Page 243 of Keep This Promise
The room is quiet as that information settles around us.
“So, you think there’s an account with money that Sophie doesn’t know about?” Kate asks.
Spencer answers. “I think it’s possible. Right now, we’re running on possibilities and theories while we wait for a legitimate clue to come up. I agree with Jackson that it’s going to be more than a few hundred grand if they’re willing to abduct a child to get it back. They’re desperate and need it.”
The air falls from my mouth and defeat fills my lungs. How the hell do we fix this? How can we find money that no one knows of? If her husband were still alive, I’d kill him myself.
Spencer lifts the file. “It has to be in here. This is the only link we have to Theo, and he wanted you to know it, Holden.”
“Give me the file,” I say, reaching my hand out. “I’ll go over every fucking line of it.” He hands it to me, and I turn to walk back into my room where it’s quiet but stop to face them first. “Act as though this contains nothing because, for all I know, it’s worthless. Find my daughter. Please.”
“We’re working on it,” Jackson promises. “We won’t give up.”
With that, I head into the bedroom and shut the door firmly behind me.
Hours pass, and I have read almost everything. So far, there is nothing other than one doctor using my license number in his notes. I’m spinning in circles, feeling as if I’m going insane, and finally reach a breaking point. I grab my phone and call the doctor’s office. After my insistence that I speak to the doctor immediately, they reluctantly put me through.
“Hello, Dr. Frasher, this is Dr. Holden James, I’m calling in regards to a patient of yours, Theodore Pearson.”
“Yes, Mr. Pearson was a patient of mine, but I’m not sure I can help as he’s passed away.”
“You were his primary doctor, were you not?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I can answer any questions.”
“Dr. Frasher, I am aware that Theo is dead, and I am also going to be frank and explain as quickly as I can. I am Eden’s biological father. His wife, Sophie, was sent away because their lives were in danger. Now, I am asking why, on all your records, my medical license number was used in various ways like as replacements for his temperature, blood pressure, or pulse rates. All things that, to the normal person, may seem off, but to me, say there’s more.”
He doesn’t speak for a minute, but I wait, hoping he’ll give me an answer.
“I’m sorry, Dr. James, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Theo was my patient, but there is nothing I can tell you that might help.”
“Please, I’m not asking for me. I’m asking because someone’s life is in danger.”
Dr. Frasher clears his throat. “Give me a date, and I’ll look at the chart to see where a mistake might be.”
I flip to the first time my number was used and tell him.
“What seems odd to you, Dr. James?”
“The blood pressure is listed as 86/753.”
“You must be mistaken. My records show his numbers were 123/77, which is a bit hypertensive but not enough to cause alarm.”
No, that’s not what my file says. “I’m reading it now. The printed chart says 86/753.”
There is a heavy sigh. “Must’ve been done afterward because that’s not what my records reflect.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and fight back the urge to throw the phone across the room. “Check another date.” He does, and once again, the information isn’t the same. “How are your files different from the one I have in my hand?”
“I’m not sure, but I’d be most interested to know how you acquired my confidential patient records.”
I had the hospital record, his cardiologist, and his primary all pulled and sent to me on the premise I was doing a postmortem investigation on his death.
“It’s of no consequence. I’m most interested in why the records have been altered.”
“Doctor, I am looking at my original hard copy and telling you exactly what I see.”
“Thank you, I won’t waste any more of your time.”
