The Missing Doctor
Chapter 07 - The Missing Doctor
The doctor’s name was Dr. Alan Pierce.
According to the report, he had evaluated Emma on three separate dates.
On the first date, Emma had been speaking at a trade conference in Chicago.
On the second, she had attended Grace’s graduation.
On the third, she had been sitting beside Victor at a charity dinner while photographs were taken every few minutes.
The report was not careless.
It was meant to be found only after people had already chosen what to believe.
Caroline contacted the state licensing board.
There was an Alan Pierce, but he had retired five years earlier and moved to Arizona.
His license number on the report belonged to someone else.
Victor had not simply lied about Emma’s health. He had built a paper trail designed to make every future denial sound like proof of illness.
Grace read the report twice.
“He sent this to me and said I should be patient with you.”
Emma watched her daughter struggle with the memory.
“What else did he say?”
“That you were afraid of losing control. That business pressure was making you suspicious of people who loved you.”
“That is what he told the board.”
Grace covered her mouth.
Emma moved closer, but stopped before touching her. Grace had always hated being comforted too quickly.
After a moment, Grace leaned into her.
“I’m sorry.”
Emma held her.
The apology did not erase the lost months, but it opened a door.
At eleven thirty, Emma left for the factory.
The old Whitmore building stood empty beside the river, its brick walls dark and damp with summer rain. Caroline waited in an unmarked car with a detective.
Emma entered through the loading dock.
Lila stood beneath a broken security light, wearing jeans and a gray coat instead of the black dress.
She looked smaller without Victor’s house around her.
“You brought the police,” Lila said.
“You brought a lie into my home.”
Lila flinched.
“I have a recording.”
“Of what?”
“Victor planning the proxy. The money. The doctor.”
Emma’s pulse quickened.
“Give it to me.”
Lila tightened her hand around a small phone.
“I will. But first you have to promise something.”
Emma almost laughed.
“You are in no position to ask me for anything.”
Lila’s eyes filled, though no tears fell.
“It isn’t for me.”
May you like
She unlocked the phone and showed Emma a photograph of a seventeen-year-old boy.
“My son,” she said. “Victor knows where he is.”
