Chapter 4 – The Missing Phone
The nurse’s pulse quickened.
She glanced from the phone in her hand to the hallway outside Margaret’s room. The maintenance worker had disappeared around the corner, but something about him felt wrong. Hospital staff didn’t linger outside patients’ doors watching through the glass.
Without another thought, she slipped the phone into the pocket of her scrub jacket.
"I'll give this directly to security," she whispered.
She stepped into the hallway.
It was empty.
Then she heard footsteps behind her.
"Excuse me."
She turned.
The same maintenance worker stood only a few feet away, smiling politely.
"I believe that phone belongs to hospital property," he said.
"It doesn't."
"I'll take it."
His voice remained calm, but his eyes carried a warning.
The nurse tightened her grip.
"I'll hand it to the police."
The smile vanished.
Detective Sarah Collins had barely reached the hospital lobby when her phone rang.
"Detective Collins."
"This is Nurse Emily Carter on the maternity floor."
Emily lowered her voice.
"I think I have evidence from the rooftop."
Sarah stopped walking.
"What kind of evidence?"
"A video."
"I'm coming back."
Before Sarah could reach the elevator, the hospital's fire alarm suddenly erupted.
Red lights flashed.
Patients and visitors flooded into the hallways.
Doctors shouted instructions.
In the confusion, the fake maintenance worker slipped through the crowd toward Emily.
"Hand me the phone," he said quietly.
Emily backed away.
"No."
He grabbed her wrist.
She cried out.
The phone slipped from her hand, skidding across the polished floor.
It stopped against someone's expensive leather shoe.
Everyone froze.
The stranger bent down and picked it up.
He was an older man in a tailored navy suit with silver hair and sharp blue eyes.
"What seems to be the problem?" he asked calmly.
The fake maintenance worker forced another smile.
"Hospital business."
The older man looked at the frightened nurse.
"Is that true?"
Emily shook her head.
"No, sir."
The man handed her the phone.
"Then I suggest you keep it."
The maintenance worker recognized him instantly.
His confidence disappeared.
"Mr... Mr. Whitmore."
The older man raised one eyebrow.
"So you know who I am."
This wasn't Daniel Whitmore.
This was Richard Whitmore—Daniel's estranged father and the founder of the Whitmore Group.
He had spent the last three years living overseas after retiring from the company. Few people even knew he had returned to the country that morning.
Richard studied the maintenance worker for several uncomfortable seconds.
"I don't remember authorizing my family's employees to intimidate nurses."
The man remained silent.
"Leave."
Without another word, the bodyguard turned and disappeared into the crowd.
Sarah Collins arrived moments later.
Emily immediately handed her the phone.
"You need to watch this."
Sarah pressed play.
Within seconds, her expression changed.
She replayed the recording.
Then again.
Every word was unmistakable.
Every face was visible.
Daniel.
Eleanor.
The knife.
The cut rope.
Sarah looked up slowly.
"This isn't an accident," she said.
Richard Whitmore's jaw tightened as he watched the final seconds of the recording.
For the first time, he saw his own son commit attempted murder.
And he made a silent promise.
May you like
"If Daniel did this..."
"...he won't inherit another dollar from me."
