Chapter 10 - The Blue Ledger

Fox Run was a low brick building three hours from the city, surrounded by wet October woods. Miles drove. Ruth coordinated a court petition from the passenger seat. I sat in back, reading the employee notebook until the names felt like relatives.

We couldn't simply walk out with Evelyn. Her care arrangement listed a court-appointed guardian, and Fox Run had no duty to release her to strangers. Ruth had filed an emergency request to inspect the guardianship papers and allow private contact.

"The guardian's firm belongs to Fenwick," Ruth said. "Same lawyer who attended that meeting the night your father died."

"Of course it does."

Outside the facility, a gray sedan idled beneath a maple tree. Its windows were tinted, but I recognized the split bumper from a camera image Kim had shown me.

"Pike's car," Miles said.

I reached for my phone. Before I could call Kim, a nurse in blue scrubs appeared beside the side entrance and waved us toward an employee parking lot.

"I'm Hannah," she said when Miles lowered the window. "Evelyn told me you'd come. She hasn't taken the extra sedatives in two days. I kept them out of her chart."

"Why risk your job?" I asked.

"Because I watched them tell an intelligent woman she was confused every time she mentioned stolen money."

Ruth showed the court filing and her attorney identification. Hannah took us through a public visitor entrance, signed us in properly, and led us to a consultation room while the facility administrator checked with counsel.

Evelyn Price arrived in a wheelchair, thin and pale, but with Delaney's unmistakable blue eyes. She looked at me and began crying.

"Your father tried to save us," she said. "I was the one who brought him the numbers."

From the pocket of her sweater she pulled a slim blue account book wrapped in tissue. Its binding was thick with old glue.

"They searched everything else," she said. "Nobody thinks to check a book's spine."

Miles carefully eased a loose strip of cloth away. A microSD card dropped into his palm.

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At the door, the administrator appeared with two security guards. "Mrs. Price's visitor authorization has been revoked. All of you need to leave."

Then we heard tires scream outside, followed by a crash and a man's shout.