Chapter 16 - UNDER THE FLOOR
William Preston’s old home had remained in Nora’s ownership.
She could never bring herself to sell it.
The house sat empty most of the year.
A caretaker checked it weekly.
Furniture remained.
Books remained.
William’s study remained almost exactly as he left it.
Federal agents searched the property after Voss’s statement.
Under the study floorboards they found a sealed metal case.
Nora watched through live video.
Inside were letters.
Bank records.
Audio cassettes.
A small digital recorder.
And a handwritten notebook.
William had built his own evidence archive.
Nora cried when she saw his handwriting.
Her father had known he was being manipulated.
Perhaps poisoned.
Perhaps legally undermined.
He had documented everything.
One letter was addressed directly to Nora.
Daniel read it beside her.
My Nora,
If you are reading this, I either lost the chance to explain or waited too long.
Nora covered her mouth.
William wrote that he began suspecting Kristina after noticing unusual questions about trusts and insurance.
He hired a private investigator.
That investigator discovered Charles Harlan had represented the Finch family.
William realized the introduction between Nora and Edgar was not random.
He confronted Edgar.
Edgar denied knowing details.
William did not believe him.
Then William became sick.
He suspected medication.
He secretly changed doctors.
But Mercer remained involved through Kristina’s manipulation.
William recorded conversations.
One cassette captured Edgar visiting the study.
Nora listened.
William’s voice was weak but clear.
“Did your mother tell you to marry my daughter?”
Edgar answered after a long pause.
“She introduced the idea.”
William:
“That is not what I asked.”
Edgar:
“Yes.”
Nora closed her eyes.
William:
“Did you love her?”
Edgar:
“Yes.”
William:
“Then leave.”
Silence.
William continued.
“Take nothing.”
“Tell Nora the truth.”
“Walk away before your mother destroys her.”
Edgar sounded angry.
“I’m not leaving my wife.”
William replied.
“You already betrayed her by entering the marriage dishonestly.”
Edgar said.
“I love her.”
William:
“Then prove it.”
The recording ended.
Nora wept quietly.
Her father had tried to save her.
Edgar had refused.
Not because he necessarily wanted Nora dead at the time.
Maybe because he loved her.
Maybe because he loved comfort.
Maybe because he believed he could manage Kristina.
Whatever the reason, he stayed.
And staying allowed everything after.
The notebook documented William’s final months.
He suspected Mercer.
He suspected Kristina.
He suspected Charles Harlan.
He was unsure about Edgar.
One entry broke Nora.
Edgar may love Nora enough to hesitate, but not enough to choose her over fear.
Exactly.
Hesitation had defined him.
Nora wiped her face.
Another entry:
A coward can be more dangerous than an enemy because an enemy does not ask you to trust him.
Nora closed the notebook.
Her father understood Edgar before she did.
Federal agents used William’s archive to build cases.
Charles Harlan was dead.
But his records exposed legal fraud.
Mercer faced serious charges.
Voss now faced federal prosecution.
Halden faced kidnapping and conspiracy charges.
Thomas Keene finally started cooperating.
He admitted cloning Nora’s systems.
He also identified the burglar.
A Preston Materials employee.
Nora’s executive assistant.
Julia Barnes.
Nora stared in disbelief.
Julia had worked for her eight years.
She scheduled flights.
Ordered lunch.
Bought anniversary gifts for Edgar when Nora was traveling.
Knew Nora’s passwords better than almost anyone.
Julia had access to the safe room corridor.
She stole the documents while the car burned.
Why?
Money.
Again.
Kristina had paid off Julia’s husband’s gambling debt.
Then threatened to expose him.
Julia claimed she did not know about murder.
Nora almost laughed.
Always.
Nobody knew about murder.
They only stole records.
Tracked vehicles.
Copied credentials.
Moved money.
Bought snakes.
Deleted cameras.
Somehow everyone participated in the machine while claiming ignorance of what the machine did.
Nora fired Julia through counsel.
She did not speak to her.
Some betrayals deserved no final conversation.
At noon, prosecutors arrested Edgar formally on multiple counts.
Financial conspiracy.
Fraud.
Evidence tampering.
Additional serious charges pending grand-jury review.
The question of William’s death could add more.
Edgar’s attorney requested protective custody.
Apparently other defendants blamed him.
Nora felt no satisfaction.
She felt tired.
Then Kristina made a move nobody expected.
She offered full cooperation.
Against Edgar.
Daniel laughed when he heard.
“Mother of the year.”
Kristina wanted reduced charges.
She claimed Edgar planned Nora’s death.
She claimed she only followed instructions.
The snake?
Edgar’s idea.
The insurance?
Edgar’s idea.
Heather?
Edgar’s idea.
William?
Edgar’s idea.
Robert?
She denied wrongdoing.
Federal agents compared her story to evidence.
Much of it was false.
But some details only an insider would know.
Kristina revealed Edgar had hidden another account overseas.
Singapore.
Approximately $4.7 million.
Where did the money come from?
Preston Materials vendor fraud.
Nora felt rage.
Edgar had worked informally with procurement contacts.
He did not officially hold a senior role.
But as Nora’s husband, people trusted him.
He arranged fake consulting fees through vendors.
Small enough individually to evade attention.
Large over years.
Nora had been robbed from inside her own company.
Elaine traced payments.
Edgar used some money to fund Heather.
Travel.
Cash reserves.
Kristina.
Escape planning.
Nora requested a full company audit.
Every vendor.
Every approval.
Every facility.
No exceptions.
Marcus agreed.
The scandal would be painful.
But Nora preferred pain to rot.
At 3:40 p.m., Heather was transported safely back to Arizona under protection.
Ava remained with her.
Nora met Heather in person for the first time in a secured conference room.
The meeting felt surreal.
Heather was younger than Nora expected.
Thirty-three.
Tired.
Smaller somehow than the glamorous rival Nora had once imagined.
Ava slept in a carrier.
Nora kept glancing.
Heather noticed.
“You can hold her.”
Nora stiffened.
“No.”
Heather looked hurt.
Nora explained.
“Not yet.”
“I don’t know what I am to her.”
“Biologically?”
“Nora.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
Heather nodded.
Nora continued.
“You carried her.”
“You gave birth to her.”
“You fed her.”
“You stayed awake with her.”
“You are her mother.”
Heather’s eyes filled.
Nora looked at Ava.
“I’m something else.”
“I just don’t know what yet.”
Heather whispered.
“She’ll be lucky if you stay.”
Nora looked at her sharply.
“Don’t romanticize me.”
Heather blinked.
“I’m angry.”
“I’m confused.”
“And I may remain both for a long time.”
Heather nodded.
“That’s fair.”
Nora sat opposite her.
Then asked.
“Tell me the part you still haven’t told police.”
Heather’s face changed.
Nora had noticed the pauses.
The way Heather avoided one date.
One name.
One set of payments.
Heather looked toward the observation window.
Federal agents were nearby.
“What makes you think there’s more?”
“Because everyone in this story has more.”
Heather almost smiled.
Then looked down.
“There is.”
Nora waited.
Heather whispered.
“I didn’t take the clinic files to expose Voss.”
Nora’s jaw tightened.
“Why did you take them?”
“At first?”
“Yes.”
“To sell them.”
Nora said nothing.
Heather began.
Her mother’s medical bills were crushing.
Lauren had died.
Heather found evidence Lauren had been involved with Voss.
She discovered private files proving fertility misconduct.
Heather confronted Voss.
Instead of reporting him, she demanded money.
Blackmail.
Forty-eight thousand.
Then thirty-five thousand.
The payments Elaine found.
Nora nodded slowly.
“You extorted him.”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“He offered me work.”
Nora felt cold.
“What work?”
“Finding patients whose records could be manipulated without immediate discovery.”
Nora stared.
Heather started crying.
“I gave him names.”
“How many?”
“Six.”
Nora’s stomach turned.
“Was mine one?”
Heather looked down.
“Yes.”
The room became silent.
Heather had selected Nora.
Maybe before Kristina.
Nora felt rage rise.
“Why me?”
“You had multiple embryos.”
“Wealth.”
“Travel schedule.”
“No siblings living.”
“Complicated family structure.”
Nora almost laughed.
A candidate.
Again.
Everyone reduced her to criteria.
Heather continued.
“I didn’t know Kristina then.”
“When did she enter?”
“After Voss showed her your file.”
Nora closed her eyes.
Heather had handed Nora to Voss.
Voss handed Nora to Kristina.
Kristina handed Nora to Edgar.
A chain of betrayal.
Heather whispered.
“I am sorry.”
Nora stood.
Heather flinched.
Nora did not shout.
She simply said.
“You helped choose me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew embryos might be stolen.”
“Yes.”
“You later carried one.”
“Yes.”
“You slept with my husband.”
“Yes.”
Nora stared at her.
“Why should I trust anything you say?”
Heather had no answer.
Nora walked toward the door.
Then Heather said.
“Because I kept one file Voss never found.”
Nora stopped.
“What file?”
Heather looked toward Ava.
“Your original fertilization video.”
Nora turned.
Every IVF lab used time-lapse systems in some cases.
Embryo development images.
Identification data.
Possibly records of fertilization procedures.
Heather continued.
“It shows Voss entering the lab when he wasn’t scheduled.”
Nora walked back.
“Where is it?”
Heather swallowed.
“I mailed it.”
“To whom?”
“You.”
Nora frowned.
“I never received it.”
“I didn’t mail it to your house.”
“Where?”
Heather looked directly at Nora.
“To your father.”
Nora stopped breathing.
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“That’s impossible.”
“The fertility cycles were later.”
Heather shook her head.
“Not that file.”
Nora frowned.
Heather’s voice became quiet.
“The first time Voss used your eggs wasn’t during IVF.”
Nora stared.
“I didn’t undergo egg retrieval six years ago.”
Heather whispered.
“Yes, you did.”
Nora’s skin turned cold.
“No.”
“You were unconscious after an emergency procedure.”
Nora remembered.
Six years ago.
A ruptured ovarian cyst.
Hospitalization.
Surgery.
Dr. Voss had consulted because he was a reproductive specialist.
Heather said.
“They retrieved eggs without your consent.”
Nora could not breathe.
“What happened to them?”
Heather’s eyes filled.
“I don’t know.”
Nora’s voice shook.
“How many?”
Heather whispered.
May you like
“Eleven.”
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