Chapter 3 - Rachel’s Last Audit
Daniel called Rachel’s former business partner the following morning.
Ethan Cole had not spoken to Daniel since the funeral.
Not because of conflict.
Because grief made people disappear from one another.
Ethan answered cautiously.
“Daniel.”
“I need to ask about Rachel.”
Silence.
“Okay.”
“Before she died, what was she working on?”
Ethan exhaled.
“I thought you knew.”
“I knew she was reviewing vendor payments.”
“That wasn’t all.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Of course.
Nothing was all anymore.
Ethan explained.
Rachel noticed Carter Medical paying unusually large consulting fees to several small companies.
Meridian Clinical Services.
North Bay Therapeutics.
Allied Neuro Research.
The companies appeared independent.
They were not.
Each eventually connected to Victor Hale through family trusts, former employees, or private investment funds.
“How much?”
“Rachel estimated twelve to fifteen million over five years.”
Daniel stared.
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
Ethan’s voice softened.
“It’s why she was scared.”
“Did she tell me?”
“She said you were already dealing with your father’s estate.”
Daniel felt shame.
His father had died eighteen months before Rachel.
Daniel spent that year rebuilding company operations.
Rachel often said she did not want to add stress.
He had accepted that kindness without asking what it cost her.
“What happened next?”
“She confronted someone.”
“Victor?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ethan.”
“I truly don’t.”
Daniel looked at the pendant.
“Did Rachel ever mention Amanda Hale?”
Long silence.
“Yes.”
Daniel stood.
“What did she say?”
“That Amanda wasn’t Amanda.”
His pulse accelerated.
“Explain.”
“Rachel found employment records for an Allison Mercer working at Victor Hale’s private neurological clinic.”
Daniel stared.
“Same Allison?”
“Probably.”
“Six years ago?”
“Yes.”
“Allison died.”
“That’s what Rachel discovered.”
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“What does Amanda have to do with it?”
“Rachel found security footage from the clinic two years after Allison supposedly died.”
Daniel knew before Ethan said it.
“The woman looked exactly like Amanda.”
“Yes.”
Daniel walked toward the window.
“Rachel knew Amanda before the crash.”
“She was trying to identify her.”
“Did she?”
“Not completely.”
Ethan continued.
“Rachel believed Amanda Hale was a real person too.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“Amanda Hale existed.”
“Obviously.”
“No.”
Ethan corrected.
“I mean there was an Amanda Hale before the woman you know.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
Victor Hale had one daughter.
At least according to every biography Daniel had seen.
Amanda.
But Rachel discovered school records showing Amanda Hale attended Northwestern.
Photos existed.
The woman in the photos looked similar.
Not identical.
“Where is the original Amanda?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel felt sick.
“So the woman I almost married might be Allison Mercer?”
“Or someone using both identities.”
Daniel looked toward Sophie.
His daughter slept peacefully.
How had a person with multiple identities gotten close enough to bathe her?
Feed her?
Sleep under the same roof?
Daniel wanted to tear the room apart.
Instead he called attorney Grace Nolan.
Grace had handled Carter family corporate matters for seven years.
She arrived with Detective Elena Ruiz, a former financial crimes investigator Grace trusted.
Daniel objected immediately.
“I didn’t ask for police.”
Ruiz answered,
“I’m not here officially.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because Grace showed me the Allison Mercer certificate.”
Daniel looked at Grace.
She shrugged.
“You needed someone who knows identity fraud.”
Ruiz examined the pendant.
“May I?”
Daniel hesitated.
Then handed it over.
She looked at the portrait.
“Your wife?”
“Yes.”
“Original pendant?”
“Yes.”
“Was it recovered after the crash?”
“No.”
Ruiz inspected the rear.
“Any engraving?”
“R.C.”
She pressed gently.
Nothing moved.
Daniel asked,
“What are you looking for?”
“Hidden compartment.”
Rebecca looked up.
“Why?”
Ruiz placed it under a lamp.
“Old trick.”
“It’s jewelry.”
“Exactly.”
She found a nearly invisible seam.
Daniel’s pulse accelerated.
Using a thin plastic tool, Ruiz lifted the backing.
Inside sat the memory card.
Nobody spoke.
Daniel whispered,
“Rachel.”
Rebecca covered her mouth.
They copied the card.
Folders appeared.
Bank ledgers.
Payments.
Internal emails.
Photographs.
Audio.
Rachel had built an evidence archive.
Then Daniel saw a folder labeled:
IF I DISAPPEAR.
His hands shook.
Grace opened it.
One video.
Rachel appeared on-screen.
Alive.
At their kitchen table.
Timestamped two days before the crash.
Daniel stopped breathing.
Rachel looked directly into the camera.
“If Daniel is watching this, then I either finally became paranoid enough to embarrass myself…”
She smiled nervously.
“…or something happened.”
Daniel’s eyes filled instantly.
Rachel continued.
“Daniel, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything.”
He moved closer to the screen.
“I found evidence that Victor Hale has been diverting money through medical vendors.”
She swallowed.
“But the money is not what scares me.”
Daniel frowned.
“What scares me is the identities.”
Rachel held up photographs.
Allison Mercer.
Amanda Hale.
A third woman.
“I think Victor has been creating or repurposing identities for patients at Hale Neurological Recovery Center.”
Ruiz whispered,
“Jesus.”
Rachel continued.
“People come in under one name and leave under another.”
Daniel felt cold.
“I don’t know why.”
Then Rachel looked away from the camera.
When she returned, her eyes were wet.
“I saw Amanda tonight.”
Daniel froze.
“She followed me from the office.”
Rachel held up another photograph.
The woman Daniel almost married.
“She told me to stop looking.”
Rachel leaned closer.
“If anything happens to me, do not trust Amanda Hale.”
The video ended.
Daniel stared at the black screen.
For nine months Amanda had slept beside him.
Held Sophie.
Planned a wedding.
Kissed him.
Told him she understood grief.
All while Rachel’s hidden recording warned him from the dead.
Then Ruiz clicked another file.
A photograph.
Amanda standing beside Rachel’s car.
May you like
Date stamped:
The night Rachel died.
