Chapter 81: Uncovering More Secrets.
Angela’s hands were still shaking when she unlocked her apartment door. The letter from Carla felt like it was burning a hole in her purse and she needed to get inside before she collapsed right there in the hallway. She stumbled through the door and dropped her keys on the floor without caring where they landed.
Her kitchen table became her war room. She spread the letter out flat and smoothed the wrinkles she had created when she grabbed it so tightly at the hospital. Under the light, every word seemed to jump off the page and punch her in the chest all over again.
"Jonathan isn’t who you think he is," she read aloud to her empty apartment. "He knew about my condition, about what was killing me."
Sleep didn’t come that night. Angela sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee and staring at the letter until the sun came up. By seven in the morning she was dressed and ready to make phone calls.
"Morrison and Associates, how may I help you?"
"I need to speak with someone about a wrongful death case," Angela said into the phone. "My sister died yesterday and I have evidence that someone was responsible."
"I can schedule you with Mr. Morrison for this afternoon at two o’clock. Will that work?"
"Yes. That works."
The law office was in a tall glass building downtown and Angela had to take three buses to get there because her hands were still too shaky to drive. The receptionist led her to a conference room where a man in his fifties was waiting.
"Ms. Angela, I’m David Morrison. I’m sorry for your loss. Tell me what happened."
Angela pulled out the folder and placed the letter on the table between them. "My sister Carla died yesterday. Before she died she wrote this letter saying that her husband Jonathan knew what was killing her and chose to stay silent."
Morrison picked up the letter and read it carefully, making several notes on his legal pad.
"This is concerning," he said when he finished reading. "But I need to ask you some difficult questions. Was your sister mentally stable when she wrote this? Was she on any medications that might have affected her judgment?"
"She was dying, but she wasn’t crazy. Carla was the smartest person I knew and she wouldn’t have written this unless she meant every word." Angela defended.
"Tell me about Jonathan’s behavior. You mentioned on the phone that you witnessed something suspicious at the hospital."
Angela described the scene in the hallway, Jonathan’s cold reaction to Carla’s death, and especially the leather pouch he had been so desperate to hide.
Morrison wrote everything down. "What we have here is a starting point but we need much more evidence to build a case. The letter helps establish that your sister believed Jonathan was hiding something but it doesn’t prove what that something was or that it directly caused her death."
"So what do we do?"
"We hire a private investigator to look into Jonathan’s background and activities. We get copies of all medical records related to your sister’s illness. We interview her doctors and nurses. We build a timeline of events and look for inconsistencies in Jonathan’s story."
Angela leaned forward. "How long will this take?"
"Months. Maybe longer. And I have to warn you that these cases are expensive and difficult to win. You’ll need to be prepared for Jonathan to fight back with his own lawyers."
"I don’t care about the cost or how long it takes," Angela said. "I want the truth."
Morrison nodded. "I’ll draw up a contract for our services. In the meantime I need you to write down everything you remember about your sister’s illness, every conversation you had with Jonathan, every detail no matter how small it seems."
Angela shook Morrison’s hand and took the bus back home. She spent the rest of the afternoon writing down everything she could remember, filling page after page with details about Carla’s final months.
Meanwhile across town Jonathan was discovering that his own day was about to get much worse. He unlocked his front door and immediately knew something was wrong. The house felt different somehow and when he walked into his living room he could see that things had been moved.
His desk drawers were closed but not quite all the way. The books on his shelf were in slightly different positions. Someone had been in his house and they had been looking for something.
Jonathan went straight to his bedroom and checked the loose floorboard under his bed where he kept a small safe. The safe was still there and still locked but the dust around it had been disturbed. Someone had found it and tried to open it.
He opened the safe with his key and checked the contents. Everything was still there but whoever had been searching knew exactly what they were looking for.
Jonathan pulled out his phone and dialed a number he had memorized years ago.
"It’s me," he said when someone answered. "We have a problem."
"What kind of problem?"
"Someone searched my house today. They found the safe but couldn’t open it."
"Do you think it was Angela?"
"I don’t know but the situation is escalating. She has Carla’s letter now and she’s talking about lawyers.
"We need to accelerate the timeline." The voice said.
"What about Angela? She’s becoming a problem."
"We’ll handle Angela when the time comes. For now just stay calm and don’t do anything to draw more attention."
"What if she keeps digging?"
"Then we’ll have to make sure she stops digging. One way or another."
Jonathan hung up the phone and sat down heavily in his chair. This was getting out of control and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep all the pieces from falling apart.
Angela was back at her kitchen table that evening when someone knocked on her door. She looked through the peephole and saw a woman in her thirties with short brown hair and a nervous expression.
"Can I help you?" Angela called through the door.
"My name is Sarah Mitchell. I have information about your sister and Jonathan Rivers."
Angela’s heart started pounding. She unlocked the door but left the chain on. "What kind of information?"
"Dangerous information that could get us both killed if the wrong people find out I’m here. Can I come in?"
Angela studied the woman’s face. She looked scared but sincere and Angela had reached the point where she was willing to take risks to get answers.
"How do I know I can trust you?"
"Because I was Carla’s nurse during her final weeks at the hospital. I saw things that didn’t make sense and when I tried to report them I was told to keep my mouth shut."
Angela unlocked the chain and opened the door. Sarah stepped inside and Angela locked the door behind her.
"What did you see?"
Sarah sat down at the kitchen table. "Jonathan. Most husbands would be devastated but he wasn’t at all during her sickness."
"That doesn’t surprise me. He was always distant. Why are you telling me this?"
Sarah looked around the apartment nervously. "Because after your sister died I did some research on Jonathan Rivers. He’s connected to some very dangerous people and I’m afraid of what might happen if I don’t speak up."
"What kind of dangerous people?"
"People who won’t hesitate to kill loose ends. And right now you’re a loose end because you’re asking questions about things they want to keep quiet."
Angela felt a chill run down her spine. "Are you saying I’m in danger?"
"I’m saying you need to be very careful about who you trust and where you go. These people have resources and they’re not afraid to use them."
Sarah reached into her purse and pulled out a slip of paper. "This is a phone number. If you really want the truth about what happened to your sister you need to call this number. But Angela, you need to understand that once you make that call there’s no going back."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that once you start down this path you’re going to learn things about Jonathan and the people he works with that you might wish you never knew. And they’re going to do everything in their power to stop you."
Angela took the paper and looked at the phone number. "What about Bella? Is she safe?"
Sarah’s expression grew even more serious. "His daughter right? You need to make sure she never goes back to that house."
"She’s at some kind of school right now but she’ll be coming home eventually."
"Then you need to make arrangements to keep her with you permanently. Don’t let Jonathan anywhere near her."
Sarah stood up and walked toward the door. "I have to go now. They can’t know I was here."
"Wait," Angela said. "How do I contact you if I need to ask more questions?"
"You don’t. After tonight I’m leaving town and I won’t be coming back. Call that number if you want answers but be prepared for whatever you might find out."
Sarah unlocked the door and stepped out into the hallway. "Be careful Angela. These people don’t play games."