Chapter 8 - THE BULLET THAT TOLD A DIFFERENT STORY
The bullet removed from Julian's abdomen became the center of the investigation the following Monday.
Ballistics testing connected it to a firearm previously associated with a private security contractor.
The contractor's name was Northstar Protective Services.
Emma didn't recognize it.
Julian did.
His expression changed when his attorney explained the finding.
"Northstar handles security for Saint Catherine's."
The attorney nodded.
"Among other clients."
Julian looked down.
"Victoria approved that contract."
For years, Julian had believed the biggest threat to his family came from outside rivals.
Other criminal organizations.
Corrupt competitors.
Federal investigations.
Men who wanted control of the waterfront.
He had built his entire life around anticipating external threats.
Now evidence suggested somebody inside the family had authorized a security arrangement connected to the attempt on his life.
Julian felt something colder than anger.
Shame.
He had been so busy guarding the gates that he never noticed who held the keys.
Meanwhile, Emma met with detectives to provide Noah's note.
She also gave them a recording of the childhood song.
Her mother used to sing it during summer storms.
A simple melody about a lighthouse keeping its lamp burning until every boat came home.
Emma's voice broke halfway through.
She hadn't sung it since Noah disappeared.
The investigator waited.
When she finished, he said gently, "Thank you."
Emma nodded.
"Will it help?"
"It may help us establish communication with your brother and verify his identity."
She looked down.
"He's really alive."
The detective didn't make a promise.
But his expression softened.
"We have increasingly strong evidence of that."
The investigators obtained additional testimony from former Saint Catherine's employees.
One described a patient called Daniel Reed who helped maintain the facility's computer network.
Another remembered him assisting vulnerable patients with complaints and contacting their relatives.
A third said Daniel had repeatedly asked for legal assistance but was discouraged from leaving.
The accounts supported Amelia Frost's story.
Noah had not simply been a passive prisoner.
He had spent years trying to expose the network from inside.
But the same witnesses raised troubling questions about how he had been kept there.
Medical records described neurological impairment.
Other reports called him incompetent to make decisions.
A psychiatrist who later reviewed the available information questioned whether those assessments were adequately supported.
Emma felt sick.
"They made people believe he couldn't leave?"
The investigator answered carefully.
"That is one issue we're examining."
She gripped her hands.
Noah had always been brilliant with computers.
He fixed Emma's laptop when they were teenagers.
Built websites for neighborhood businesses.
Earned a scholarship that he nearly lost because he worked too many hours.
Now somebody had spent years describing him as incapable of making decisions for himself.
That evening, Julian asked Emma to meet him at his attorney's office.
He looked healthier.
But his movements remained careful.
Emma noticed immediately.
"You're overdoing it."
He smiled.
"Hello to you too."
"Did your surgeon clear you for this much activity?"
"Yes."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Mostly."
"Julian."
He laughed.
Then became serious.
"We found something in the Aster records."
He slid a document toward her.
It was an employment agreement.
Seven years earlier, Aster Medical Logistics had entered into a consulting arrangement with a young software engineer.
NOAH RICHARDSON.
Emma stared.
"He never told me."
Julian nodded.
"The contract was signed two weeks before he disappeared."
"What was he developing?"
"A system designed to reconcile transport authorizations with actual patient movements."
Emma frowned.
"That sounds legitimate."
"It was."
Julian leaned forward.
"He built a way to detect false transfer records."
Emma's breath caught.
"So he discovered their fraud."
"Yes."
"And they used his own system against him?"
Julian looked grim.
"Apparently."
The document included a handwritten note from Noah.
If somebody changes the record, the original doesn't disappear.
Emma stared.
"What does that mean?"
Julian smiled faintly.
"Your brother built an independent verification archive."
Her heart accelerated.
"Where?"
"We don't know yet."
He turned another page.
Then his expression changed.
"What?"
Emma followed his gaze.
At the bottom of the agreement was the signature of the executive who authorized Noah's consulting work.
VICTORIA VESCARI.
And beside her signature was that of a second administrator.
THOMAS KELLER.
Emma went completely still.
May you like
Thomas Keller was Saint Agnes's chief executive officer.
The man responsible for the hospital where she had worked for four years.
