Chapter 6: What Eleanor Did Next
Dana called at seven the next morning.
"They moved the board vote up," she said.
"It was scheduled for next month.
Now it's in four days."
I sat up in bed.
"Why?"
"Because Eleanor knows you have the payment records.
If those go to the DA before the vote, the board fractures.
She needs Jared's position locked in before any investigation can touch the company structure." Dana paused.
"She's also made a call to your employer."
My stomach went cold.
"What kind of call?"
"She knows someone on your firm's senior advisory panel.
There's a suggestion circulating that you've been emotionally unstable since the miscarriage.
That you may be making false accusations against your husband's family as a result of grief."
I got out of bed and walked to the window.
"She's trying to discredit me before I can move."
"Yes.
And she's good at it.
This is not the first time she's done something like this." Dana's voice was careful.
"Shelby, we need to go to the DA now.
Today.
Before she gets any further."
"Not yet."
"Why not?"
"Because I need one more thing." I watched a cab stop on the street below.
"The voicemail proves intent.
The consent form proves the surgery.
The payment records prove the connection to Fell.
But none of it proves Eleanor gave the direct order.
She'll say Jared acted alone.
She'll say the LLC was unrelated.
She'll say she was only trying to help a grieving family."
"So what do you need?"
"I need Dr.
Fell."
Dana was quiet for three full seconds.
"He won't talk."
"He will if he knows Eleanor is about to let him take the fall alone." I pulled on my robe.
"She's already building the story where Jared acted out of grief and desperation.
Fell is the outside contractor.
He's the one without the family name and the lawyers.
When this breaks, he's the one who goes down first."
"You want to tell him that."
"I want him to figure it out.
I just want to be in the room when he does."
It took Dana until noon to find him.
Dr.
Marcus Fell was living in a rental apartment in a suburb forty minutes outside the city.
He opened the door in a gray sweatshirt and looked at me like a man who had been waiting for a knock he always knew was coming.
"Mrs.
Harlan," he said.
"May I come in?"
He stepped back.
The apartment was sparse.
A folding table.
A laptop.
A coffee maker.
The kind of place a person lives when they are trying not to be found.
I sat down across from him.
"I'm not here to threaten you," I said.
"I'm here because Eleanor Voss is four days away from completing a board vote that will make her untouchable.
And once that happens, she won't need you anymore.
She'll need someone to explain the LLC, the payments, and the surgery.
And that someone won't be her."
Fell looked at the table.
"I was told the patient consented," he said.
"You were told what you needed to hear to do the job." I kept my voice flat.
"You know that.
I know that.
The question is whether you want to be the man who performed an unauthorized procedure on a sedated woman, or the man who came forward when he realized what he had been used for."
His hands were very still on the table.
"She said it was a private family matter."
"She said whatever she needed to say." I leaned forward slightly.
"Dr.
Fell.
She is going to let you carry this.
I am offering you the chance to speak first."
He looked up.
His eyes were tired in a way that had nothing to do with the hour.
"What do you need from me?" he said.
I set Dana's card on the table.
"Start with a written statement.
Everything.
Who contacted you, what you were told, what you were paid, and when."
He picked up the card.
He didn't put it down.
Outside, a car passed slowly on the street.
May you like
I didn't look at the window.
But I noticed Fell did.
