Chapter 7 - The Doctor Who Knew My Mother
Dr. Leonard Vale had treated Mom during the last year of her life. I remembered his soft voice in the hospice room, the way he told Dad to sleep while he could. Seeing his signature on a report about my mental health made the past tilt under my feet.
Monica arranged for us to meet him with counsel present. Vale's office occupied a quiet floor above a private clinic, where a receptionist handed us water like we were early for a routine checkup.
“I didn't write this,” Vale said when Monica showed him the document.
“Your signature is on it,” I replied.
“It's a digital copy.” His fingers trembled as he turned the pages. “This language isn't mine.”
“Who has access to your letterhead?” Monica asked.
“My practice manager. And someone from Harrington Foundation services handles our records system.”
“North Harbor?” Dad said.
Vale looked sharply at him. “How do you know that name?”
I moved forward. “Because my husband used it to take my father's work. And somebody is using your name to take my daughter.”
Vale shut his door. “Your mother once asked me to hold something for her. I was supposed to give it to Robert if the Harrington partnership ever came up again.”
Dad sat very still. “What something?”
“A sealed letter. She made me promise to wait until she was gone.”
“She's been gone eight years,” I said.
“I know.” Shame crossed his face. “I should've called.”
He opened a filing cabinet and removed a flat brown envelope. On it, in Mom's unmistakable careful handwriting: FOR ROBERT AND SARAH, TOGETHER.
Inside lay a handwritten letter and a single photograph of my mother beside Walter Harrington, standing at a signing table.
Mom's letter began: Robert thinks Walter owns half the system. Walter owns nothing until he honors the trust agreement.
Dad shook his head. “What trust agreement?”
A knock came at the office door. Vale's receptionist said someone had come for him from Harrington Foundation. Through the frosted glass I saw a man with the same charcoal coat as Preston's mysterious follower.
May you like
Then the office lights flickered off.
