Chapter 5: The Price of Silence
Marnie dropped into a chair.
“He knows where my mother lives.”
Christian crouched beside her.
“Who sent it?”
“The number is hidden.”
Victor watched from the head of the table.
“That could have come from anyone.”
Christian faced him.
“It arrived seconds after you lost control of her.”
“Prove I sent it.”
Marnie clutched Christian’s sleeve.
“If they move Mum, she won’t understand.
She wakes frightened when the nurses change.”
“You should have considered that before accusing powerful people,” Victor said.
Elaine rose sharply.
“Was that a threat?”
“It was advice.”
The sentence broke Marnie.
She pressed both hands over her face, and a sob escaped between her fingers.
“I only wanted one month’s payment,” she said.
“I gave him the phone.
This is my fault.”
Christian pulled out the chair beside her.
“No.
Your mistake lasted sixty seconds.
Their choice lasted months.”
“You signed my father’s dismissal.”
“If my name is there, I need to know how.”
Mr.
Bell set a key ring on the table.
“My wife manages Rosebridge Care Home.
I’m calling her now.”
Victor stood.
“You have no place in company business.”
“I have a place in Marnie’s business.” Mr.
Bell dialed and put the call on speaker.
“Helen, lock Mrs.
Price’s account.
No transfer, discharge, or visitor without your direct approval.”
A woman answered at once.
“Understood.
I’ll sit outside her room myself.”
Marnie lowered her hands.
“You would do that for someone you barely know?”
“My daughter worked nights through nursing school,” Mr.
Bell said.
“I know what desperation looks like.
It doesn’t look like greed.”
Victor reached for his phone.
“This meeting is over.”
Elaine placed her hand over the folder in front of him.
“Not until I inspect the authorization records.”
“You work for the company.”
“I work for the board, not your chair.”
Christian sat opposite Victor.
“Tell me about Owen Price.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“He st0le renovation money.”
“How much?”
“Eight hundred thousand dollars.”
“That number appears in the sale shortfall,” Elaine said.
“Exactly eight hundred thousand.”
Victor turned on her.
“Coincidence.”
Marnie wiped her face and opened the lining of her worn purse.
She removed a small brass key.
“My father gave me this the week he was dismissed.
He said, ‘When a Hale finally asks the right question, open box 214 at Union Station.’”
Christian stared at the key.
“Why didn’t you use it?”
“He made me promise to wait.
Two days later, he suffered a stroke.
He has never spoken clearly since.”
Victor’s hand moved toward the key.
Christian covered it first.
“You recognize it.”
“I recognize an old station key.”
Mr.
Bell’s phone rang.
“Helen?”
“No,” a man answered through the speaker.
“This is Dr.
Lyle at Rosebridge.
Someone arrived with signed papers ordering Mrs.
Price’s immediate transfer.”
Marnie stood so fast the chair fell.
“Who signed them?”
“Victor Hale, acting chairman of Hale Holdings.
The company trust pays part of her fees.”
Christian looked at his brother.
Victor slipped his phone into his pocket.
“Business expenses must be reviewed.”
“She is not a business expense,” Marnie said.
“She became one when her husband st0le from us.”
Christian struck the table with his palm.
“Enough.
We’re going to Union Station.”
Victor’s expression changed for the first time.
“That box is company property.”
“Then you won’t mind us opening it.”
Christian, Marnie, and Mr.
Bell headed for the door.
Elaine gathered the electronic authorization logs and followed.
Behind them, Victor spoke into his phone.
“Stop them before they reach box 214.”
May you like
The elevator doors closed, but not before Christian heard the reply from Victor’s phone.
Adelaide’s voice said, “I’m already at the station.”
