Chapter 10 - RACHEL REED
Rachel answered Daniel’s call on the third ring.
“You finally found her.”
Daniel gripped the phone.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You helped a missing woman disappear.”
“I helped a terrified patient leave a facility that had no right to hold her.”
“You should have called me.”
“I tried nine years ago.”
Daniel froze.
“What are you talking about?”
Rachel told him.
Before Laura married Michael, Rachel had dated him.
Briefly.
Michael was charming.
Controlling.
Possessive.
When Rachel ended it, he threatened to ruin her nursing career.
Then he reported her for taking prescription samples from work.
Rachel had taken them.
For migraines.
Improperly.
The board disciplined her.
Michael had used a real mistake to destroy her credibility.
Daniel sat back.
The pattern was everywhere.
Michael did not invent weaknesses.
He collected them.
Then waited.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were already a cop. I thought you’d look at the report and think I was covering myself.”
Daniel hated that she was probably right.
Rachel continued.
“When Laura came to Pine Ridge, I recognized the name.”
“You helped her escape.”
“Yes.”
“Why not bring her to police?”
“Because she thought Michael had officers watching the house.”
“He didn’t.”
“We didn’t know that.”
Daniel asked:
“Where has she been?”
“With friends.”
“Did you know she drugged Olivia too?”
Silence.
“No.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Rachel whispered:
“God.”
The family drama had widened beyond the Carters.
Now Daniel’s own sister was entangled.
Then Rachel said:
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Laura wasn’t admitted by Michael.”
Daniel frowned.
“The paperwork—”
“Michael drove her there.”
“Yes.”
“But the person who signed the financial authorization was Eleanor.”
That mattered.
“Why?”
“Because Pine Ridge charged eighteen thousand dollars for the first week.”
Daniel looked at the trust records.
The payment came from the twins’ medical reserve.
But the reserve supposedly had not been activated.
Somehow Eleanor had accessed it early.
That was fraud.
Possibly the key.
Then Daniel found the signature approving the payment.
Not Eleanor.
Olivia Carter.
A seven-year-old.
May you like
Someone had forged a child beneficiary’s signature.
And the handwriting analyst’s preliminary finding pointed to Michael.
