Chapter 6 - A Sister's Life for a Deadly Secret|
“That's my sister!”
Claire grabbed Ethan's phone so violently that it nearly slipped from his hand.
“That's Emily. That's her apartment building. Daniel knows where she is.”
Lauren reached for the phone.
“Claire, give me a moment.”
“No! You don't understand. He said he'd leave her alone if I married him.”
Her voice broke.
“I did everything he wanted.”
Ethan gently took the phone back.
“Listen to me. A photograph doesn't prove Emily has been taken.”
Claire shook her head.
“He wouldn't send it unless he wanted me to think she was in danger.”
“Then we check on her.”
Ethan dialed the number Claire provided.
It rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
No answer.
Claire pressed both hands over her mouth.
He called again.
Straight to voicemail.
“Emily, this is Dr. Ethan Blake at Lakefront Medical Center in Chicago. Your sister Claire is safe, but she's concerned about you. Please call this number as soon as possible.”
Claire stared at him.
“She's never going to call.”
“Why?”
“Because she's scared of strangers. She doesn't answer unknown numbers.”
Ethan looked toward Lauren.
“Can you call hospital security and report the threat?”
Lauren was already moving.
“I'll also ask the social worker to help contact the police.”
Across the state line, Emily Bennett sat inside a twenty-four-hour diner in southeastern Wisconsin.
Her coffee had gone cold.
She had left her apartment after realizing someone was watching the building. Instead of driving home to her parents' empty house, she had taken back roads toward the Illinois border.
She was frightened.
But she wasn't helpless.
Claire had spent years protecting her.
Now Emily wanted to return the favor.
She opened her phone and listened to Ethan's voicemail.
A doctor.
Lakefront Medical Center.
Claire was alive.
Emily immediately called back.
Ethan answered.
“Emily?”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Ethan Blake. I'm a physician. Your sister was brought to Lakefront Medical Center last night.”
“Is she hurt?”
“She's recovering.”
“Recovering from what?”
Ethan hesitated.
“She was pulled from the Chicago River.”
Emily made a sound as though someone had punched her.
“No.”
“She's alive. She's conscious. She wants to speak with you.”
“Put her on.”
Ethan handed the phone to Claire.
“Emily?”
For several seconds, neither sister could speak.
Then Emily began crying.
“Claire, what happened?”
Claire covered her face.
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't you dare apologize. Where are you?”
“At the hospital.”
“I'm coming.”
“No!”
The force of Claire's response startled everyone.
“Emily, listen to me. Don't go home. Don't tell anyone where you are.”
Emily looked through the diner window.
A black sedan had just pulled into the parking lot.
Her heart stopped.
“Claire,” she whispered, “I think someone's following me.”
Claire went completely still.
“What?”
“There's a car.”
“What kind?”
“Black. Four doors. I saw one like it outside my apartment.”
Ethan took the phone.
“Emily, are you somewhere public?”
“Yes.”
“Stay around other people. Tell the staff you feel unsafe and call 911. Do not approach the car.”
Emily stood.
Through the window, she saw a man step out.
He was wearing a gray jacket.
He looked toward the diner.
Then he raised his phone and took a photograph.
Emily ran toward the counter.
“Please,” she told the waitress. “Call the police.”
The waitress took one look at her face and reached for the telephone.
Outside, the man returned to his car.
By the time a patrol officer arrived, the sedan was gone.
But Emily had photographed its license plate.
And that photograph would become more important than any of them imagined.
Back in Chicago, Ethan contacted an attorney he trusted.
Her name was Margaret Ellis.
She had once represented the hospital in a whistleblower case before leaving corporate law to handle medical accountability matters.
Margaret listened without interrupting.
When Ethan finished, she asked one question.
“Do you have physical evidence that Mercer Biomedical manipulated clinical reports?”
“We may have access to it.”
“May have?”
“The archive requires an authentication device we don't possess.”
“Then we need to preserve everything you do have. Messages. Photographs. Hospital records that you're lawfully permitted to retain. Claire's account. Any information about the threats.”
Ethan glanced toward Claire.
“And Angelina Parker?”
Margaret paused.
“That's a separate matter, but it may be connected. Don't access anything outside your authorization. Let investigators obtain those records properly.”
“Will you help us?”
“I'll meet with Claire and explain her options. If she's willing, we can contact federal investigators through appropriate channels.”
Ethan exhaled.
“Thank you.”
“Don't thank me yet.”
Margaret's voice grew serious.
“If what you're describing is true, Mercer isn't protecting a business secret. He's protecting a potential criminal conspiracy.”
That evening, a plainclothes officer escorted Emily from the diner to a safe location while authorities assessed the threat.
Claire finally spoke to her sister again.
The relief in her voice was heartbreaking.
“You're safe?”
“For now,” Emily answered.
“Promise me you'll listen to the police.”
“Promise me you'll stop letting that man decide whether you deserve to live.”
Claire began crying.
“I don't know how.”
“Then start by surviving tonight.”
After the call, Claire sat beside the hospital window.
Ethan stood a respectful distance away.
“You should go home,” she said.
He looked at her.
“I don't think that's a good idea.”
“Your career is falling apart because you helped me.”
“My career was already in trouble.”
“Don't pretend that makes this easier.”
He pulled a chair toward the window.
“Claire, three days ago, I lost a patient I was desperate to save. I've replayed every decision since then. I don't know whether the review will clear me. I don't know whether I made mistakes.”
She listened quietly.
“But I know what happened on that bridge. Someone was drowning. I jumped. I would do it again.”
Claire looked toward the dark city.
“Even knowing who I am?”
“Especially knowing someone is threatening you.”
She studied his face.
Then she whispered, “Daniel said nobody would ever choose to help me if they knew what I'd done.”
Ethan turned.
“What did you do?”
Claire stared at her hands.
“I signed the first altered safety report.”
The room became silent.
Ethan didn't move.
Claire continued.
“I didn't understand what I was signing at the time. But my name is on it.”
“And Daniel has used that against you.”
She nodded.
“Every day for three years.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“Then tell investigators everything. Including your part.”
Claire stared at him.
“You think they'll forgive me?”
“I don't know.”
The answer hurt.
But it was truthful.
“Doing the right thing now won't erase what happened. It may help prevent it from happening again.”
For a long time, Claire said nothing.
Then she reached for a pen.
“Get me some paper.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm going to write down every name I remember.”
Two hours later, the list contained seventeen people.
Doctors.
Engineers.
Executives.
A former compliance officer.
And one name that made Ethan's blood run cold.
Victoria Shaw.
The hospital administrator who had suspended him.
May you like
At the bottom of the page, Claire had written four words.
She knows about Angelina.
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