CHAPTER 8 — THE FRIEND AT MY SIDE
Thomas Reed had been my closest friend since college.
He stood beside me at my wedding.
He carried Sarah’s casket.
He became Maya’s godfather.
When Sterling Global nearly collapsed during the recession, Thomas worked beside me for six months without taking a salary.
I called him from the greenhouse.
He answered on the first ring.
“Richard, I heard about the board meeting.”
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“Stay there.”
A pause.
“What happened?”
“Sarah left a recording.”
Silence.
I could hear his breathing change.
“What did she say?”
“She said you authorized her removal from treatment.”
Thomas did not deny it.
“I can explain.”
“Everyone can explain after they’re caught.”
“Come alone.”
“Why?”
“Because Charles has people inside the police department.”
“I’m standing beside a detective.”
“Then don’t trust her phone.”
The call ended.
Detective Morales watched me.
“You’re going?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not going alone.”
Thirty minutes later, Morales and I entered Thomas’s apartment building through separate entrances.
He waited in the penthouse office.
No weapon.
No attempt to run.
On the desk sat a photograph of Sarah and Maya.
“You kept that?” I asked.
Thomas looked exhausted.
“I kept everything.”
“Why did you remove her from the trial?”
“I didn’t.”
“Her recording says you did.”
“I used your authorization token. That part is true.”
“Why?”
“Sarah asked me to.”
The answer stopped me.
Thomas opened a safe and removed a file.
Sarah had discovered that the trial program was partially funded by a hidden Sterling subsidiary.
The treatment was working, but the trial data also revealed illegal testing conducted years earlier by Charles.
If regulators reviewed Sarah’s records closely, they would uncover the company’s involvement.
Charles planned to shut down the entire program and destroy its files.
Sarah asked Thomas to move her into another trial under a different identity.
“I created a false withdrawal order,” Thomas said. “It was supposed to hide her transfer.”
“But she never entered another program.”
“Because Gavin intercepted the transfer.”
He showed me an email chain.
Gavin redirected Sarah’s ambulance to a private facility controlled by Charles.
By the time Thomas learned the truth, Sarah had lost her place in both programs.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Sarah believed your father would retaliate against Maya.”
“She had no right to keep this from me.”
“No,” Thomas said. “But she was dying and terrified.”
I wanted to hit him.
Instead, I asked the question I feared most.
“Were you in love with her?”
Thomas looked toward the photograph.
“Yes.”
The room went quiet.
“Did Sarah love you?”
“She loved you.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“She trusted me.”
“Did you have an affair?”
“No.”
“Did you want one?”
His silence answered.
Thomas removed another envelope from the safe.
Inside were divorce papers.
Sarah had signed none of them.
“She considered leaving you,” he said.
My chest tightened.
“Why?”
“Because Charles sent her fabricated messages showing you approved the embryo substitution.”
I stared at him.
“She thought I knew?”
“For three months.”
“Did you tell her the truth?”
“I tried. She didn’t know who to trust.”
Morales examined the emails.
“They appear authentic.”
Thomas shook his head.
“They came from Richard’s account, but he didn’t send them.”
“Who did?”
“Gavin.”
A loud crash came from the hallway.
The office windows shattered inward.
Morales pulled me to the floor.
A bullet struck the safe behind Thomas.
He fell beside us, blood spreading across his shoulder.
Before losing consciousness, he grabbed my sleeve.
“Gavin isn’t trying to win the board vote.”
“Then what does he want?”
May you like
Thomas struggled to speak.
“He wants the vote to happen because everyone who knows the truth will be in one room.”
