Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN WHO KEPT HER PROMISE
Maria Esteban was sixty-three and had retired from Saint Catherine's two years earlier.
She lived in a modest house outside Newark.
When Adeline called, Maria went silent.
"Where did you get my number?"
"My mother left your name."
"Who was your mother?"
"Elena Vance."
A long pause.
Then Maria whispered:
"Oh, sweetheart."
Adeline's eyes filled.
"You knew her?"
"Yes."
"Did she tell you what happened?"
Maria hesitated.
"Not over the phone."
They met the following afternoon at a law office arranged by Adeline's independent attorney.
Roarke did not attend.
Adeline had insisted on that.
Maria arrived carrying a canvas tote bag.
She looked at Adeline for a long moment.
"You have your mother's eyes."
Adeline swallowed.
"Please tell me what happened."
Maria sat down.
"Your mother was assigned to Dominic Castellano's postoperative care."
Adeline went still.
"She noticed discrepancies in his medication records."
"What kind?"
"Orders that didn't match the physician's notes. Entries that appeared after the fact."
Adeline felt cold.
"Did she report them?"
"Yes."
"To whom?"
"Hospital administration. Then to an outside regulator."
Maria's voice trembled.
"She was frightened. Someone warned her to stop asking questions."
Adeline stared.
"Who?"
Maria shook her head.
"She never told me a name."
Then she opened her tote bag.
Inside was a sealed folder.
"Your mother asked me to keep this if anything happened to her."
Adeline looked at it.
"What's inside?"
"Copies of the complaints she filed. Correspondence. Notes about what she observed."
Adeline's fingers trembled.
Maria pushed the folder toward her attorney.
"I promised Elena I wouldn't let these disappear."
Adeline began crying.
For three years, she had believed her mother had left nothing behind except debt and grief.
But Elena Vance had left something else.
May you like
Courage.
And now Adeline had to decide what to do with it.
