Chapter 10 - WHAT SOPHIA FOUND
The bullet grazed Nathan's ribs.
It looked worse than it was.
That didn't stop me from wanting to kill Daniel Cross with my bare hands.
We dragged Nathan into the maintenance shaft seconds before Cross reached the tunnel. Mrs. Alvarez pulled the old panel closed behind us.
We climbed one iron rung at a time.
Nathan bled on my sleeve.
"Still think billionaire nonsense was the problem?" he whispered.
"Shut up and climb."
"Bossy."
"Bleeding."
Sophia looked down from above and signed:
NATHAN GOOD?
"He's good," I told her, though I had no idea.
The shaft opened behind a laundry cabinet on the second floor.
The mansion was strangely quiet.
Too quiet.
Graham's men were searching the lower floors.
We slipped into the nursery wing. Nathan locked the door and slid to the carpet.
Mrs. Alvarez pressed towels against his side.
I opened the metal case.
Patent documents. Board resolutions. A sealed folder labeled MEDICAL HOLDINGS.
Nathan frowned. "That's not mine."
Inside were copies of medical files for six people.
All wealthy.
All connected to Vale Meridian negotiations.
Three were dead.
Two had suffered strokes.
One had been declared mentally incompetent.
The same consultant appeared on every file.
Dr. Elliot Price.
My stomach dropped.
"No," Nathan said. "Elliot tried to warn us."
"Or he tried to control what we discovered."
Sophia had wandered to the bookshelf. She pulled out her coloring book where I had hidden the insurance originals.
A small memory card fell from between the pages.
I stared at it.
I hadn't put it there.
Sophia picked it up and signed:
DOCTOR.
"Dr. Price gave you this?"
She nodded.
WHEN?
Sophia pointed downstairs, then touched her head like someone lying down.
When we found him under Vanessa's desk.
Nathan's face hardened.
We put the memory card into an old laptop.
A video file opened.
Dr. Price appeared on-screen.
May you like
He looked terrified.
"If you are watching this," he said, "I am probably dead. And Nathan, the person you need to fear most is not Vanessa Hale."
