Chapter 2 - The Woman Behind the Compass
“My grandmother knew you?”
Dominic nodded.
“I was seventeen.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“Doing what?”
“Things seventeen-year-olds shouldn’t be doing.”
“That sounds intentionally vague.”
“It is.”
Despite herself, Evelyn almost smiled.
Dominic leaned forward.
“I was hurt badly. Margaret found me behind a bus depot.”
“She treated you?”
“She called an ambulance.”
“That sounds like Grandma.”
“I refused to go.”
“That also sounds like someone she would have yelled at.”
“She did.”
Dominic smiled faintly.
“She said, ‘Young man, if you’re determined to be stupid, you can do it after I stop the bleeding.’”
Evelyn laughed.
Then grabbed her ribs.
“Ow.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Don’t make my dead grandmother funny.”
The humor disappeared as quickly as it came.
Dominic pointed toward the bracelet.
“She wore that every day.”
Evelyn looked down.
“She gave it to me eleven years ago.”
“Did she ever explain the compass?”
“She said people get lost for two reasons. Sometimes they don’t know the way. Sometimes they know the way and are afraid to take it.”
Dominic looked toward the window.
“She told me the same thing.”
Evelyn studied him.
“What happened after she helped you?”
“I lived.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“I know.”
Dominic stood.
“Now answer mine. Why were you on that road?”
Evelyn hesitated.
Then made a decision.
“Greyhaven Memorial.”
Dominic stopped.
“What about it?”
“I work ICU.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“I checked.”
“That’s creepy.”
“That’s security.”
“It’s creepy security.”
Dominic accepted that without argument.
Evelyn continued.
“Fourteen months ago, I noticed discrepancies in medication records. Expensive drugs billed to patients but never administered.”
“How expensive?”
“Millions.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“I traced purchase orders, inventory reports and patient charts. Some medications supposedly delivered to our ICU never entered the hospital.”
“Where did the money go?”
“Shell vendors.”
“Owned by?”
“I couldn’t prove it.”
“But you have a name.”
“Grant Holloway.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Chief financial officer?”
“You know him?”
“Everyone knows Grant.”
“That doesn't answer me.”
“No.”
Dominic moved closer.
“I don’t know him.”
Evelyn watched him carefully.
“I made copies. Holloway discovered I was investigating.”
“And tonight?”
“I got a message from someone claiming to be an internal auditor. He said he had evidence.”
“You went alone?”
“Yes.”
“That was stupid.”
“I’m aware.”
“Good.”
“He told me to meet him at a warehouse outside Greyhaven.”
“And instead?”
“Two men were waiting.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“They asked where the backup was.”
“I said there wasn’t one.”
“They believed you?”
“They wanted to.”
“What did they take?”
“Everything I had.”
Dominic paused.
“But?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“There’s another copy.”
“Where?”
“No.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“You want my help but won't tell me?”
“I never asked for your help.”
“You were lying in the road waving at my car.”
“I would’ve waved at a garbage truck.”
“That hurts.”
“I’ll survive.”
Dominic studied her for several seconds.
“Grant Holloway will assume you’re dead.”
“Probably.”
“That gives you an advantage.”
“For how long?”
“Until someone tells him otherwise.”
A knock came at the door.
One of Dominic’s men entered.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
The man glanced at Evelyn.
Dominic stood.
“Say it.”
“Someone called Greyhaven Memorial asking whether Evelyn Whitmore had been admitted.”
Evelyn went pale.
Dominic’s voice lowered.
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“Name?”
“None.”
Dominic looked at Evelyn.
“They’re searching hospitals.”
She swallowed.
“I need the evidence.”
“You need to recover.”
“Holloway can destroy everything while I’m lying here.”
Dominic moved closer.
“You said you had another copy.”
“I do.”
“Where?”
Evelyn hesitated.
Then answered.
“My grandmother’s house.”
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
“The house on Willow Street?”
Evelyn stared at him.
“How do you know where my grandmother lived?”
May you like
Dominic said nothing.
That answer frightened her more than any explanation could have.
