Chapter 10 - The Woman Who Saw the Sticker
Nurse Jenna Morales disappeared from the schedule the next morning.
Maya noticed first.
“She was working the night Emma was admitted.”
Laura looked up.
“So?”
“She’s the nurse who told me she saw Celeste near the pharmacy terminal.”
Rebecca immediately asked, “Where is she?”
“According to staffing, she resigned.”
“When?”
“Thirty minutes ago.”
Maya called.
No answer.
Laura wanted to send someone to Jenna’s apartment.
Rebecca stopped her.
“We don’t chase witnesses like criminals.”
“So we do nothing?”
“We document, call counsel, and ask the sheriff to conduct a welfare check if there’s a legitimate reason.”
Laura hated how slow correct decisions felt.
Then Jenna texted Maya.
I’m safe. I’m scared. Don’t trust clinic phones.
Maya replied from her personal device.
Can we talk?
Jenna sent an address.
Not her home.
A gas station fifteen miles downhill.
The roads had partially reopened.
Deputy Ruiz arranged to meet her.
Laura wanted to go.
Rebecca refused.
“You are involved in litigation. Let law enforcement preserve the witness.”
Laura stayed with Emma.
That choice cost her emotionally.
Emma looked through the hospital window at children sledding near the resort.
“When can we go home?”
“Soon.”
“You said that yesterday.”
“I know.”
“Is Aunt Celeste coming back?”
Laura sat on the bed.
“She won’t be alone with you.”
Emma hugged Snowy.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Emma looked at her mother.
“Dad promised stuff too.”
Laura had no answer.
Nathan had been sleeping in a family suite downstairs.
He came in carrying pancakes.
Emma turned her face away.
“Em.”
“No.”
Nathan put the tray down.
“I know you’re angry.”
“You helped Aunt Celeste.”
His face collapsed.
Laura almost intervened.
Then she stopped.
Nathan had to live inside what he had done.
“I made a terrible choice,” he said.
Emma stared at Snowy.
“Were you going to take me?”
Nathan swallowed.
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“From Mom?”
“Yes.”
“Mom protects me.”
“I know.”
“Did you think she was bad?”
Nathan’s eyes filled.
“I let other people make me afraid.”
Emma looked at him for a long moment.
Then she said, “You’re a grown-up.”
It was not loud.
It was devastating.
Nathan sat in the chair.
“Yes.”
“You’re supposed to know.”
Laura looked away.
Some consequences could not be negotiated.
That afternoon Deputy Ruiz returned with Jenna.
Jenna was twenty-nine, exhausted, and terrified.
She insisted on speaking with Rebecca and law enforcement present.
“Owen offered me money,” she said.
“How much?” Ruiz asked.
“Fifty thousand.”
“For what?”
“To say Laura brought the zolpidem bottle.”
Laura’s hands clenched.
Jenna continued.
“I refused.”
“What happened next?”
“Harlan told me my employment file showed narcotics discrepancies.”
Maya stared.
“That’s impossible.”
Jenna nodded.
“They fabricated them.”
Rebecca asked, “Did you see the bottle being labeled?”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
“Celeste.”
The room went silent.
Jenna described entering the administrative pharmacy at 5:58 P.M.
Celeste was beside the label printer.
Harlan was with her.
Owen stood at the door.
“What did Celeste say?” Ruiz asked.
“She asked whether the bottle looked convincing.”
Laura closed her eyes.
“Did you report it?”
“To Harlan.”
Everyone stared.
Jenna gave a bitter laugh.
“I didn’t realize he was part of it until he told me to forget what I saw.”
“Why didn’t you go above him?”
“I have a five-year-old. I need health insurance.”
Laura understood the same weapon Celeste had used against Miles.
Fear.
Debt.
Children.
Celeste had bought silence by finding what people could not afford to lose.
Jenna produced screenshots from her phone.
Messages from Harlan.
Your employment depends on professional discretion.
Then one from Owen.
Snowglass can solve problems for people who cooperate.
Rebecca looked at Laura.
Corroboration.
Finally.
Jenna hesitated.
“There’s one more thing.”
“What?” Laura asked.
“I saw Celeste access Emma’s chart on Harlan’s computer.”
“At what time?”
“Six ten.”
Three minutes before Laura’s forged portal request.
“What did she do?”
“I couldn’t see everything.”
“Anything?”
Jenna nodded.
“She had Laura’s login written on a card.”
Laura felt physically sick.
“How would she get my password?”
Rebecca looked at Nathan.
Nathan froze.
Laura turned.
“No.”
Nathan stood.
“I didn’t give it to her.”
“Who had it?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“You asked me to access Emma’s insurance portal last month.”
Laura remembered.
She had texted Nathan the temporary family portal password during an argument with the insurer.
“Did Celeste have access to your phone?”
Nathan’s face changed.
“She borrowed it at dinner.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“For how long?”
“Ten minutes.”
Laura stared.
Nathan whispered, “I didn’t know.”
Another mistake.
Another opening.
Celeste had not needed hackers.
She had needed family members who trusted her for ten minutes.
Rebecca’s phone chimed.
The forensic technician had recovered a deleted file from the recorder’s storage.
BLACKRIDGE_SIDELETTER_FINAL
The file opened.
It was a side agreement signed by Owen Mercer.
Blackridge would pay Snowglass LLC twelve million dollars upon closing.
And beneath Snowglass’ name was the beneficial-owner disclosure.
Celeste Vale.
The motive was no longer speculation.
It was written in black and white.
Then Rebecca scrolled to the second page.
Laura saw another clause.
A transaction deadline.
Closing required no later than Friday, 5:00 P.M.
Friday was tomorrow.
May you like
Celeste did not merely want control.
She needed it within twenty-four hours.
