Chapter 5 - The Recording Labeled Dad
By the time I returned to the hospital, Mom had already told security that I was trying to abduct Daniel.
She had also told Dr. Shah that I suffered from paranoid delusions.
The lies might have worked if Detective Torres had not walked in beside me.
Mom was standing near Daniel’s treatment room.
Her face went pale when she saw the detective.
Then she recovered.
“Claire has misunderstood a private family matter.”
Torres held up her badge.
“Where is Elias Grant?”
Mom blinked.
“I don’t know anyone by that name.”
“Your boyfriend used his identity for more than eleven years.”
“Evan owns a consulting business.”
“Evan Brooks does not legally exist.”
Mom looked at me.
The hatred in her eyes was so sudden and complete that I almost stepped backward.
“You did this.”
“No.”
“You did.”
“You left your brother years ago, and now you return pretending to save him.”
I had moved to Chicago after Dad’s death.
Mom told me Daniel blamed me for not arriving before the funeral.
She said he became agitated whenever my name was mentioned.
I now wondered whether Daniel had ever said those things.
A patient advocate opened the treatment-room door.
Daniel sat upright in bed.
His arms had been photographed.
His glasses had been temporarily repaired with white medical tape.
His tablet rested on his knees.
When he saw Mom, he recoiled.
Mom pointed at him.
“He is delusional.”
“He creates stories.”
“He cannot distinguish recordings from reality.”
Daniel pressed the screen.
A calm digital voice spoke.
“I know the difference.”
Mom’s mouth closed.
Daniel searched through his folders.
Then he selected a file labeled Dad.
Our father’s voice filled the room.
“If you hear this, your mother found the trust documents.”
Mom went completely still.
Dad sounded weak.
His breathing was labored, but his words were clear.
“Daniel, you notice what other people ignore.”
“You noticed the pills changed color.”
“You noticed the bottle labels were printed differently.”
“You were right.”
Mom moved toward the tablet.
Detective Torres blocked her.
Dad continued.
“Margaret has been replacing my medication.”
“I do not know whether she understands what the replacement will do.”
“I do know Elias Grant helped her obtain it.”
Mom whispered, “Turn it off.”
Daniel increased the volume.
“If something happens to me, do not give her the original trust papers.”
“The blue folder is not the real trust.”
“It is bait.”
Mom’s eyes snapped toward me.
I realized the documents I had found might have been deliberately planted.
Dad’s voice became softer.
“The original toxicology report is behind the false panel in Daniel’s drawer.”
“I left a second copy with someone Margaret cannot reach.”
Mom lunged.
Torres caught her wrist.
The tablet nearly fell.
Daniel flinched but did not shut down.
He pressed another button.
A photograph appeared on the screen.
It showed Dad asleep in a hospital bed.
Mom stood near the window.
Beside her was a man wearing blue scrubs.
On the back, Daniel had written a sentence.
He called himself Doctor then.
Detective Torres stared at the photograph.
Then she looked at Mom.
“Your boyfriend was present in Richard Hale’s room the night he died.”
Mom said nothing.
In the hallway, an officer’s radio crackled.
They had found Elias Grant’s car.
May you like
The driver’s door was open.
There was blood on the steering wheel.
