Chapter 4 - The Nurse Who Knew Too Much
My mother had been dead for twelve years.
Now someone was telling me her illness might have been deliberately caused.
I sat on the edge of my bed with the locket trembling in my hand.
"No," I whispered. "She was sick for months. I watched her get weaker."
Julian stood several feet away.
"That doesn't rule out foul play."
I looked up sharply.
"Don't talk about her like she's another business problem."
He stopped.
Then nodded.
"You're right. I'm sorry."
His apology surprised me.
But I was too frightened to care.
"I want to see those records."
Tomas explained that the information came from a preliminary report recovered by a former hospital employee.
It wasn't proof.
But it was enough to justify another investigation.
I immediately contacted Detective Elena Brooks, who worked with the hospital's financial-crimes task force.
When she heard the details, she agreed to review the surviving records.
The following morning, I returned to work.
I insisted on it.
Julian argued that I needed protection.
I told him I would accept a police safety plan, but I wasn't surrendering my job or independence.
He reluctantly agreed.
At the nurses' station, Priya Sharma hurried toward me.
"Cora! I've been calling you."
I hugged her.
"I know. Everything's been complicated."
Her eyes moved toward Tomas, who stood near the elevators.
"Who's that?"
"A security consultant."
Priya's expression changed.
"Since when do you need security?"
I hesitated.
"Someone threatened my father."
She gripped my wrist.
"Who?"
The urgency in her voice made me pause.
"Why?"
"Because I'm worried about you."
I studied her.
Priya had been my closest friend for more than a year.
She brought me lunch when I couldn't afford it.
Covered shifts when my father caused another crisis.
Listened when I cried.
Yet lately, she'd been asking questions I hadn't invited.
"Priya, did you know my mother?"
Her face went blank.
"What?"
"Evelyn Mercer."
For one second, Priya stopped breathing.
Then she shook her head.
"No. Why would I?"
Before I could answer, an elderly patient called for assistance.
I turned toward his room.
When I looked back, Priya had disappeared.
That evening, Detective Brooks contacted me.
She'd recovered part of my mother's old hospital chart.
The file contained inconsistencies in medication records and missing signatures.
But one detail shocked me more than anything.
A woman had visited Evelyn shortly before her death.
Her name was listed as Miriam Sharma.
I stared at the screen.
"Sharma?"
Detective Brooks nodded.
"Do you recognize it?"
"My best friend's last name is Sharma."
A terrible silence followed.
Then the detective showed me a photograph.
A younger woman stood beside my mother outside the hospital.
I recognized her immediately.
Not Priya.
Someone who looked exactly like her.
"That's Priya's mother," I whispered.
Brooks studied me.
"Are you certain?"
I nodded.
May you like
And then she revealed the detail that made my stomach turn.
"Miriam Sharma was the nurse assigned to Julian Voss's sister on the night she supposedly died."
