Chapter 5 - The Night the Whitaker Empire Turned Against Her
I didn't understand the danger until Helena grabbed my wrist.
"Run, Nora!"
The black SUV accelerated toward the curb.
Its rear door opened before the vehicle stopped.
Two men climbed out.
Neither wore a uniform.
One reached beneath his jacket.
Helena shoved me toward the bookstore entrance.
"Inside!"
The shop was closed.
I pulled the handle.
Locked.
Behind us, someone shouted.
"Helena!"
I turned.
One of the men was running toward us.
Then Gabriel's driver appeared from the sedan.
"Miss Bennett! This way!"
He stepped between us and the approaching men.
I heard a sharp crack.
The driver staggered.
For one horrifying second, I thought he'd been shot.
Then I saw blood spreading across his shoulder.
Helena screamed.
The second man grabbed her.
I lunged forward.
"Let her go!"
He shoved me against the wall.
Pain exploded through my elbow.
The driver fired a warning shot into the pavement.
Pedestrians scattered.
Car horns blared.
The man holding Helena dragged her toward the SUV.
She twisted desperately.
Then threw something toward me.
A small metal cylinder rolled across the sidewalk.
"THE FIRST PATTERN!" she shouted.
The SUV door slammed.
The vehicle disappeared into traffic.
I stood frozen.
Helena was gone.
Gabriel's driver leaned against the car, pressing his hand to his wounded shoulder.
"Get in," he gasped.
I grabbed the cylinder.
Then helped him into the passenger seat.
My hands shook so badly I could barely unlock my phone.
Matthew answered immediately.
"Nora?"
"Someone took Helena."
Silence.
Then his voice changed.
"Where are you?"
I gave him the intersection.
"Are you hurt?"
"No. Your driver is bleeding."
"Stay in the car. Help is coming."
Within minutes, another security vehicle arrived.
The injured driver was taken to a hospital.
Matthew appeared shortly afterward.
He stepped out of his car and came straight toward me.
"Nora."
I tried to speak.
Nothing came out.
He looked at the blood on my sleeve.
"Are you injured?"
"It's not mine."
He examined my face.
Then my hands.
Only when he was certain I wasn't seriously hurt did he step back.
"Tell me everything."
I explained.
The SUV.
The men.
Helena.
The cylinder.
Matthew listened without interrupting.
When I finished, he looked toward Gabriel.
"Find that vehicle."
Gabriel nodded.
"And Richard?"
Matthew's jaw tightened.
"Bring him to my office."
I stared.
"You think Richard did this?"
"I think someone inside my company knew where you'd be."
That evening, Bellamy House became a fortress.
Security guards stood at every entrance.
Employees were sent home.
Matthew gathered his senior executives in the main conference room.
Richard Vale arrived twenty minutes late.
He looked irritated.
"What is this emergency?"
Matthew placed the photograph of my mother on the table.
"Tell me about Evelyn Bennett."
Richard glanced at it.
His expression barely changed.
"She worked for the old manufacturing division."
"What happened to her?"
"She died in the warehouse fire."
"Are you certain?"
"That's what the records say."
Matthew placed the altered production documents beside the photograph.
"Then explain her signature."
Richard examined them.
"Forgery."
"Who forged it?"
"How would I know?"
Matthew leaned forward.
"Because you approved the warehouse demolition. You transferred the production archives. And you were the last executive to access these files before they disappeared."
Richard's face hardened.
"Careful, Matthew."
The room fell silent.
Matthew didn't move.
"Is that a threat?"
"It's advice."
Richard stood.
"Your father trusted me. I helped build this company while you were still learning how to wear a suit."
"And now you're going to tell me what happened to Evelyn Bennett."
Richard looked directly at me.
For the first time, I saw hatred in his eyes.
"That woman should have minded her own business."
My breath caught.
Matthew stood slowly.
"What did you say?"
Richard seemed to realize his mistake.
He adjusted his jacket.
"She interfered in matters she didn't understand."
"Such as?"
"Financial operations."
"Illegal shipments?"
Richard's expression darkened.
"You're making dangerous accusations."
Matthew stepped around the table.
"No. I'm asking questions."
Richard backed toward the door.
"Your father understood loyalty."
Matthew stopped.
"My father is dead."
Richard smiled coldly.
"Yes. And some of us remember why."
He left before Matthew could respond.
Nobody tried to stop him.
Later, Matthew explained that Richard controlled several independent divisions and had powerful connections.
Accusing him without evidence could trigger retaliation throughout the company.
I looked at the cylinder Helena had thrown me.
"Then we need evidence."
It was made of brass.
No larger than a lipstick tube.
One end unscrewed.
Inside was a tightly rolled strip of photographic film.
Matthew examined it beneath a desk lamp.
"Microfilm."
I stared.
"Why would Helena carry that?"
"Because she didn't trust digital records."
Gabriel arranged for the film to be developed securely.
The next morning, we received twelve photographs.
Shipping manifests.
Bank transfers.
Warehouse inventories.
And a handwritten ledger.
Every page contained the same three initials.
R.V.
C.W.
D.M.
Richard Vale.
Charles Whitaker.
Daniel Mercer.
But the final photograph was different.
It showed my mother standing beside a hospital bed.
A newborn baby lay inside a transparent bassinet.
The photograph was dated November 2006.
One month after my mother's supposed death.
I stared at her face.
She looked exhausted.
Frightened.
But unmistakably alive.
Then I noticed the handwritten message beneath the photograph.
EVELYN BENNETT—PATIENT TRANSFERRED UNDER NEW IDENTITY.
My knees weakened.
Matthew caught my arm.
"Nora?"
I pointed at the photograph.
"She survived."
He looked at the message.
Then at me.
"Yes."
I began crying.
May you like
Because for twenty years, I'd mourned a woman who might still be somewhere in the world.
And now the only question that mattered was whether she had survived long enough for me to find her.
