Chapter 8 - The Missing Pills
The ambulance arrived in eight minutes.
To Emily, it felt like an hour.
Henry was conscious but barely. His pulse was irregular, his skin gray.
Emily pointed toward Daniel.
"He has the bottle."
"Dad dropped it earlier."
"No, he didn't," Emily said.
"You were outside. How would you know?"
"Because I saw you take it from the kitchen cabinet before the police arrived."
Daniel's eyes sharpened.
She had not actually seen that.
But his reaction told her enough.
At the emergency room, Emily's burn was treated while Henry went into cardiac care.
Daniel stayed at the opposite end of the waiting room, speaking in low tones to someone on his phone.
At 2:13 a.m., a doctor approached.
"Mr. Mercer is stable."
Emily exhaled.
"Can I see him?"
"Briefly."
Daniel stood. "I'm his son."
The doctor checked a tablet. "He requested Mrs. Mercer first."
Inside the room, Henry looked smaller beneath hospital blankets.
"You have the key?" he whispered.
Emily touched her coat pocket. "Yes."
"Don't go alone."
"Why?"
"Because if the box still exists, Gloria will know what could be inside."
"How?"
Henry closed his eyes. "She asked me about that key for years. I always told her Robert never sent it."
Emily sat closer.
"What do you think is in the box?"
"Proof. Maybe enough to show what Robert discovered before he died."
Henry lowered his voice.
"There is something else."
Emily waited.
"The house deed wasn't a gift."
"Then what was it?"
"Repayment. Partial repayment."
"For my father's investment?"
Henry nodded.
"The company owes you much more than this house."
Emily's throat went dry.
"How much?"
"If Robert's original agreement is enforceable? Tens of millions."
She stared at him.
"That's why Daniel married you."
Emily stopped breathing.
"No."
"I wish I were wrong."
"He didn't even know me when those documents were signed."
Henry's eyes filled with pain.
"Exactly."
May you like
Emily shook her head.
Henry whispered, "Daniel didn't meet you by accident."
