Chapter 6 - The Visit Rachel Never Told Them AboutRobert sat down.
Noah didn't.
He couldn't.
The footage had no audio.
Hospital hallway camera.
Seven years old.
Martin Hale entered Rachel's room at 9:14 p.m.
He stayed eleven minutes.
Then left carrying a white envelope.
Robert stared.
“I wasn't there.”
Noah looked at him.
“Where were you?”
“Home with you.”
Noah remembered almost nothing from that night.
Only his mother's hospital smell.
His father's exhausted face.
People whispering.
Rachel had advanced ovarian cancer.
Everyone knew she was dying.
That made Martin's visit less suspicious.
Until the technician opened another file.
Two days later.
Martin meeting Victoria.
Seven years ago.
Victoria looked younger but unmistakable.
Blonde hair.
Same posture.
They met in a parking garage.
Martin handed her the white envelope.
Robert stood so fast the chair rolled backward.
“They knew each other seven years ago.”
Noah felt sick.
Victoria had entered their family four years later.
Martin had lied about introducing them accidentally.
“What was in the envelope?” Noah asked.
Nobody knew.
Sheriff Colton ordered both Martin and Victoria detained for further questioning while warrants were obtained.
Then Thomas asked to speak.
His attorney hadn't arrived yet.
But Thomas changed his mind when he heard police had the old footage.
He sat across from Robert in the library.
Noah was allowed to remain because much of the case involved him and Robert refused to leave him alone.
Thomas looked exhausted.
“I didn't know they planned to kill Noah.”
Robert's voice was cold.
“You took their money.”
“Yes.”
“You disabled my security.”
“Yes.”
“You helped them.”
“I helped them hide something.”
“What?”
Thomas swallowed.
“Meetings.”
“How long?”
“Two years.”
Noah stared.
Thomas had watched him grow up.
“How much did they pay you?”
“About a hundred thousand total.”
Robert looked disgusted.
Thomas flinched.
“My wife had cancer.”
Robert stopped.
Thomas continued.
“Insurance wasn't covering treatment. Martin found out.”
Noah saw the pattern.
Threat.
Money.
Leverage.
Just like Emily.
Martin didn't recruit loyal people.
He found frightened ones.
Thomas looked at Noah.
“I was wrong.”
Noah answered,
“You were.”
Thomas nodded.
“I started keeping backups because I knew something was getting worse.”
“Why didn't you tell Dad?”
“I thought I could protect myself.”
Noah laughed bitterly.
Everyone kept using that phrase.
Protect.
Thomas continued.
“Then Victoria started talking about the trust.”
Robert leaned forward.
“What did Martin take from Rachel?”
Thomas looked confused.
“I don't know.”
“You have footage.”
“Because Martin made me retrieve old camera archives.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
“Why?”
“He wanted hospital footage deleted.”
Robert's eyes sharpened.
“So you copied it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Insurance.”
Noah asked,
“Did you see what's in the envelope?”
“No.”
Thomas hesitated.
“But I heard Martin and Victoria argue about it.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“What did they say?”
Thomas looked at Robert.
“Rachel changed something before she died.”
Robert became still.
“What?”
“Her trust.”
Robert's expression darkened.
Rachel came from money too.
The Whitmore empire wasn't only Robert's.
Rachel had inherited substantial real-estate holdings.
At death, most passed into trust for Noah.
Thomas continued.
“Martin said Rachel discovered he'd been manipulating company transactions.”
Robert stared.
“Martin stole from us?”
“I don't know.”
“Then what did Victoria say?”
“She said if Rachel's letter ever surfaced, everything was over.”
Noah's heartbeat jumped.
“What letter?”
Thomas shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Robert turned toward Sheriff Colton.
“I want Martin's office searched.”
“Already working on the warrant.”
“And his home.”
“Yes.”
Victoria shouted from the hallway.
They all turned.
She had apparently heard enough.
“You have no right!”
A deputy blocked her from entering.
Robert walked toward the door.
Victoria's bee-stung face was swollen.
But the arrogance remained.
“Robert.”
He stared at her.
“I can explain.”
“No.”
“Martin manipulated me.”
“Stop.”
“I loved you.”
Robert almost laughed.
“I just watched you say you married grief for money.”
Victoria's eyes flickered.
“That was years ago.”
“You tried to kill my son today.”
“I didn't.”
Noah stepped forward.
“You tied me to a tree.”
Victoria looked at him.
For one second, hatred replaced performance.
Then she returned to tears.
“Martin made me.”
Noah realized she had already chosen her new strategy.
Blame Martin.
Victoria continued.
“He threatened me.”
“With what?”
Silence.
Robert asked again.
“What did Martin have on you?”
Victoria's tears stopped.
Because there was no safe answer.
Then Sheriff Colton's phone rang.
He listened.
“Where?”
His expression changed.
“Do not touch anything.”
He ended the call.
Robert asked,
“What?”
Colton looked at him.
“Officers entered Martin's office.”
“And?”
“They found a concealed safe.”
Noah held his breath.
“Inside were financial records.”
Robert waited.
“And a sealed envelope.”
Colton looked at Noah.
“It has Rachel Whitmore's name on it.”
Robert's face went white.
“What does it say?”
“We haven't opened it.”
Then Colton added,
“There's writing on the outside.”
Noah asked,
“What?”
May you like
The sheriff read from the photograph on his phone.
If anything happens to me, Martin Hale is responsible.
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