Chapter 10
Mercer Was Preparing One Final Transfer
By the time they returned to Chicago, a warrant had been issued for Mercer’s business records.
He disappeared before detectives reached his office.
His condo was empty.
His primary vehicle sat in the garage.
His passport was still in a desk drawer.
That meant one of two things.
He had left in a hurry.
Or he had planned not to look like he left.
Evelyn moved into a protected care facility under police supervision.
Anna remained in the hospital.
Chloe went back to work.
Not because she felt safe.
Because rent did not care about criminal conspiracies.
On her first shift back, every plate seemed too loud.
Every stranger looked familiar.
Every time the private dining room door opened, her muscles tightened.
Marcus noticed.
“You don’t have to be here.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No, you really don’t.”
“I need normal.”
Marcus leaned against the service station.
“This stopped being normal when a billionaire widow handed you evidence in a bread basket.”
Chloe gave him a tired look.
“Helpful.”
“I try.”
Then his expression changed.
“There’s someone asking for you.”
Chloe froze.
“Who?”
“Woman. Mid-fifties. Says she knew your mother.”
The woman sat at the bar.
Her name was Diane Keller.
Former pharmacist.
Ward House Medical.
Chloe sat across from her.
Diane did not touch her drink.
“I saw the news.”
“What news?”
“They haven’t named Mercer, but people talk.”
Chloe waited.
Diane leaned closer.
“Your mother saved my life.”
Chloe frowned.
“How?”
“I filled prescriptions for Ward House. Large amounts of sedatives. Too large.”
“Did you report it?”
“I told Kathleen.”
“And?”
“She told me to stop asking questions.”
“That doesn’t sound like her.”
“She was protecting me.”
Diane looked down.
“A week later, my car windshield was smashed. No theft.”
Chloe’s skin prickled.
“Did Mercer threaten you?”
“Not directly.”
“Who did?”
“Dr. Pike.”
The name from the recording.
Diane reached into her purse.
“I kept one thing.”
She slid a photocopy across the bar.
A medication order.
Evelyn Ward.
Dated six months earlier.
High-dose sedative.
Signed by Dr. Samuel Pike.
Chloe stared.
“Was she prescribed this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Anxiety.”
“That dose would knock out a horse.”
Diane flinched at the phrase.
“That’s what Kathleen said.”
Chloe looked up.
“Why are you giving me this now?”
Diane’s eyes filled.
“Because I was a coward then.”
Chloe thought of the VIP room.
All those wealthy guests staring at their plates.
Waiting for someone else to become responsible.
“What else?”
Diane swallowed.
“Mercer had a protocol.”
“What protocol?”
“Medication, capacity evaluation, guardianship petition.”
Chloe felt cold.
“He drugged them.”
“I don’t know who did what. But sedated patients looked confused. Confused patients failed capacity tests.”
“And then Mercer got control.”
Diane nodded.
Chloe looked again at Evelyn’s prescription.
Then she noticed the pharmacy code.
Same as one code in the ledger.
She took a picture and sent it to Ruiz.
Her phone rang thirty seconds later.
“Where did you get that?”
Chloe told her.
Ruiz’s voice changed.
“We just found Pike.”
“Where?”
“Airport parking garage.”
“Trying to leave?”
“No.”
A pause.
“He’s dead.”
Chloe’s hand went cold around the phone.
“What happened?”
“Looks like suicide.”
Chloe stared at Diane.
Ruiz continued.
“But there’s a problem.”
“What?”
“His phone records show three calls to Daniel Mercer last night.”
Chloe swallowed.
“And one call to your restaurant.”
She slowly looked around the bar.
“Who did he call?”
May you like
Ruiz said:
“Marcus Hale.”
