Chapter 4 - THE BROTHER WHO LIED WHILE BLEEDING
Ryan survived the shooting.
The bullet passed through the soft tissue of his upper arm without striking bone or major blood vessels.
At the hospital, he told police he had no idea who attacked him.
Daniel knew he was lying.
Evelyn knew something worse.
Ryan had expected the attack.
She waited until the investigating officers left his room.
Then she closed the door.
“Who paid the shooter?”
Ryan’s face remained calm.
“No one.”
“You said the shot was meant to make me trust you.”
“I was confused.”
“You were not confused.”
“I had been shot.”
“The bullet struck exactly where it would cause blood without disabling you.”
“You think I arranged to get shot?”
“I think you have done more desperate things.”
Ryan turned his face toward the window.
Evelyn placed the flash drive on his blanket.
“It’s empty.”
His head snapped back toward her.
“That’s impossible.”
“Nora checked it.”
“No.”
“There are encrypted folders, but no actual files. Only copied directory names.”
Ryan stared at the drive.
“They switched it.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you ever have real evidence?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
He closed his eyes.
“Mother has it.”
Evelyn laughed once, but there was no humor in the sound.
“Of course she does.”
“She told me to bring you there.”
“To the shipping office?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“So the men could frighten you.”
“And the gunshot?”
“I didn’t know about that.”
“But you expected something.”
Ryan looked exhausted.
“Mother said you needed to understand that Ashford was dangerous.”
“Why would she want me frightened of a company she is helping?”
“She isn’t helping them.”
“You just said she had the evidence.”
“She’s trying to control them.”
Evelyn leaned closer.
“Explain.”
Ryan looked toward the door.
“Mother has been collecting information for years. Payments, private agreements, medical trials, everything.”
“For what purpose?”
“She says it’s protection.”
“Protection from whom?”
“Everyone.”
Evelyn thought of the photograph showing Margaret holding Julian Mercer’s hand.
“Did she know Julian Mercer?”
Ryan’s eyes moved back to her.
“You really don’t know.”
“Know what?”
Before he could answer, the heart monitor beside his bed began flashing.
A nurse entered and asked Evelyn to leave.
Ryan gripped her wrist.
“Don’t let Mother become your medical proxy.”
“I would never.”
“She’s going to make you.”
“How?”
Ryan looked terrified.
“She already started.”
That evening, Daniel received a call from a contact in the federal health privacy division.
Someone had accessed Evelyn’s medical file using Dr. Price’s credentials.
The login occurred at 2:17 in the morning from an administrative terminal inside St. Matthew’s Hospital.
The access card used to enter the office belonged to a nurse named Olivia Grant.
Olivia had disappeared two days earlier.
Her apartment was empty.
Her bank account showed a deposit of fifty thousand dollars from a shell company connected to Ashford Global.
Daniel shared the information with Evelyn in her apartment.
“You need to assume your medical team is compromised,” he said.
“Dr. Price?”
“There’s no evidence he participated.”
“His credentials were used.”
“He reported his access card missing last month.”
“And no one deactivated it?”
“The hospital says it was deactivated.”
“But it still worked.”
“Yes.”
Evelyn sat beside the window.
Below them, headlights moved through the wet streets.
“What happens when Ashford learns Ryan survived?”
“They already know.”
“What happens when my mother realizes I don’t believe him?”
“She probably expected that.”
Evelyn looked at Daniel.
“How long have you known about Julian Mercer?”
Daniel’s silence answered before his words did.
She stood.
“You knew.”
“I knew the name.”
“You knew more than that.”
“My office investigated an old financial case connected to Carter Biomedical.”
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
“Before we met?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“The case was sealed.”
“You’re not answering.”
Daniel removed his jacket and placed it over a chair.
“Julian Mercer was accused of transferring restricted biological research to a foreign company. The evidence disappeared before charges were filed.”
“Did my father accuse him?”
“Your father provided the initial documents.”
“Where is Julian now?”
“We don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe federal investigators lost him?”
“He may be dead.”
“May be?”
“No confirmed body was found.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“Was our relationship part of your investigation?”
“No.”
“Did you approach me because of my company?”
“No.”
“Did you know who I was before we met?”
Daniel hesitated.
That hesitation cut deeper than any answer.
Evelyn removed her engagement ring.
“Get out.”
“Evelyn.”
“Get out.”
“I knew who you were, but I did not plan our relationship.”
“You let me tell you about my father. My company. My family. You listened while I trusted you.”
“Because I love you.”
“You investigated my life before you loved me.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“The case was closed before our first date.”
“But you never told me.”
“I was legally forbidden.”
“You could have walked away.”
“I tried.”
She remembered the first month of their relationship.
Daniel had canceled two dates without explanation.
He had disappeared for nearly a week.
At the time, she assumed he was busy.
Now every memory felt contaminated.
“You need to leave,” she repeated.
Daniel picked up his jacket.
At the door, he turned.
“Margaret Carter was questioned during the investigation.”
Evelyn said nothing.
“She lied about her relationship with Julian.”
“What relationship?”
Daniel’s expression was filled with regret.
“The investigators believed they were having an affair.”
The door closed behind him.
Evelyn stood alone in the apartment.
Her phone vibrated.
A message from Margaret appeared.
RYAN TOLD ME WHAT HAPPENED. YOU NEED FAMILY NOW.
Evelyn stared at the screen.
May you like
Then another message arrived from an unknown number.
ASK YOUR MOTHER WHO YOUR REAL FATHER IS.
