Elena read the message twice.
“He isn't the one you should fear.”
She placed my phone on her desk.
“Where did you get this?”
“Unknown number.”
“Before or after Vale gave you his statement?”
“After.”
Elena leaned back.
“Then someone knows what you're doing.”
Colette looked at Daniel.
“Who could still have access to the old records?”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“There was one person.”
“Who?”
“Elias Grant.”
I recognized the name from the files.
He had been listed as a senior board member at Mercer Biomedical.
“What did he do?”
Daniel answered slowly.
“He controlled the research division without ever appearing in the paperwork.”
Elena pulled a folder from the evidence pile.
“His name appears on financial transfers.”
Daniel nodded.
“He was Vale's superior.”
I looked at Colette.
“Then why did Vale take the blame?”
“Because Grant needed someone visible,” Daniel said.
Elena studied the documents.
“That changes the case.”
“How?”
“Vale may have been responsible for concealment, but Grant may have designed the entire operation.”
The room became quiet.
I remembered Vale's warning.
He had said he was protecting the program from people worse than him.
For the first time, I wondered whether he had been telling the truth.
Elena called an investigator she trusted.
Within an hour, she had confirmed something disturbing.
Elias Grant was still alive.
He had left Mercer Biomedical years ago.
Now he operated a private medical investment company.
And he was scheduled to speak at a healthcare conference the following week.
Taryn stared at the screen.
“He rebuilt his life too.”
Daniel nodded.
“Men like Grant usually do.”
Brielle asked, “Why would he threaten us now?”
Elena answered.
“Because the evidence you're holding can connect him to the original decisions.”
Colette looked frightened.
“Then he knows the release is coming.”
“Yes.”
Elena gathered the files.
“We move tonight.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere secure.”
We left through a rear entrance.
A black SUV waited across the street.
Nobody could prove it belonged to Grant.
But nobody believed in coincidence anymore.
We drove to Elena's secondary office.
She locked the evidence in a safe.
Then she looked at my daughters.
“You have one decision left.”
“What?”
“Whether your names go public.”
Brielle looked at Taryn.
They held hands.
“No,” Brielle said.
“We want the truth public,” Taryn added, “but not every private detail.”
Elena nodded.
“Then that's how we'll do it.”
For the first time, I felt the story moving beyond our family.
The truth would be told.
But before it could be released, we had to survive long enough to tell it.
Click here to continue reading: PART 14: The Man Behind the Medical Empire Finally Revealed Why Our Daughters’ Recovery Had Been Buried Before We Were Allowed to Know
Twelve Years After Their Mother Disappeared, My Daughters Asked Me to Sit Down Before They Told Me Why
Part 13 of 20
