Chapter 3
I gripped my phone so tightly that my fingers hurt.
"What do you mean she wasn't a doctor?"
The stranger lowered his voice.
"Her name was printed on the document, but she's a nurse who lost her license years ago."
I stepped away from the hospital corridor.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Samuel Reed."
"How do you know this?"
"I work security at the funeral home's storage facility."
My heart pounded.
"Then come to the hospital."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because Daniel knows somebody talked."
I looked toward the elevators.
"Samuel, my wife almost died."
"I know."
"Then help me."
Silence.
Then he said, "Meet me somewhere public tomorrow morning. I'll bring what I have."
"Why tomorrow?"
"Because I need to get the footage before they erase it."
My pulse quickened.
"Don't put yourself in danger."
"I'm already in danger."
The call ended.
I stared at the screen.
I wanted answers immediately.
But one thing mattered more.
Nia was alive.
And someone had tried to make sure I never discovered that.
I called Detective Angela Brooks, the officer whose card I'd received at the hospital.
I told her about Samuel.
She asked for his number and urged me not to arrange a private meeting.
"Let us contact him," she said.
"He's frightened."
"Then we need to protect him."
I gave her everything.
The messages.
The photographs.
The call history.
Then I went back to Nia's room.
She was sleeping.
A nurse told me her vital signs were improving.
I pulled a chair beside the bed.
For hours, I watched her breathe.
Every rise of her chest felt like a miracle.
Around midnight, she opened her eyes.
"Marcus?"
I leaned forward.
"I'm here."
She looked around.
"Hospital?"
"Yes."
She reached toward her wrists.
The rope was gone.
But the marks remained.
Her face tightened.
"Was it real?"
I nodded.
She started crying.
I climbed carefully onto the edge of the bed and held her.
For a long time, we didn't speak.
Then she whispered, "I heard people crying."
I pulled back.
"What?"
"Inside the coffin."
Her eyes filled with terror.
"I could hear the funeral."
My stomach twisted.
She continued.
"I tried to move. I couldn't at first."
I brushed tears from her cheek.
"The medicine must have still been affecting you."
"I heard your voice."
I stared at her.
She nodded.
"I heard you shouting."
Then she began sobbing.
"I thought you were going to leave."
I held her tighter.
"Never."
She buried her face against my chest.
"I wanted to scream."
"You did everything you could."
She cried until exhaustion overtook her.
I stayed beside her.
The next morning, Detective Brooks arrived.
She explained that Daniel and Evelyn had both been interviewed.
Daniel denied knowing anything about Nia's confinement.
Evelyn claimed she had believed her daughter was dead.
But investigators had found inconsistencies in their accounts.
"Has Daniel been arrested?" I asked.
"Not yet. We're gathering evidence."
I clenched my jaw.
"He had Nia's phone."
"We're working on obtaining and preserving relevant devices and records."
I wanted immediate justice.
But Detective Brooks reminded me that proving what happened mattered more than making accusations.
Then she asked to speak with Nia.
The doctor approved a brief interview.
I stayed beside my wife.
Nia explained what she remembered.
Three days before the funeral, she'd confronted Daniel about missing foundation money.
He invited her into the conference room.
There was coffee on the table.
She remembered drinking some.
Then feeling dizzy.
After that, only fragments.
A car.
A locked room.
A man's voice.
Daniel telling someone to hurry.
And Evelyn crying.
Detective Brooks leaned forward.
"You're certain you heard your mother's voice?"
Nia nodded slowly.
"She said, 'Please don't do this.'"
My chest tightened.
"Did she say anything else?"
Nia closed her eyes.
"She said he promised nobody would get hurt."
The detective wrote everything down.
Then asked about the blue envelope.
Nia looked toward me.
"It's in Mom's safe."
"What is?"
"Copies of financial records."
"Why would you give them to her?"
"Because I thought she would protect me."
Her voice broke.
"I didn't know who else to trust."
I took her hand.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She looked ashamed.
"Daniel threatened your business."
I froze.
"What?"
"He said if I exposed him, he'd make sure you lost everything."
I owned a construction company.
We had worked for years to build it.
But I would have gladly lost every dollar if it meant keeping Nia safe.
"Baby, none of that mattered more than you."
She cried again.
"I know that now."
Later that afternoon, Evelyn arrived at the hospital.
I saw her through the glass doors.
She looked twenty years older.
Her face was pale.
Her hands trembled.
When she spotted me, she stopped.
"Marcus."
I stood.
"Why are you here?"
"I need to see my daughter."
"After what happened?"
Tears filled her eyes.
"Please."
I looked toward Nia's room.
She was resting.
I couldn't let anyone frighten her.
"Tell me about the blue envelope."
Evelyn went still.
For several seconds, she stared at me.
Then she whispered, "Nia told you?"
"Yes."
Her lips trembled.
"I should have gone to the police."
"Why didn't you?"
She covered her face.
"Because he threatened my son."
I froze.
Evelyn had two children.
Nia.
And her younger brother, Caleb.
Caleb was twenty-seven and had recently disappeared from family gatherings.
"Where is Caleb?"
Evelyn began crying harder.
"I don't know."
I felt sick.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
She reached into her purse.
Then pulled out a folded photograph.
It showed Caleb sitting in an unfamiliar room.
His hands were visible on the table.
He looked frightened.
On the back, someone had written four words.
KEEP QUIET. KEEP HIM SAFE.
Evelyn looked at me.
"Marcus, Daniel didn't only threaten Nia."
May you like
She swallowed.
"He told me if I stopped the funeral, Caleb would be next."
