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“Good. I’ll keep you updated on my end.”
“And I’ll do the same. Thanks, Cap.”
“Anytime, Tank.”
The call ends, but I don’t go in just yet. Before every single fight I’ve been in, there’s this little slice of peace that appears right before everything goes sideways. I’ve grown accustomed to preparing in that silence, to prepping for the inevitable shoe drop.
Which is exactly what it feels like right now.
Prescott’s lawyer has seemingly unending resources and every single reason in the world to want Dahlia dead before she can claim the inheritance. If the will has already been filed, and given what I know about Prescott and what Mrs. Marooney said, it has been, then the only way for him to get around it is to prove Dahlia is no longer in the picture.
What I can’t quite figure out, though, is why no one has pieced together that she was the nurse working that night.
Surely the investigators looked into the staff, right?
If she’s listed in his will, then they should have figured it out.
I tap Sawyer’s contact. “Maddox,” he answers.
“Can you do me a favor and look into the staff at Pine Meadow? I want to know if anyone has received any deposits into their accounts that might point to a payoff. I also want to see if you can access Dahlia’s personnel file.”
“What am I looking for?”
“Anything out of the ordinary.”
“Hold please.” In the background, I can hear his keyboard clicking, and after a few moments, it stops. “Hmm.”
“What?”
“Her file is gone.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean it’s gone. Completely erased from the system. According to Pine Meadow files, Dahlia Swanson never worked there, and her grandfather was never a resident.”
My stomach twists. “They erased her?”
“They did. Did an excellent job, too. I don’t see any breadcrumbs or even proof the files were altered. It’s just like the security cameras. The footage wasn’t even technically doctored. It was replaced. And I can’t prove it.”
“How is that possible?”
“Someone almost as good at their job as I am at mine. Give me some time. I’ll see what I can uncover.”
“They’re trying to hide her. If an investigation was launched into the death of Phillip Prescott for life insurance purposes, then they’re going to be looking at every member of the staff there.”
“And if she’s listed in the will, the lawyer can’t exactly claim he’s been trying to track her down if she was right under his nose.”
“Exactly. Look into that detective, too, and the doctor at the hospital.”
“The doctor?”
“I haven’t had time to do it myself, but he insisted those bruises were the result of the accident.”
“Do you really think someone got to him?”
“I don’t know, but it’s worth looking. We need proof, and we’re going to have to tug at every loose end until we find one.”
“You’ve got it.”
