Chapter 9 - The Lie Megan Had to Tell
Thomas did not react when Megan spelled Eli's name into his palm.
He had learned enough in the previous forty-eight hours to understand that visible fear could be used against them.
Instead, he kissed her forehead and stepped away.
"Get some rest," he said.
Megan nodded.
The performance was for whoever might be watching from the hallway.
Thomas walked to the elevator, rode down one floor, then took the stairs back up through the service corridor.
He found Ortiz near the nurses' station.
"We need somewhere private."
She saw his face and did not argue.
In an empty supply office, Thomas told her what Megan had done.
Ortiz remained silent for several seconds.
"Did she say who threatened Eli?"
"No."
"Did anyone visit her before Detective Price?"
"I don't know."
Ortiz took out her phone.
Hospital visitor logs showed one unusual entry.
At six-forty that morning, a man named Aaron Cole had signed in as Megan's cousin.
Thomas stared at the name.
"Nathan's middle name is Aaron."
Ortiz looked up sharply.
"Are you sure?"
"He signs holiday cards Nathan A. Cole."
Ortiz called security.
Camera footage showed a man wearing a mask, baseball cap, and dark glasses entering Megan's room at six-forty-two.
His face was mostly covered.
His build matched Nathan's.
He stayed inside for three minutes.
No nurse had been present.
By eight, Megan had changed her statement.
"That's enough to pick him up," Thomas said.
"It's enough to find him and ask questions."
Thomas wanted to scream.
Ortiz raised a hand.
"I know."
"But if we move too early and he has an explanation, we tell him exactly what evidence we have."
"He already knows what evidence we have."
"Marissa disappeared."
"My office was searched."
"Megan was threatened in a hospital room."
Ortiz looked tired for the first time.
"I agree the situation is escalating."
"Then act like it."
She did.
Within an hour, police placed an officer outside Eli's room and restricted access to Megan's floor.
Nathan's phone was traced to a tower near the interstate, then went dark.
His office claimed not to know where he was.
His wife told police he had left three nights earlier for a fishing trip.
He had taken no fishing equipment.
Judith's lawyer issued a statement denying any wrongdoing and accusing Thomas of manipulating a recovering child.
The statement reached television before noon.
Thomas watched it on mute in the cafeteria.
His own face appeared beside the headline LOCAL FATHER QUESTIONED IN FAMILY MEDICAL MYSTERY.
A second headline mentioned his company's finances.
His anger became almost physical.
Megan called him from her room.
"Don't respond publicly," she said.
"They are burying me."
"That's what they want."
"My clients are leaving."
"We'll rebuild."
"If I'm arrested, there may be nothing left to rebuild."
Megan was quiet.
"Thomas, listen to me."
"Nathan came into my room this morning."
Thomas looked around the cafeteria.
"Ortiz knows."
"He said if I kept accusing Mom, Eli would be taken away because police would believe we were both unstable."
"That's why you changed the statement?"
"No."
Thomas frowned.
"Then why?"
Megan's voice dropped.
"He showed me a picture of Eli asleep in his hospital bed."
Thomas stood.
His chair fell backward.
"What?"
"The picture was taken after midnight."
"Someone had been in Eli's room."
Thomas ran.
By the time he reached the pediatric wing, Ortiz was already there.
She had been informed by Megan separately.
Security pulled footage from the previous night.
At two-seventeen in the morning, a person wearing hospital scrubs entered Eli's room carrying a tray.
The camera angle never showed the person's face.
The figure remained inside for thirty-two seconds.
No medication had been scheduled at that time.
Thomas felt sick.
"He was right there."
Ortiz watched the footage again.
"Or someone working for him was."
"How many people are in this?"
Nobody answered.
At three that afternoon, the case took another turn.
Police located Marissa.
She walked into a sheriff's substation forty miles away, exhausted and terrified but unharmed.
She told investigators she had not been kidnapped.
She had seen the green pickup following her on the highway and panicked.
At the gas station, she slipped into the delivery truck while its driver was inside, then begged him to take her away from the area.
She had left her purse deliberately so anyone tracking her would think she had disappeared suddenly.
Most importantly, she still had Megan's audio recording.
She had hidden the memory card inside the lining of her shoe.
Ortiz returned to Thomas with a copy of the recovered recording.
She could not let him keep it, but she played a portion.
Nathan's voice was clear.
"Your father never approved those transfers."
Megan answered, "Then you stole from the trust."
Nathan laughed softly.
"I moved money where Judith told me to move it."
Megan said, "I'm taking this to the auditor."
Nathan's tone changed.
"Then understand that your husband's company will be the first name they see."
Thomas closed his eyes.
There it was.
The frame.
Ortiz stopped the recording.
"We now have enough for warrants on Nathan's office, residence, vehicles, and financial records."
Thomas exhaled for what felt like the first time all day.
"And Judith?"
"Her attorney has been notified that we want another interview."
Before Thomas could answer, Ortiz received a message.
She read it twice.
"What is it?"
"Nathan's green pickup was just found."
Thomas felt hope rise.
May you like
Then Ortiz finished.
"It was found in Judith Lane's garage."
