Chapter 9 - The Woman Evelyn Could Not Control
The woman who changed Alessia’s plan was named Rebecca Sloan.
She had worked for Evelyn Hale 9 years earlier.
Rebecca contacted Jonathan after hearing that investigators were asking questions about Hale Meridian Consulting.
She agreed to meet Alessia in a private room at a hotel in Philadelphia.
Rebecca was 45 and visibly nervous.
“I should have come forward years ago.”
Alessia had learned not to comfort people before hearing what they knew.
“Why didn’t you?”
“Evelyn paid me.”
“For what?”
“To destroy records.”
Rebecca opened her handbag and removed an old notebook.
“But I kept this.”
Inside were handwritten payment logs from Hale Meridian.
Fake vendors.
Cash transfers.
And several unexplained payments to a physician.
Dr. Stephen Vale.
Alessia’s pulse quickened.
“When did these start?”
“Before your father died.”
“How long before?”
“About 8 months.”
Jonathan leaned over the notebook.
“What was Vale doing for them?”
“I don’t know.”
Rebecca swallowed.
“But I heard Evelyn tell him once that she needed something that would frighten a sick man without looking suspicious.”
The room became silent.
Alessia looked at her.
“Did you hear what he gave her?”
“No.”
“Did you ever see medication?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“Yes.”
She described a small white prescription bottle with Vale’s name on the pharmacy label.
Jonathan immediately contacted investigators.
If pharmacy records still existed, they might connect Vale to the drug found in Vincent’s preserved sample.
Rebecca continued.
“There’s more.”
She looked directly at Alessia.
“Garrett didn’t want to marry you at first.”
That surprised her.
“What?”
“Evelyn planned it.”
“How do you know?”
“I heard them fighting.”
“When?”
“A few months after Vincent died.”
Rebecca remembered Garrett saying Alessia was grieving and would never trust him.
Evelyn answered that grief made people easier to rescue.
Alessia felt physically ill.
Every tender memory of Garrett became contaminated.
The flowers after her father’s funeral.
The spontaneous lunches.
The way he told her she deserved happiness again.
The way he had knelt beside Lily and tied her shoe.
Not love.
Strategy.
Rebecca’s voice softened.
“I’m sorry.”
Alessia looked down.
“Did Garrett ever love me?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“I can’t answer that.”
Alessia almost laughed.
Neither could Garrett.
By evening, investigators confirmed that Dr. Stephen Vale had prescribed the same cardiac medication found in Vincent’s sample 6 days before Vincent died.
The prescription had been issued to Evelyn Hale.
The case changed instantly.
Dr. Vale was questioned the following morning.
He denied knowing the medication had been used against Vincent.
Then investigators played the audio from Garrett’s study in which Garrett discussed fabricating Alessia’s psychological assessment.
Vale asked for an attorney.
4 hours later, he requested a cooperation agreement.
At 3:17 p.m., Jonathan called Alessia.
“Vale is talking.”
“What did he say?”
“He says Evelyn asked him for medication to help with anxiety and heart palpitations.”
“Do you believe him?”
“No.”
“Does the district attorney?”
“Not entirely.”
“And Garrett?”
“Vale claims Garrett knew nothing about Vincent.”
Alessia thought of the audio from the heart monitor.
Garrett had been in the room.
“Then Vale is still lying.”
“Yes.”
“But he’ll testify about the psychiatric documents.”
“He has admitted they were fabricated.”
Alessia closed her eyes.
One part of the trap was dead.
Garrett could no longer use fake medical records safely.
But he did not know that.
That meant Alessia still had one weapon.
She could let him try.
That evening, Garrett returned home carrying flowers.
He found Alessia in the ballroom.
The fountain had been cleaned.
The silver banquet console polished.
Everything was ready for the gala.
He held out the roses.
“For you.”
Alessia accepted them.
“What did I do?”
“Do I need a reason?”
“Yes.”
Garrett laughed.
Then his expression softened.
“I miss you.”
She looked at him.
For a dangerous second, she remembered the man she thought she married.
The warmth.
The humor.
The nights he sat beside her when grief woke her.
Then she remembered Lily saying, Don’t let them know you know.
“I miss us too,” Alessia said.
Garrett touched her face.
“After the gala, everything changes.”
She held his gaze.
“I think you’re right.”
He smiled.
Later that night, Evelyn entered Garrett’s study.
Rosa’s hidden camera captured everything.
“You’re losing her,” Evelyn said.
“I have it handled.”
“Then why is Lily still at Cecilia’s?”
“She’ll be back for the gala.”
“And if she isn’t?”
Garrett opened a drawer.
He removed a document.
“We don’t need her there.”
Evelyn looked at it.
Alessia later watched the recording with Jonathan.
“What is that?”
Jonathan enlarged the image.
His face changed.
“An emergency guardianship petition.”
“For Lily?”
“Yes.”
“On what grounds?”
He read what he could.
Then he looked at Alessia.
“Garrett claims you endangered Lily during a violent psychiatric episode.”
Alessia stared at him.
“That never happened.”
“I know.”
“He hasn’t filed it.”
“No.”
“Then why prepare it?”
May you like
Jonathan answered quietly.
“Because he intends to make something happen at the gala that looks like it did.”
