Chapter 10 - RACHEL’S WARNING
The photograph had been taken at a medical charity conference in Boston.
Rachel stood on one side.
Elena stood beside her.
Daniel Mercer stood behind both women.
Arthur stared at it for nearly a minute.
“They told me they never met.”
Rebecca examined the writing on the back.
RACHEL, ELENA & DANIEL — BOSTON, 2019.
Maria stood nearby.
Lucas slept upstairs under police protection.
Arthur’s hands curled into fists.
“Daniel knew Rachel before I did.”
“No,” Maria said.
Arthur looked at her.
“He knew Rachel before he introduced Elena to you.”
That was worse.
Rebecca spent the morning reconstructing old financial records.
By afternoon, she found the first significant connection.
Seven years earlier, Rachel had donated money to a foundation called Bright Horizons Medical Relief.
Elena had served as fundraising director.
Daniel Mercer had been the foundation’s attorney.
Six months later, Bright Horizons collapsed.
Nearly four million dollars had disappeared.
No charges were filed.
Rachel had quietly resigned from the board before the scandal became public.
Arthur stared at the records.
“She never told me.”
“Maybe she planned to,” Rebecca said.
Maria remembered something.
“Did Rachel keep journals?”
Arthur looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Storage.”
Two hours later, Arthur unlocked a cedar box he had not touched since Rachel’s death.
Inside were letters.
Photographs.
Notebooks.
He opened the final journal.
The last entries were fragmented because Rachel had been ill.
Then he reached a page dated nineteen days before her death.
Arthur read silently.
His face changed.
“What?” Maria asked.
He handed the journal to Rebecca.
Rachel had written that Elena Hart was blackmailing members of Bright Horizons after stealing donor information.
She also wrote that Daniel had helped Elena hide money through shell entities.
Arthur continued.
Another entry.
Daniel came again. Says I should forget this. I told him I’m taking everything to Arthur.
Arthur swallowed.
The next page:
Someone has been in my office. Copies missing.
Then:
Elena called. She knows about Lucas’s trust.
Arthur slammed the journal shut.
Maria whispered, “She knew about the trust before Rachel died.”
Arthur could barely speak.
“There’s one more entry.”
He opened the final written page.
Rachel’s handwriting was weak.
If something happens to me, Arthur must know I did not trust Daniel. The medication made me dizzy again. The doctor says the prescription does not match what he gave me. I am scared.
Arthur stared at the sentence until the words blurred.
For five years, he had believed Rachel’s death was tragic.
Natural.
Unpreventable.
Now grief came back as rage.
Rebecca gently took the journal.
“We need law enforcement.”
“I want Elena found.”
“They’re already looking.”
“I want Daniel found.”
“They’re looking.”
“I want to know who changed Rachel’s medication.”
Rebecca nodded.
“We will.”
Arthur’s phone buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
Attached was a photograph taken seconds earlier.
Elena stood outside Lucas’s school.
Even though Lucas was safely hidden elsewhere, the message underneath was obvious.
YOU CAN’T HIDE HIM FOREVER.
A second message appeared.
COME ALONE.
MIDNIGHT.
THE OLD BRIGHT HORIZONS BUILDING.
Arthur showed Rebecca.
She shook her head.
“You are not going alone.”
Arthur looked at Rachel’s journal.
“Yes.”
May you like
His face hardened.
“I am.”
