Chapter 3 - Monday Morning
Ethan ran downstairs.
Sophia was gone.
Her purse was missing from the foyer, and the keys to the black Range Rover were gone from the hook.
"Call her," Richard said.
Ethan already was.
Straight to voicemail.
His mother-in-law, Denise, knew nothing. Sophia's closest friend claimed she had not heard from her. Her office assistant said Sophia had canceled every meeting for the next two days.
Richard returned to the study while Ethan stood in the kitchen looking sick.
"Dad, I am sorry."
Richard did not answer immediately.
"I know you are."
"I shouldn't have touched you."
"No. You shouldn't have."
Ethan closed his eyes.
Richard wanted to comfort him. That instinct had survived forty-two years of disappointments. But another instinct had become stronger with age.
Truth first.
"Sophia didn't stage that scene because she suddenly hates me," Richard said. "She needed you to believe something."
"What?"
"That I am dangerous."
Ethan looked confused.
Richard went to a drawer and removed a cream envelope.
Inside was a notice from Whitmore Capital's attorneys.
Emergency board meeting - Monday, 9:00 a.m.
Agenda: competency and succession planning concerning Richard Whitmore.
Ethan read it twice.
"I didn't schedule this."
"Your wife did."
"She can't."
"She can if she claims I am mentally unstable and a threat to the family."
Ethan's eyes lifted.
Richard continued. "For six months she has been telling people I forget things. That I wander at night. That I become aggressive."
Ethan looked ashamed.
"She told me you were getting worse."
"And you believed her."
A phone buzzed on the counter.
Not Ethan's.
Richard's.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A woman's voice whispered, "Mr. Whitmore, don't go to Monday's meeting."
Richard straightened.
"Who is this?"
"Elena. Your nurse."
Richard hadn't seen Elena in three weeks.
He had been told she quit.
May you like
Her next words made Ethan grip the counter.
"They changed your medication. And I can prove it."
