Chapter 8 - The Secret in Ethan’s Safe
Ethan admitted that he had found references to the Northstar ledger five weeks earlier.
He had searched his father’s private office at the old Vale headquarters, a room Celeste had kept locked since Richard’s death. Hidden inside a desk compartment was a list of monthly payments and a key to a private storage facility.
Ethan visited the facility alone.
The unit had already been emptied.
Only a steel safe remained.
Inside was a note from Richard.
ETHAN, IF YOU FOUND THIS, NORTHSTAR HAS RETURNED.
DO NOT TRUST THE HOSPITAL.
DO NOT TRUST THE FOUNDATION.
THE LEDGER IS WHERE YOUR MOTHER MADE HER FIRST PROMISE.
Ethan had concealed the note from Claire because he feared that involving her would make her a target.
“You knew Northstar existed before my accident?” Claire asked.
“No. I knew my father had become afraid of something before he died.”
Richard Vale had died in a private plane crash nine years earlier. Investigators blamed a mechanical failure. The wreckage was recovered from the ocean, but Richard’s body was never found.
In the weeks before the crash, he had become secretive. He removed Ethan from the foundation board and transferred several properties into independent trusts. At the time, Ethan believed his father no longer trusted him.
Now he wondered whether Richard had been protecting him.
Claire demanded to see the note.
Ethan retrieved it from the hidden safe in their bedroom.
Behind the note was a second object Claire had never seen.
A voicemail recorder.
Ethan pressed play.
Richard’s voice filled the room.
“Celeste, I know what Harrow is doing with the recovery program. I know the patients were selected because they threatened the payments. You told me Northstar would fund experimental rehabilitation. Instead, it became a place to bury people while keeping them alive enough to remain silent.”
There was a pause.
Then Celeste’s younger voice answered.
“I will stop it.”
“You already made that promise.”
“I didn’t know about the altered surgeries.”
“You knew enough.”
“I can expose him.”
“Harrow has copies of every authorization you signed.”
“Then help me.”
“I tried. Raymond has the ledger. If anything happens to me, find the place where you promised we would build a hospital that never turned anyone away.”
The recording ended.
Claire looked at Ethan.
“Where did your mother make that promise?”
“I don’t know.”
Amelia, who had joined them after leaving the wedding venue, did.
“When we were children, she took us to the old Saint Anne’s clinic.”
The clinic had been the first property purchased by Richard and Celeste before the Vale Foundation existed. It closed after a fire and had remained abandoned for twenty years.
Celeste rarely spoke about it.
Ethan called his mother and told her to come to the estate immediately.
When Celeste arrived, he played Richard’s recording.
For several minutes, she could not speak.
Then she confessed.
Northstar had begun as a legitimate project. Richard and Celeste wanted to fund experimental rehabilitation for patients rejected by insurance companies. Harrow proposed a medical component that could stabilize complex injuries and improve long-term recovery.
The early results were promising.
Then a patient developed complications.
Harrow altered the report.
More failures followed.
Instead of closing the project, Harrow began selecting patients whose silence benefited the foundation. Injured critics received Northstar devices. Their potential recovery was hidden. Their dependence made them easier to control.
“Why didn’t you expose him?” Claire asked.
Celeste’s voice broke.
“Because I had signed the first authorizations.”
“You protected yourself.”
“I protected the foundation.”
“You mean your name.”
Celeste did not deny it.
She believed Richard had taken the original ledger before his death. Harrow believed the same. Without it, neither side could expose the other without destroying themselves.
“The ledger is at Saint Anne’s,” Ethan said.
Celeste shook her head.
“We searched after Richard died.”
“Where did you make your first promise?”
“In the chapel. Before the clinic opened.”
They drove to Saint Anne’s before sunrise.
The ruined building stood behind rusted gates. Most of the roof had collapsed, but the small chapel remained.
Beneath the altar, they found a sealed compartment.
Inside was the Northstar ledger.
It contained dates, patient numbers, payment records, and names.
Julian Harrow.
Raymond Cole.
Celeste Vale.
Richard Vale.
And a fifth person identified only by the initials A.V.
Amelia stared at the page.
“Those are my initials.”
Celeste’s face became pale.
“No,” she whispered. “Those initials belonged to someone else.”
“Who?”
May you like
Before Celeste could answer, headlights appeared outside the chapel.
Three black vehicles blocked the entrance.
