The Call Wasn’t an Accident
Nolan stared at the contract.
“Twelve million dollars?”
Evelyn nodded.
“For six months.”
He pushed the papers back.
“You don’t even know me.”
“That’s exactly why I chose you.”
Nolan frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Evelyn lowered her voice.
“Everyone around me has something to gain.”
She pointed toward the contract.
“You don’t.”
Nolan stood.
“I think you should find someone else.”
Evelyn’s expression suddenly changed.
“Wait.”
She reached into a drawer and pulled out a thin folder.
“I found this yesterday.”
Nolan opened it.
The first page was a phone record.
His phone number was highlighted.
The date made his stomach drop.
It was dated four years earlier.
Three months before his wife Claire had died.
Nolan stared at Evelyn.
“I don’t understand.”
“I don’t either.”
She turned another page.
There were records from Willowcrest Medical Center.
Nolan’s wife’s name appeared repeatedly.
His hands began to shake.
“Why do you have my wife’s medical records?”
Evelyn swallowed.
“I didn’t ask for them.”
“Then who did?”
She hesitated.
“That is what I’m trying to find out.”
Nolan kept reading.
Then he saw something that made him stop breathing.
A payment had been made from a Mercer Global account to a private investigator.
The payment date was exactly two weeks before Claire’s final hospitalization.
Nolan looked up.
“Your company was investigating my wife?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed to the signature at the bottom.
“My father was.”
Nolan’s face went pale.
“Your father died years ago.”
“I know.”
Silence filled the room.
Then Evelyn whispered:
“That’s why I think someone has been using his identity.”
Nolan slowly closed the folder.
The strange phone call at 2:07 a.m. suddenly didn’t feel accidental anymore.
Someone had wanted him to meet Evelyn.
Someone who knew about his wife.
Someone who had been watching both of them long before that night.
Then Nolan’s phone buzzed.
One message appeared from an unknown number:
STOP ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT CLAIRE REED.
Nolan looked at Evelyn.
She had seen the message too.
And for the first time, the billionaire who had offered him twelve million dollars looked genuinely terrified.
Because whoever sent that message knew exactly where Nolan was sitting.