Chapter 6 - The Appointment I Never Authorized
At twelve-fifteen, Roman’s attorney called back.
An investigator named Nadia Brooks was reviewing the information.
She wanted the original financial records, the photographs, and a statement from me.
Roman agreed.
Then he made another call.
“Verify Leo Hayes’s current location,” he told his security director.
“Do not approach him without his sister’s permission.
I want to know whether anyone unfamiliar is near the building.”
I took out my phone.
Leo hadn’t answered my last message.
I called him.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Nothing.
My stomach tightened.
“He’s not answering.”
Roman looked up.
“Does that happen often?”
“Sometimes when he’s sleeping.
But he knows I’m worried if I call repeatedly.”
I tried again.
No answer.
Then a text appeared.
Not from Leo.
From an unknown number.
Your brother has a medical appointment today.
I stared at the screen.
A second message followed.
You should have stayed quiet.
My hands went cold.
“Roman.”
He came around the desk.
I showed him.
His expression changed instantly.
“Call Leo again.”
I did.
The call connected.
For several seconds, there was only background noise.
Then I heard a voice.
A man’s voice.
“Miss Hayes?”
I froze.
It wasn’t Leo.
“Who’s this?”
“This is medical transportation.
We’re here for your brother.”
My mouth went dry.
“What transportation?”
“Eastbridge Patient Transport.”
The room seemed to collapse around me.
“No.”
Roman reached for his phone.
“Put him on speaker.”
The man continued.
“We have authorization to transfer Mr.
Hayes to a specialist facility.”
“I didn’t authorize anything!”
There was a pause.
Then the man said, “The paperwork is signed.”
“By whom?”
“By you, Miss Hayes.”
I could barely breathe.
“Where’s my brother?”
“He’s getting ready.”
I heard a faint scraping sound.
A wheelchair.
Then a strained voice.
“Tess…”
“Leo!”
The line crackled.
“Tess… don’t…”
A hand seemed to cover the telephone.
Then the call ended.
Someone had come to take my brother away using a medical authorization I had never signed.
I looked at Roman.
“We have to go.”
He was already moving.
The drive from Manhattan to Queens felt endless.
Roman drove while I sat beside him, repeatedly calling Leo.
Behind us, another vehicle carried two members of his security team.
Roman had instructed them to remain outside unless we needed help.
I barely noticed the traffic.
All I could think about was Leo.
What if he believed the medical transport was connected to the rehabilitation program?
What if he’d already been taken?
What if the last thing I’d heard was his voice trying to warn me?
“Tessa.”
Roman’s voice cut through my panic.
I looked at him.
“Listen to me.”
I shook my head.
“Please don’t tell me everything will be fine.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
His hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“I’m going to tell you what we’re doing.
My attorney has alerted the authorities about an attempted unauthorized medical transfer.
An emergency response has been requested.”
I swallowed.
“And if they’re gone?”
“We have the vehicle information.
We have the company’s financial records.”
“That doesn’t mean we’ll find him.”
“No.”
His answer was immediate.
“Which is why we’re going to get there before they leave.”
I looked away.
Tears blurred the buildings outside.
Roman spoke again.
“I need you to understand something.”
I said nothing.
“Last night, I believed a lie about you.
I could have destroyed your life because I trusted the wrong person.”
His voice tightened.
“I can’t undo that.
But I won’t let that mistake put your brother in danger again.”
I stared at him.
For the first time, I heard something beneath Roman Caldwell’s frightening confidence.
Fear.
Not fear for himself.
Fear that he’d already failed us.
We reached the apartment building at twelve-forty-seven.
A white medical transportation van was parked beside the entrance.
My heart stopped.
Two men in pale medical uniforms stood near the open rear doors.
One was holding a clipboard.
The other was speaking into a phone.
Roman pulled over.
“Stay behind me.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“That’s my brother.”
He studied my face.
Then nodded.
“All right.
Stay beside me.”
We approached together.
The man with the clipboard looked up.
“Can we help you?”
“Where’s Leo Hayes?”
I demanded.
His expression didn’t change.
“Are you family?”
“I’m his sister.”
“Excellent.
We’re preparing his transfer.”
“You’re not taking him anywhere.”
The man glanced toward Roman.
Something flickered across his face.
Recognition.
Roman noticed.
“Who authorized this transfer?”
The man lifted the clipboard.
“We have signed consent.”
“Show me.”
He hesitated.
Roman held out his hand.
Slowly, the man passed him the paperwork.
I stepped closer.
My name appeared at the bottom.
Tessa Hayes.
And underneath it was a signature.
My signature.
Or something that looked very much like it.
I stared.
“I never signed that.”
Roman examined the document.
Then he showed me the date.
The authorization was supposedly completed the previous Tuesday.
At three-seventeen in the afternoon.
I remembered that afternoon.
I’d been in Roman’s conference room taking minutes during a financial meeting.
Carlo had been there.
The realization hit me.
“He copied my signature.”
Roman looked at me.
“Who?”
“Carlo.
He had me sign several document acknowledgments on Tuesday.
He took the pages away afterward.”
The man beside the van stepped backward.
Roman turned toward him.
“Where is Leo?”
The man didn’t answer.
Instead, he glanced toward the apartment entrance.
I ran.
“Tessa!”
Roman called.
I didn’t stop.
I pushed through the lobby door.
The elevator was broken, as usual.
Our apartment was only a few yards down the ground-floor hallway.
The door was open.
“Leo!”
I rushed inside.
My brother sat near the living-room window.
His wheelchair was angled toward the door.
He was holding his phone in one shaking hand.
And standing beside him was Elias Rourke.
The man from the photograph.
The man I’d believed was dead.
He turned when I entered.
For one second, neither of us moved.
Then he smiled.
“Miss Hayes.”
My entire body went cold.
His voice hadn’t changed.
Neither had the silver ring on his hand.
He looked toward Leo.
“Your sister finally made it.”
I stepped in front of my brother.
“Get away from him.”
Rourke raised both hands.
“There’s no need to be dramatic.”
“You threatened me in a hospital.”
“That was a long time ago.”
“You told me my brother’s accident was his fault.”
May you like
Rourke’s expression hardened.
“Careful.”
