Chapter 19 - Point of No Return
The hospital entered lockdown within minutes.
Federal agents reviewed every entrance.
Samuel was moved to a protected NICU section.
Emily refused relocation.
“If my son stays, I stay.”
Raymond did not argue.
The letter underwent analysis.
No usable fingerprints.
No return address.
But the paper had been purchased locally.
Jonathan Vale was in the city.
Or someone wanted them to think he was.
Raymond blamed himself.
“I activated Section Nine.”
Emily looked at him.
“You protected us.”
“I exposed the hidden accounts.”
“You protected us.”
“I brought your father back toward you.”
Emily shook her head.
“If he chose to disappear for twenty-three years, that choice belongs to him.”
Raymond looked away.
Emily had never seen her uncle afraid.
Now she did.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
He remained silent too long.
“Uncle Raymond.”
He finally sat.
“The night your father disappeared, he called me.”
Emily stopped breathing.
“What?”
“He said he discovered money moving through the hospital.”
“The same scheme?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did you do?”
Raymond’s eyes filled with regret.
“I told him to go to the police.”
“And?”
“He said the police could not be trusted.”
Emily stared at him.
“You never told Mom?”
“I tried.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because the next morning his boat was found.”
Emily stood despite the pain.
“You let her believe he died without knowing he called you.”
“I thought telling her would destroy her.”
“That was not your decision.”
“I know.”
Emily turned away.
Another person who had hidden truth in the name of protection.
Raymond whispered.
“I am sorry.”
Emily looked through the glass at Samuel.
“I’m tired of people choosing what truth I can survive.”
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Security told her not to answer.
Emily answered anyway.
A man spoke.
Older.
Quiet.
“Emily.”
Her knees nearly gave way.
She knew the voice.
Not because she consciously remembered it.
Because some childhood part of her did.
“Dad?”
Silence.
Then.
“Yes.”
Raymond stood.
Agents began tracing the call.
Emily gripped the phone.
“Where are you?”
“Close.”
“Why did you leave?”
“I had to.”
“No.”
Emily’s voice hardened.
“You chose to.”
Samuel Vale Saint Claire breathed slowly.
“You sound like your mother.”
“Good.”
He almost laughed.
Then his tone changed.
“Do not trust Northstar.”
Emily glanced at Raymond.
“Why?”
“The merger was the objective from the beginning.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Charles thought he was protecting Whitmore money.”
Preston thought he was protecting himself.
Vanessa thought she was being paid.
“They were pieces.”
Emily felt cold.
“Pieces controlled by whom?”
Her father answered.
May you like
“Me.”
Then the connection ended.
