Chapter 10 - THE CALL FROM THE NIGHT SHE DIEDChadworth pressed PLAY.
Static.
Breathing.
Then Elizabeth’s voice.
“Rosamund…”
Chadworth gripped the phone.
She sounded weak.
Terrified.
“I think someone changed the IV.”
His eyes closed.
Marcus stood completely still.
Elizabeth continued.
“Vale isn’t here. There’s another doctor.”
A pause.
Footsteps in the recording.
“I told the nurse I didn’t want anything else, but she said Chad approved it.”
Chadworth whispered, “No.”
He had approved nothing.
Elizabeth’s voice dropped.
“If I don’t make it through tonight, don’t let Sabina near my girls.”
More footsteps.
Then a man’s voice in the distance.
Not clear enough.
Elizabeth inhaled sharply.
“I have to go.”
The recording ended.
Chadworth replayed it.
Again.
Again.
Same words.
Every time.
Marcus finally took the phone from his hand.
“Enough.”
“No.”
“You heard it.”
“I left her that night.”
Marcus didn’t respond.
Chadworth stared at the floor.
“She told me she was tired. I had a meeting in Chicago the next morning.”
“You didn’t know.”
“She died at 3:14 a.m.”
“Chad.”
“I was on a plane.”
Marcus grabbed his shoulder.
“She told you to go?”
“Yes.”
“Then stop turning what they did into what you did.”
Chadworth looked at him.
For once, the words got through.
Not completely.
But enough.
Nina called an hour later.
They had found Dr. Vale.
Alive.
He had checked himself into a small urgent care clinic under another name after being assaulted.
Chadworth drove straight there.
Vale looked twenty years older than Chadworth remembered.
Bruised face.
Broken fingers.
Fear in his eyes.
He saw Chadworth and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Chadworth stood beside the bed.
“Did you kill my wife?”
Vale shook his head violently.
“No.”
“Did you change her medication?”
“No.”
“Did you know someone did?”
Vale started crying.
That shocked Chadworth more than anything.
“I suspected.”
“Who?”
“I didn’t know at first.”
“Then?”
Vale swallowed.
“Elliot approached me.”
“When?”
“About six months before Elizabeth died.”
“For what?”
“He wanted information.”
“Medical?”
“Yes. Her prognosis. Dosages. Side effects.”
“Why did you give it to him?”
“I didn’t initially.”
Vale looked away.
“He found out about my gambling debt.”
Chadworth’s jaw tightened.
“How much?”
“Seven hundred thousand.”
“And he paid you?”
“Part of it.”
“So you sold my wife’s medical information.”
Vale closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Chadworth wanted to hit him.
He didn’t.
“Who changed the IV?”
Vale whispered, “A nurse named Kelly Morrow.”
“Who paid her?”
“Elliot.”
“On Sabina’s orders?”
Vale hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Chadworth leaned closer.
“Don’t protect her.”
“I’m not.”
“Then tell me.”
Vale’s breathing sped up.
“I never heard Sabina order Elizabeth’s death.”
Chadworth felt a flash of disappointment.
Then Vale continued.
“But I heard her order yours.”
Silence.
“What?”
“Three weeks ago.”
Chadworth stared.
Vale looked toward the door.
“She and Elliot met at my house. They thought I was upstairs.”
“What did they say?”
Vale’s voice dropped.
“They said the foundation money wouldn’t matter once you were declared incompetent.”
Chadworth felt cold.
“They were going to drug you gradually. Confusion. Falls. Memory problems.”
“Then?”
“Sabina would activate the forged medical power.”
“And my daughters?”
“She wanted them overseas.”
“Why?”
Vale looked sick.
“Because Lorelai knows too much.”
Chadworth’s eyes narrowed.
“What does Lorelai know?”
May you like
Vale whispered:
“She saw the nurse who was with Elizabeth the night she died.”
