Chapter 5 - The Secret Evelyn Buried
Roman turned toward her.
Evelyn’s stomach dropped.
“There’s more.”
It wasn’t a question.
“Yes.”
“What?”
She looked away.
Roman shut off the phone.
“I trusted you.”
“You barely know me.”
“I trusted you anyway.”
The disappointment in his voice hurt more than anger.
Evelyn sat down.
“Margaret Donovan wasn’t the first patient involved.”
Roman waited.
“My mother was.”
That stopped him.
Evelyn had been nineteen when her mother, Susan Brooks, developed complications after routine surgery.
Jonathan Mercer had been the attending physician.
Susan deteriorated unexpectedly.
The chart said infection.
Evelyn remembered something else.
Her mother had repeatedly complained that a new medication made her chest feel strange.
Nobody listened.
Susan survived, but suffered permanent heart damage.
Years later, when Evelyn entered nursing school and encountered Jonathan Mercer during clinical placement, she recognized him.
“I started checking old records.”
Roman frowned.
“You investigated him yourself?”
“I was twenty-four and angry.”
“What did you find?”
“Nothing at first.”
Then came Margaret Donovan.
Margaret recognized Evelyn’s last name.
She quietly told her that Susan’s medical records had been altered.
Margaret promised proof.
Two days later, Margaret died after receiving the wrong medication.
Evelyn reported what she knew.
Jonathan Mercer accused her of accessing confidential records without authorization.
The hospital supported him.
Evelyn lost her placement.
Then her school dismissed her.
“Why didn’t you tell investigators about your mother?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“They said grief made me obsessive.”
Roman’s expression darkened.
“So Mercer’s message isn’t exposing you.”
“No.”
“It’s trying to make me distrust you.”
“Yes.”
He sat beside her.
Their shoulders almost touched.
“Did you access records you weren’t authorized to see?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“Yes.”
Roman nodded.
“That was stupid.”
“I know.”
“And brave.”
“Mostly stupid.”
“Those aren’t mutually exclusive.”
She laughed softly.
Then she began crying.
She hated herself for it.
Roman didn’t tell her to stop.
He simply sat beside her.
Eventually she whispered, “My mother died last year.”
“I’m sorry.”
“She spent her final years believing my career was ruined because I tried to defend her.”
Roman looked at her.
“Was it?”
“Yes.”
“Would you do it again?”
Evelyn thought.
“Yes.”
“Then maybe ruined isn’t the right word.”
She turned toward him.
For a moment neither moved.
The distance between them became suddenly noticeable.
Roman’s gaze dropped briefly to her mouth.
Evelyn stood.
“I need coffee.”
His mouth curved.
“Coward.”
“Absolutely.”
That evening, Roman received a message from Mercer.
A location.
An abandoned medical office on the South Side.
And six words:
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH.
Naturally, Roman intended to go.
Naturally, Evelyn found out.
“You’re insane.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
“It’s a trap.”
“Probably.”
“And that doesn’t concern you?”
“It concerns me considerably.”
“Then don’t go.”
Roman checked his weapon.
Evelyn stared at it.
“No.”
“No what?”
“You are not walking into a dark building with a gun because some corrupt doctor texted you.”
“He may know what Victor did.”
“Then call detectives.”
Roman looked at her.
“I spent years learning one thing about men who believe they’re untouchable.”
“What?”
“They confess only when they think they control the room.”
Evelyn grabbed her coat.
“You’re not coming.”
“Yes, I am.”
“No.”
“You kidnapped me into protective custody yesterday.”
“I invited you.”
“With armed guards.”
“Details.”
She headed toward the elevator.
Roman muttered something in Italian.
“What did you say?”
“That you’re impossible.”
“Say it in English next time.”
At the medical office, Roman’s security team remained two blocks away.
Evelyn waited in the car.
For approximately forty seconds.
Then she followed him.
Roman heard her footsteps.
“I told you to stay.”
“I’ve historically struggled with authority.”
“I noticed.”
Inside, Mercer stood beneath a single fluorescent light.
He looked exhausted.
“You brought her.”
Roman’s voice was cold.
“Talk.”
Mercer looked at Evelyn.
“My brother is dead.”
Evelyn froze.
“Jonathan?”
“Six months ago.”
“How?”
“Car accident.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
“Like Daniel Cross?”
Mercer looked away.
“That’s why I ran.”
“From whom?”
“Victor Hale.”
The name echoed through the room.
Mercer began talking.
Jonathan had participated in a billing and prescription fraud scheme years earlier.
Victor financed it.
Doctors received money for directing high-value contracts through shell companies.
When patients were harmed, records were altered.
Margaret discovered it.
Jonathan panicked.
“What happened to Margaret?” Evelyn asked.
Mercer’s eyes filled with shame.
“My brother ordered the medication change.”
Evelyn stopped breathing.
“He killed her?”
“He claimed he only wanted her sedated before she could speak to investigators.”
“She died.”
“I know.”
Evelyn slapped him.
The sound cracked through the empty office.
Mercer accepted it.
Roman didn’t interfere.
“Why Eleanor?” Roman asked.
Mercer’s face crumpled.
“Victor needed her declared incompetent long enough to activate the trust amendment.”
“You helped him.”
“At first.”
Roman moved toward him.
Evelyn stepped between them.
“Don’t.”
Roman stared over her shoulder.
Mercer continued quickly.
“I changed Eleanor’s medication under pressure, but when she developed neurological symptoms, I panicked. I didn’t know Victor intended to push it that far.”
“You told everyone she was tired,” Evelyn said.
“I was afraid.”
“So was I.”
Mercer looked at her.
“And you still did the right thing.”
A noise came from outside.
Glass shattered.
Roman reacted instantly.
“Down!”
A shot tore through the window.
Mercer fell.
Evelyn screamed.
Roman dragged her behind a concrete wall as another shot struck the floor.
Security rushed inside seconds later.
Then silence.
Evelyn crawled toward Mercer.
Blood spread across his shirt.
“Adrian.”
His eyes fluttered.
She pressed both hands over the wound.
“Stay with me.”
He coughed.
“Victor…”
“We know.”
“No.”
Mercer grabbed her wrist.
“Roman’s father…”
Roman crouched beside him.
“What about my father?”
Mercer struggled for breath.
“He found out.”
Roman went pale.
“Found out what?”
Mercer whispered:
“Victor didn’t inherit your father’s shares.”
May you like
Blood touched his lips.
“He murdered him for them.”
