Chapter 11 - DR. HALE’S SECRET
I refused to believe it at first.
Dr. Hale had protected June.
She had called security.
She had helped expose Luke.
But Bennett showed me the records.
Hale had worked with Keller at Saint Mercy.
Payments had been made to an account connected to her.
Then Hale disappeared.
She left the hospital before police could question her.
A nationwide alert went out.
Camille was devastated.
“She trained me.”
“Did you know?”
“No.”
I believed her.
Camille had risked her career by stopping Luke.
Without her, June might have disappeared.
Rebecca claimed Hale had been Keller’s record keeper.
She changed birth certificates.
Deleted security logs.
Altered discharge documents.
For years, she had protected the network from inside hospitals.
But something didn’t fit.
If Hale was protecting Keller, why had she locked the unit?
Why had she exposed the switch?
Bennett wondered the same thing.
The answer came from Hale herself.
She called me.
Unknown number.
“Claire.”
I recognized her voice.
“Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Police are looking for you.”
“I know.”
“Did you help Keller?”
Silence.
“Yes.”
My stomach turned.
“For how long?”
“Too long.”
“Why did you help us?”
“Because June was supposed to be the last.”
I gripped the phone.
“What does that mean?”
“I’ve been collecting evidence for two years.”
“Then go to police.”
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
“Keller found out.”
She sounded terrified.
“Claire, Rebecca didn’t tell them everything.”
“What else is there?”
“A ledger.”
“Where?”
“Your house.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Luke hid it there.”
“Where?”
“He didn’t tell me.”
“Why would he hide evidence in our house?”
“Because Keller would never search the home of the woman whose mother almost exposed him.”
The irony made me sick.
“Claire, listen carefully.”
I heard a sound behind her.
A door.
Hale inhaled sharply.
“They found me.”
The line went dead.
Police traced the call.
They found Hale’s abandoned car.
No Hale.
No phone.
Bennett immediately sent officers to my house.
I went with them.
For six hours, they searched.
Nothing.
Then Eli walked into our bedroom.
He looked at Luke’s old dresser.
“Mom?”
“What?”
“Dad had a drawer I wasn’t allowed to touch.”
Police opened it.
Empty.
Eli frowned.
“No.”
“What?”
“He said drawer.”
Eli crouched.
“He never said which side.”
He pulled the entire dresser away from the wall.
Behind it was a narrow panel.
Inside was a black notebook.
The ledger.
Bennett opened it.
Pages of names.
Payments.
Hospitals.
Children.
Then she reached the final page.
Only one entry appeared there.
JUNE MARSHALL.
Beside her name was a price.
$5,000,000.
May you like
And underneath:
DELIVERY PENDING.
