Chapter 3 - THE PERSON WATCHING THE HOSPITAL
I showed Detective Harris the photograph before I told anyone else.
He returned to the hospital within twenty minutes.
Two officers were positioned outside Irene's room.
Another went downstairs to review security footage.
I sat beside Irene while Harris examined the message.
“When did you receive this?”
“8:03.”
“Any other messages?”
“No.”
He studied the photograph.
“That's the east entrance.”
“Yes.”
“Did you leave through that entrance?”
“No.”
“Your wife?”
“No.”
“Anyone from your family?”
I shook my head.
He looked at me.
“Then whoever took this picture was watching the hospital.”
Irene looked frightened.
Harris noticed.
“We're going to increase security around your wife.”
“Thank you.”
He turned to me.
“Do you recognize the vehicle?”
The photograph showed a black SUV parked across the street.
I zoomed in.
My stomach tightened.
“I've seen that vehicle before.”
“Where?”
“At my house.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“Before the attack?”
“Yes.”
He wrote something down.
“Do you know who owns it?”
“No.”
I looked again.
Then something clicked.
“There.”
“What?”
“License plate.”
Part of the plate was visible beneath the rear bumper.
I read the numbers aloud.
Harris immediately called another officer.
“Run this plate.”
Five minutes later, the officer returned.
The SUV was registered to a company.
Not a person.
W.H. Strategic Holdings.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“That company?”
“Yes.”
The same company named in the forged transfer.
Harris looked at me.
“Then we have a problem.”
I nodded.
“No.”
I looked toward Irene.
“We have a person.”
The person who owned the company.
The person who had been watching our house.
The person who had been watching the hospital.
And possibly the person who had been controlling my mother.
Daniel called again.
I answered.
“Austin.”
“Did you identify W.H. Strategic Holdings?”
“Yes.”
“Who owns it?”
“We're still tracing it.”
“I know.”
“What?”
“I ran a preliminary corporate search.”
“And?”
“The registered manager is a man named William Hart.”
I froze.
William Hart.
The name meant nothing.
Then Daniel continued.
“But the beneficial owner is listed under a private trust.”
“Whose trust?”
“That's what we're trying to uncover.”
I looked at Detective Harris.
“Can you trace a private trust?”
He nodded.
“We can request records.”
Daniel spoke again.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“William Hart was once a senior executive at Wentworth Development.”
I stood.
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
“Why did he leave?”
Daniel hesitated.
“He was accused of diverting company funds.”
My jaw tightened.
“How much?”
“About eight million dollars.”
“What happened?”
“He settled privately.”
“Who negotiated the settlement?”
Daniel went silent.
I already knew.
“My mother.”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
Gertrude had not simply known William Hart.
She had protected him.
Seven years ago.
Before Irene.
Before our marriage.
Before the pregnancy.
This had been building for years.
Irene looked at me.
“What happened?”
I walked over.
“My mother knew the man behind the company trying to take my shares.”
Her face changed.
“Who?”
“William Hart.”
She frowned.
“Why does that name sound familiar?”
I looked at her.
“You told me your mother mentioned someone else was behind her.”
She nodded.
“Did she ever say Hart?”
Irene thought.
Then her eyes widened.
“Yes.”
My heart stopped.
“When?”
“About three weeks ago.”
“What did she say?”
“She was arguing with Carla.”
Irene swallowed.
“She said, ‘William won't wait forever.’”
I looked at Harris.
He immediately began writing.
“Anything else?”
“She said if Austin returned early, everything would collapse.”
Harris looked up.
“Everything?”
Irene nodded.
Then she looked at me.
“There was another name.”
“What name?”
She hesitated.
“Rachel.”
I frowned.
“Who is Rachel?”
“I don't know.”
“She said, ‘Rachel has the originals.’”
My pulse quickened.
“What originals?”
“I don't know.”
I turned to Harris.
“We need to find Rachel.”
He nodded.
But before he could respond, a nurse entered.
“Mr. Wentworth?”
“Yes?”
“There's someone asking to see you.”
“Who?”
“She says her name is Rachel.”
Irene and I looked at each other.
Detective Harris immediately stepped between the door and the room.
“Where is she?”
“Downstairs.”
“Did she show identification?”
“Yes.”
“Keep her there.”
The nurse nodded and left.
Harris looked at me.
“Stay here.”
He went downstairs.
Ten minutes later, he returned with a woman in her early forties.
She looked exhausted.
Dark hair.
Gray coat.
No makeup.
Her hands were shaking.
She looked at me.
“My name is Rachel Collins.”
I stared at her.
“You know William Hart.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I worked for him.”
“What did you do?”
“I was his assistant.”
“And my mother?”
Rachel looked at the floor.
“She hired me.”
My stomach tightened.
“To do what?”
Rachel reached into her purse.
Pulled out a flash drive.
Then she looked at me.
“To help steal your company.”
Silence.
She placed the drive on the table.
“I couldn't do it anymore.”
Harris stepped closer.
“Why now?”
Rachel looked at Irene.
“Because I didn't know they were going to hurt her.”
Her voice cracked.
“I thought they only wanted the money.”
I stared at the drive.
“What is on it?”
“Everything.”
“Everything?”
“Emails.”
“Between whom?”
“Your mother.”
“William Hart.”
“Your sister.”
Rachel swallowed.
“And one other person.”
“Who?”
She looked directly at me.
Then whispered,
“Your father's former business partner.”
I felt the room go silent.
“My father has been dead for fifteen years.”
“I know.”
“Then why is he involved?”
Rachel shook her head.
“He isn't.”
She looked at me.
“But someone has been using his name.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Rachel's eyes filled with fear.
“Someone created a second trust.”
“In your father's name.”
“And used it to control the voting shares.”
I stared at her.
Then she said the words that changed everything.
“Austin, your mother wasn't trying to steal your company.”
May you like
She pointed toward the flash drive.
“She was trying to hand it to someone else.”
