
Marcus looked at her.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because this is my father.”
“And Daniel is my husband.”
“They are the same story now.”
He had no argument.
They drove to Knoxville the next morning.
Linda Carver lived in a small brick house.
She was sixty-four.
Gray hair.
Careful eyes.
She remembered Warren Hale.
“Brilliant doctor.”
“Terrible man.”
Marcus sat across from her.
“Did he knowingly give my father dangerous medication?”
Linda looked uncomfortable.
“I don’t know knowingly.”
“What do you know?”
“Your father didn’t need that drug.”
“Why was it prescribed?”
“Dr. Hale said anxiety and blood pressure.”
“Was that reasonable?”
“Not with his other medication.”
“Did you object?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I was told to stay in my lane.”
Sarah leaned forward.
“Who called him?”
Linda looked at Marcus.
“I only heard one side.”
“What did he say?”
“He said, ‘Samuel, I told you I can’t guarantee anything.’”
Marcus felt cold.
Linda continued.
“Then, ‘If Charlie stops fighting, that’s your business.’”
Marcus’s hands curled into fists.
“Why didn’t you report this?”
“Because I didn’t know your father died until months later.”
“When I asked Dr. Hale, he told me Charles had changed doctors.”
“Then he fired me.”
Naomi recorded the statement.
Before they left, Linda handed Marcus a photocopy.
“There’s something else.”
A pharmacy invoice.
Charles’s medication.
Paid not by insurance.
Not by Charles.
By HGV Capital.
Samuel’s investment company.
Marcus stared.
Sarah whispered, “Jesus.”
On the drive back, Marcus called Samuel.
Sarah looked alarmed.
“What are you doing?”
“Testing him.”
Samuel answered.
“Marcus.”
“Did you pay for my father’s medication before he died?”
Silence.
Then Samuel sighed.
“You’ve been talking to your mother.”
“Answer me.”
“Charles had private medical expenses.”
“HGV occasionally covered executive services.”
“Why?”
“Tax structure.”
“Victor’s brother prescribed him a drug that interacted with his heart medication.”
Another silence.
“Are you accusing me of something?”
“Not yet.”
Samuel’s voice became icy.
“Then don’t.”
Marcus hung up.
Sarah looked at him.
“That was stupid.”
“Probably.”
“Why warn him?”
“I wanted to hear whether he was surprised.”
“Was he?”
“No.”
Marcus’s phone buzzed.
Email.
Emergency board meeting.
Tuesday.
Purpose.
Review of CEO conduct and fiduciary risk.
Sarah read it.
“They’re coming for you.”
Marcus nodded.
“Yes.”
“Can they remove you?”
“With enough votes.”
“Does Samuel have them?”
Marcus looked at the road.
“Until yesterday, I would have said no.”
His phone buzzed again.
Another email.
From Victor Hale.
Subject.
RESIGNATION.
Marcus opened it.
Victor had resigned effective immediately.
No explanation.
Marcus called Naomi.
“Victor quit.”
“I saw.”
“Find him.”
“Already trying.”
Minutes later, Naomi called back.
“Marcus.”
“What?”
“Victor boarded a private flight thirty minutes ago.”
“To where?”
“Unknown.”
“Whose plane?”
A pause.
“Samuel’s.”
Marcus gripped the phone.
May you like
Then Naomi added the detail that made everything worse.
“Paul Renner is on it too.”
