Chapter 8: The Woman in Room 6
Rachel’s expression did not change.
“Give me the note,” she said.
I folded it into my palm.
“Why?”
“Because someone is trying to divide us.”
“Or warn us.”
Thomas stepped between us.
Rachel’s hand moved toward her weapon, but she did not draw it.
She quietly admitted that her supervisor had ordered her to stop investigating Eleanor twice. She had refused, but she could not prove everyone on her team was trustworthy.
“I am not asking you to trust me,” she said. “I am asking you to judge me by what I do next.”
She drove us to North River Clinic without contacting her office.
The clinic had been closed for renovations, but lights were visible behind the covered windows.
We entered through the rear loading area.
Inside, we found medical supplies, patient records, and private security guards wearing Vance Foundation badges.
Rachel disarmed the first guard. Thomas locked the second inside a treatment room.
Room 6 was at the end of the hall.
A thin woman lay unconscious beneath a white blanket. Her silver-streaked hair framed a face that looked painfully familiar.
Nathan had her eyes.
I touched her hand.
“Rebecca?”
Her eyelids moved.
Then she whispered, “Nathan.”
A nurse helped reduce the medication flowing into her IV. Within minutes, Rebecca became more alert.
She told us Eleanor had kept her hidden since Nathan was an infant.
Rebecca had tried to leave Charles after discovering Eleanor was stealing from the company. Eleanor arranged an accident, forged Rebecca’s death certificate, and convinced Charles that his wife had abandoned them.
Rebecca had survived, but no one believed her.
Only Thomas had suspected the truth.
“Where is Nathan?” I asked.
Rebecca’s fingers tightened around mine.
“He found me.”
“When?”
“Three days ago.”
She said Nathan had entered the clinic pretending to be a doctor. He promised to return with help.
But Eleanor’s men captured him before he could leave the property.
“They took him downstairs,” Rebecca whispered.
We searched the basement and found a soundproof room with chains bolted to the wall.
Nathan was gone.
On the floor was a fresh trail of blood and a note written in his handwriting.
Claire—do not come to the board meeting. It is a trap.
May you like
Beneath the message, Eleanor had added a sentence of her own.
Come alone, or your husband dies before the vote begins.
