Chapter 14 - THE WOMEN BEFORE HER
The phrase changed the investigation.
Catherine wasn’t the first.
First what?
First victim?
First target?
First woman who refused Cross?
The cabin contained old photographs.
Five women.
Different ages.
Different decades.
One was Catherine.
One Emily did not recognize.
One was a former Saint Claire financial auditor who died in a car accident in 1998.
Another was a Meridian accountant reported missing in 1996.
The fifth was alive.
Dr. Evelyn Park.
Emily stared at the photograph.
“Call her.”
Marcus did.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Security officers drove to Evelyn’s house.
The front door was open.
Her car was there.
Her phone sat on the kitchen counter.
Evelyn was gone.
Emily felt panic.
“She voted with us yesterday.”
Raymond nodded grimly.
“She also knew Catherine visited her before she died.”
Detective Bennett ordered an immediate search.
Traffic cameras.
Airport feeds.
Hospitals.
Credit-card activity.
No sign.
Then at six that evening, a security camera from Evelyn’s neighborhood showed a dark sedan leaving shortly after midnight.
Two people in front.
A figure in the back.
License plate stolen.
Emily watched the footage.
“Can you see her?”
“No.”
“Can you see the driver?”
Marcus zoomed.
A woman.
Dark hair.
Older.
Emily’s pulse quickened.
“Miriam?”
“Could be.”
The car disappeared forty miles north.
At seven, Raymond received a text.
Unknown number.
One photograph.
Evelyn sitting in a chair.
Alive.
Hands visible.
No obvious injuries.
Below it:
Trade the old files for the old woman.
Emily stared.
Raymond immediately called Detective Bennett.
“This is extortion.”
“Yes.”
“Can we trace it?”
“We’re trying.”
Another message arrived.
NO POLICE.
Raymond laughed bitterly.
“They always say that after contacting a family surrounded by police.”
Emily studied the photograph.
“Wait.”
“What?”
She enlarged the background.
Evelyn sat inside what appeared to be a warehouse office.
Behind her was a faded blue sign.
Only three letters visible.
NMC.
Raymond frowned.
“North Medical Campus.”
Emily stared.
“The old North Campus?”
“No.”
He thought.
“North Meridian Construction.”
Margaret looked up.
“That was Graham’s company before Meridian Development.”
“Property?”
“Most were sold.”
“Any abandoned?”
Marcus searched.
One remained.
A warehouse outside Harrisburg.
Police moved immediately.
Emily was furious she could not go.
Dr. Shah threatened to sedate her if she tried to leave.
Emily believed her.
So she waited.
Caleb improved that evening.
The NICU reduced his oxygen support.
Emily sat beside the incubator for twenty minutes.
Her hand rested through the opening.
His fingers curled around one of hers.
Tiny.
Warm.
Determined.
Emily whispered.
“You have terrible timing.”
His fingers tightened.
She smiled.
“You’re a Saint Claire.”
Then corrected herself.
“You’re you.”
That mattered.
He was not born to carry a war.
He was born to be a child.
Emily would end the war before he was old enough to understand it.
At nine fifteen, police entered the Harrisburg warehouse.
Evelyn was there.
Alive.
So was Caroline Cross.
But Caroline was not guarding Evelyn.
She was tied to another chair.
Both women had been left behind.
Miriam was gone.
Police found a laptop.
Several phones.
Medical supplies.
And an empty case shaped like a portable hard-drive enclosure.
The drive remained missing.
Caroline asked for an attorney.
Then, after learning Miriam had abandoned her, she changed her mind.
She wanted a deal.
Detective Bennett interviewed her overnight.
At one in the morning, she called Emily.
“You were right about the list.”
Emily sat straighter.
“What was it?”
“Target dates.”
Raymond went pale.
“For what?”
“Coercion.”
“Medical events.”
“Accidents.”
Emily looked toward Caleb’s incubator.
“My mother?”
Detective Bennett’s pause confirmed it before she spoke.
“Yes.”
Emily closed her eyes.
“What happened?”
“Caroline was a teenager then.”
“She says Miriam planned it.”
“How?”
Detective Bennett took a breath.
“Catherine was given a compound that increased intracranial bleeding risk.”
Emily felt her chest tighten.
“By whom?”
“Harold.”
Raymond whispered.
“No.”
Emily stared.
“Harold poisoned my mother?”
“Caroline says he did not know what he was giving her.”
“How is that possible?”
“Miriam gave Harold a packet of medication.”
“She told him it was a sedative.”
“Why would he give Mom a sedative?”
“Because Catherine was threatening to go to federal authorities.”
Emily felt physically sick.
Detective Bennett continued.
“Harold allegedly put it in Catherine’s drink after the meeting.”
“To calm her?”
“That is what Caroline says.”
“She says Harold believed Catherine would become drowsy.”
“Instead the substance increased bleeding risk.”
Emily’s eyes burned.
“And Mom?”
“She drove home.”
“Developed symptoms.”
“And died.”
Raymond sat heavily.
“He killed her.”
Detective Bennett corrected.
“He may have unknowingly administered the substance.”
“He still did it.”
“Yes.”
Emily felt grief and rage mix.
Harold had been guilty.
Not necessarily of murder.
But of betrayal.
Fear.
Cowardice.
Catherine trusted him.
He drugged her to stop her from exposing him.
Then he spent fourteen years carrying the truth.
“Why didn’t Miriam finish Harold back then?”
Detective Bennett answered.
“Because she needed him as trustee.”
Emily almost laughed at the cruelty.
“Of course.”
“Caroline says Harold spent years trying to quietly undo the damage.”
“Did he know Catherine was poisoned?”
“Not initially.”
“When did he find out?”
“Eight years ago.”
Emily froze.
“And he still didn’t tell me.”
“No.”
Raymond closed his eyes.
Another protector who decided silence was kindness.
Emily was tired of kind lies.
“What about Harold’s recent stroke?”
“Caroline admits supplying the medication.”
“To Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“Did Vanessa poison him?”
“Caroline says Vanessa administered it.”
Emily looked at Raymond.
Finally.
A direct line.
“What was the purpose?”
“To prevent Harold from exposing Preston’s fund.”
“And kill him?”
“Caroline claims the dose was intended to incapacitate, not kill.”
Emily’s voice became cold.
“They really like that excuse.”
Detective Bennett did not disagree.
“What about me?”
“Caroline says your induction had two purposes.”
Emily held her breath.
“First, keep you unavailable during the vote.”
“And second?”
Silence.
“Tell me.”
“To obtain temporary guardianship documentation immediately after delivery.”
Emily’s skin went cold.
“For Caleb?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if you were declared medically incapacitated, Preston could sign certain trust acknowledgments as the child’s father.”
Raymond stood.
“But Catherine’s maternal trust bypasses him.”
“Caroline says Miriam did not know about that clause.”
Emily almost laughed.
Her dead mother had beaten them again.
“What was supposed to happen after?”
Detective Bennett’s voice softened.
“Caroline says she doesn’t know.”
“Was I supposed to wake up?”
A pause.
“Emily.”
“Answer.”
“Caroline says Miriam never discussed your recovery.”
Emily looked toward Caleb.
That was answer enough.
For several minutes nobody spoke.
Then Detective Bennett added.
“Caroline also says the hard drive exists.”
“Where?”
“She doesn’t know.”
“Who has it?”
“She thinks Vanessa.”
Emily frowned.
“Why?”
“Vanessa started turning against Miriam six months ago.”
Raymond looked surprised.
“Why?”
“Because Miriam intended to give control of Cross Meridian to Caroline.”
Sibling rivalry.
Money.
Power.
The oldest human motives.
Detective Bennett continued.
“Vanessa copied Miriam’s archive as insurance.”
Emily understood.
“If Vanessa has the drive, she has evidence against everyone.”
“Yes.”
“Including Preston.”
“Yes.”
“Miriam.”
“Yes.”
“Harold.”
“Yes.”
“And herself?”
“Probably.”
Emily thought.
“Then Vanessa isn’t running from police.”
“She’s running from Miriam.”
“Exactly.”
At two ten, a new message arrived.
This time from Vanessa.
No threats.
No photographs.
Only a location and one sentence.
I’ll trade the drive for protection.
Emily showed Raymond.
He looked at Marcus.
Marcus called Detective Bennett.
The location was a church parking lot seventy miles away.
Police rushed there.
They found Vanessa’s car.
Door open.
Blood on the driver’s seat.
No Vanessa.
No drive.
On the windshield, somebody had written a message in black marker.
NO MORE TRADES.
Emily stared at the photograph.
Miriam was cleaning the board.
One daughter arrested.
One daughter missing.
Evelyn rescued.
Harold exposed.
Preston cooperating.
The Cross empire was collapsing.
May you like
And Miriam Cross had nothing left to protect except herself.
That made her more dangerous than ever.
