Chapter 2 - HANNAH’S LAST WARNING
Alexander did not sleep that night.
By seven the next morning, Hannah’s medical condition had worsened.
He knew because Rosie called him.
He had given the girl his card before leaving.
“Mr. Hale?”
Her voice was shaking.
“Yes.”
“Mom fell.”
Alexander was already standing.
“Is she awake?”
“Yes.”
“Can she talk?”
“A little.”
“Call 911.”
“She said no.”
“Rosie.”
“What?”
“Call anyway.”
Ten minutes later, Alexander reached Ash Street at the same time as the ambulance.
Hannah tried to resist.
She was too weak.
Her fever was 104.
The paramedic suspected pneumonia.
Rosie stood barefoot in the doorway because she had forgotten to put her boots on.
Alexander removed his coat and wrapped it around her.
Hannah saw.
“Don’t.”
Alexander looked at her.
“What?”
“Don’t make her think you’re staying.”
The words cut deeper than he expected.
Rosie heard them too.
“Mom?”
Hannah closed her eyes.
The ambulance doors shut.
At the hospital, Hannah was admitted.
Double pneumonia.
Dehydration.
Severe exhaustion.
Treatable.
But dangerous.
Rosie sat beside Alexander in the waiting area.
Her feet did not touch the floor.
“Are you my uncle?”
Alexander stared at her.
“Hannah told you?”
“She said you were Uncle Alex after the ambulance came.”
“Yes.”
Rosie considered that.
“Why didn’t I know?”
He had no good answer.
“Your mom and I stopped talking a long time ago.”
“Why?”
“Adults can be very stupid for very long periods of time.”
Rosie nodded.
“That sounds right.”
He nearly laughed.
Then she asked:
“Are you rich?”
Alexander blinked.
“Why?”
“You have a fancy car.”
“Okay.”
“And your coat has your name inside.”
“That doesn’t make me rich.”
“Mrs. Peterson said Alexander Hale is rich.”
Information traveled quickly on Ash Street.
“I do well.”
Rosie stared at him.
“Mom says rich people say that.”
This time he laughed.
When Hannah woke several hours later, she demanded to see Alexander alone.
“You should not have brought Rosie here.”
“She’s your daughter.”
“She was scared.”
“She was more scared when you couldn’t stand.”
Hannah looked away.
Alexander sat.
“Tell me about Victor.”
“No.”
“You brought him up.”
“I had a fever.”
“You were coherent.”
“Alex.”
“Eighteen years, Hannah.”
Her jaw tightened.
“Do not use time as a weapon against me.”
He stopped.
She continued.
“You had eighteen years too.”
“I looked for you.”
“Not hard enough.”
“I hired investigators.”
“Did you check your own company?”
That silenced him.
Hannah looked toward the window.
“I married Luke Bennett seventeen years ago.”
Alexander knew the name.
His investigator had found the marriage certificate that morning.
“He died six years ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You should be.”
Alexander stared.
“What does that mean?”
Hannah’s eyes filled.
“Luke worked for Hale Meridian.”
His stomach tightened.
“Where?”
“North Valley Distribution Project.”
Alexander knew it instantly.
A warehouse complex built seven years earlier.
There had been an accident.
One worker died.
He remembered the report.
Fall from structural scaffolding.
Contractor error.
Settlement with the widow.
Except he had never known the widow was Hannah.
“How?”
She laughed bitterly.
“You don’t know.”
“I knew there was an accident.”
“You signed the internal closure.”
“Victor handled the investigation.”
“Exactly.”
Cold moved through Alexander.
Hannah continued.
“Luke had been reporting structural shortcuts for months.”
“To who?”
“Victor Kane.”
Alexander stared.
“He documented temporary supports being removed early. Cheap subcontractors. Altered safety inspections.”
“Why didn’t he contact me?”
“He tried.”
Alexander’s breathing changed.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I never saw anything.”
“I know.”
Hannah looked at him.
“That’s why I disappeared again.”
“What?”
“After Luke died, I wrote to you.”
“I received nothing.”
“I called corporate.”
“Nothing reached me.”
“Then Victor visited.”
Alexander stopped breathing.
Hannah’s voice lowered.
“He came to our apartment.”
“What did he say?”
“That Luke caused the accident.”
Alexander’s hands tightened.
“He said if I kept making accusations, the company would challenge the insurance claim, bury me in litigation, and make sure Rosie and I never received the settlement.”
Rosie would have been one.
“You took the settlement.”
“I needed to feed my daughter.”
Alexander closed his eyes.
Hannah continued.
“Victor brought a letter.”
“What letter?”
“From you.”
His eyes opened.
Hannah looked at him.
“It said you knew I was Luke’s wife.”
“No.”
“It said you wanted all communication handled through counsel.”
“No.”
“It said our personal history did not change corporate facts.”
“Hannah, I never wrote that.”
She stared at him.
“I know that now.”
“How?”
“Because eight months ago Victor got fired.”
Alexander became still.
“How did you know?”
“He called me.”
“Why?”
“He said the agreement protecting me was over.”
“What agreement?”
Hannah pulled open the drawer beside her bed.
Her purse was inside.
She removed a folded document.
Old.
Creased.
Alexander read.
A confidentiality agreement.
Not merely about the accident.
It required Hannah to refrain from contacting Alexander Hale personally about Luke Bennett’s death.
The signature at the bottom looked like Alexander’s.
It was not.
Victor had forged him.
“Why would he care if you contacted me?”
Hannah looked at him.
“Because Luke had evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“A drive.”
Alexander leaned forward.
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?”
“Luke hid it before he died.”
“Did he tell you?”
“He said if anything happened to him, I should look where Rosie first learned to walk.”
Alexander frowned.
“Where was that?”
“Our old apartment.”
“Do you still have access?”
Hannah laughed.
“No. The building was demolished.”
“By whom?”
Her expression changed.
“Hale Meridian.”
Alexander went cold.
“When?”
“Four months after Luke died.”
He remembered the redevelopment.
Victor had insisted it was strategically essential.
Suddenly everything aligned too neatly.
The accident.
The letter.
The settlement.
The demolished building.
Victor’s silence.
Alexander stood.
“I’m going to find out.”
Hannah grabbed his wrist.
“No.”
He looked down.
“You have Rosie now.”
“What?”
“If Victor knows you found me, he’ll come after the one thing I care about.”
Alexander stared.
“He’s under federal investigation already.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s powerless.”
“He won’t touch Rosie.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Yes.”
Hannah shook her head.
“You always believed money made promises stronger.”
The words landed.
Alexander sat again.
“You’re right.”
She looked surprised.
“I can’t promise what Victor will do.”
He continued.
“But I can promise what I will do.”
“What?”
“Listen this time.”
Hannah’s eyes filled.
May you like
For eighteen years, that was all she had wanted.
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