Chapter 9 – The Missing Nurse
Chapter 9 – The Missing Nurse
The name on the financial report refused to leave Ethan's mind.
Olivia Carter.
His younger sister.
Nathan's little sister.
The girl who used to follow them around the backyard, insisting she could climb trees just as well as her older brothers.
There had to be an explanation.
There had to be.
Ryan Mitchell had manipulated people before.
Perhaps Olivia had unknowingly accepted money.
Perhaps there was another Olivia Carter.
Ethan wanted to believe any explanation except the obvious one.
David Mercer, however, had learned long ago that evidence didn't care about hope.
"I verified the account twice," David said.
"The payments went to your sister."
Ethan rubbed his forehead.
"For what?"
David slid another document across the table.
The description simply read:
Consulting Services.
"No details."
"No invoices."
"No contracts."
"Just monthly payments."
Ethan stared at the figures.
The first payment had arrived only two weeks after Vanessa announced her pregnancy.
Everything traced back to the lie.
Meanwhile, Nathan was happier than ever.
He had finally convinced Vanessa to schedule a gender reveal party.
"Our parents will love it," he said excitedly.
Vanessa forced a smile.
"Maybe we should wait."
Nathan laughed.
"We've already waited long enough."
She looked away.
If the party happened, Ryan's timetable would move even faster.
And she still didn't know what his final plan was.
Across town, David followed another lead.
The fake ultrasounds had to come from somewhere.
Someone had printed them.
Someone had accessed real medical records.
That meant there had to be help inside the healthcare system.
Using the metadata hidden in the altered image files, David traced them to a small private imaging clinic on the outskirts of Charlotte.
The clinic had closed nearly a year earlier.
But one employee still lived nearby.
A sonographer named Rebecca Lawson.
David and Ethan arrived at Rebecca's apartment just before sunset.
No one answered.
The mailbox overflowed with unopened letters.
A neighbor watering flowers glanced toward them.
"Are you looking for Becky?"
David nodded.
"When did you last see her?"
The elderly woman frowned.
"About a week ago."
"She packed in a hurry."
"Said someone was threatening her."
Ethan exchanged a worried glance with David.
"Did she say who?"
The neighbor slowly shook her head.
"No."
"But she looked terrified."
Inside David's car, the silence was heavy.
"We're too late," Ethan finally said.
"Maybe."
David replied.
"But people don't disappear without leaving traces."
They obtained Rebecca's employment records.
She had resigned unexpectedly.
No forwarding address.
No emergency contact.
Then David noticed something strange.
Three days before quitting...
Rebecca had accessed archived patient files after business hours.
One file.
Twice.
The same evening.
David requested the access log.
The patient name had been deleted.
But the file number remained.
Melissa Grant agreed to help once again.
She used her medical credentials to identify the archived file number.
A few hours later, she called Ethan.
Her voice was unusually tense.
"I found it."
"What is it?"
"The file belongs to a woman named Sarah Collins."
"She gave birth almost four years ago."
Ethan immediately understood.
"The ultrasound..."
Melissa answered quietly.
"It was hers."
Nathan spent that same evening assembling a tiny bookshelf in the nursery.
Vanessa watched from the doorway.
"You don't have to do all this yourself."
Nathan smiled.
"I want our child to know this room was built with love."
Her eyes filled with tears.
Nathan noticed.
"Pregnancy emotions again?"
She nodded.
He walked over and wrapped his arms around her.
"No matter what happens..."
"We'll get through it together."
Vanessa buried her face against his chest.
If only he knew how many storms were already waiting outside that door.
The following morning, David's phone rang.
It was an anonymous caller.
A woman's frightened voice whispered,
"I heard you're looking for Rebecca."
David immediately sat upright.
"Who is this?"
"I can't tell you."
"Is she alive?"
A long pause.
"Yes."
"But not for long."
The line disconnected.
Within minutes, David traced the call to a disposable prepaid phone.
The signal originated from a rural highway north of Charlotte.
He and Ethan drove there immediately.
The location led them to an abandoned roadside diner.
Inside, they found only an empty table.
And a paper napkin.
Written across it in blue ink were five words.
She trusted the wrong doctor.
Nothing else.
David searched every inch of the building.
Near the kitchen entrance, he found a fresh tire track.
Large SUV.
Recently driven.
More importantly...
He found a small silver employee badge lying beneath a chair.
The badge belonged to Rebecca Lawson.
Someone had been there.
Very recently.
Back in Charlotte, Ryan Mitchell received a call from one of his men.
"We lost the badge."
Ryan slammed his fist onto the desk.
"Find it."
"We searched everywhere."
Ryan's expression darkened.
"Then David Mercer has it."
Vanessa arrived at the hotel later that afternoon.
Ryan was already waiting.
His face was colder than she had ever seen.
"Ethan is getting too close."
Vanessa whispered,
"I told you this would happen."
Ryan ignored her.
"Rebecca disappeared because she panicked."
"Now David's looking for her."
"What if they find her?"
Ryan looked directly into her eyes.
"They won't."
Something in his voice chilled her.
"What did you do?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he slid a newspaper across the table.
A headline caught her attention.
Local Woman Missing After Leaving Work.
There was no photograph.
Only a name.
Rebecca Lawson.
Vanessa looked up slowly.
"You promised no one would die."
Ryan smiled.
"I promised many things."
That evening, Ethan sat alone in his truck outside Nathan's house.
Children played in neighboring yards.
Nathan laughed as he carried another box of baby furniture inside.
He looked like the happiest man in the world.
Ethan tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
Every hour they failed to expose the truth...
Nathan sank deeper into the trap.
Then David called.
"I found Rebecca's bank activity."
"Anything?"
"Yesterday..."
"There was a cash withdrawal."
Ethan frowned.
"I thought she disappeared a week ago."
"So did I."
David's voice became serious.
"The withdrawal happened this morning."
Ethan's heart raced.
"Meaning?"
David started his engine.
"Someone is keeping her alive."
"And if we're fast enough..."
"We might still reach her before Ryan does."
Far away, in an isolated farmhouse hidden among dense woods, Rebecca Lawson slowly opened her eyes.
Her wrists were bound to a wooden chair.
A single light bulb hung from the ceiling.
The door creaked open.
Ryan Mitchell stepped inside.
He placed the latest newspaper on the floor in front of her.
"You've become very popular."
Rebecca stared at him with terrified eyes.
"I never told anyone."
Ryan crouched beside her.
"I know."
He smiled calmly.
"But eventually..."
"You would have."
Rebecca closed her eyes.
She knew one thing with absolute certainty.
If Ethan and David didn't find her soon...
May you like
She would become another secret buried beneath Ryan Mitchell's web of lies.
End of Chapter 9
