Daniel received a call while we were still in the conference room.
He listened without speaking.
Then he asked the caller to repeat the information.
When he hung up, his expression had changed.
“The emergency call came in before Christopher reached Mrs. Halston.”
I frowned.
“I called the ambulance.”
“You did,” Daniel said. “But someone called ninety seconds earlier.”
The caller had reported an elderly woman in distress near mile marker twenty-two.
Eleanor looked unsettled.
“But I hadn’t collapsed yet.”
The call had been made at 7:51.
She had pulled over because she felt dizzy.
I had reached her at 7:54.
Daniel said the caller had given the correct location, then disconnected.
“How could anyone know where I was?” Eleanor asked.
Daniel did not answer immediately.
Her doctors had found no evidence of poisoning or an obvious external cause.
The episode appeared consistent with an underlying cardiac condition.
That should have reassured us.
Instead, the early call made the situation feel worse.
Eleanor remembered telling her granddaughter, Claire, about her morning route.
Claire’s husband was Marcus Vale, a property developer with extensive business ties to Halston Capital.
Daniel explained that an internal audit had raised concerns about several of Marcus’s projects.
Millions of dollars had moved through related companies.
Some valuations appeared inflated.
Some expenses could not be supported.
Eleanor listened, her face growing pale.
“Claire wouldn’t know about this,” she said.
“We don’t know what Claire knows,” Daniel replied.
Eleanor looked away.
I stepped into the hallway when my phone vibrated.
Sophie had texted me.
Dad, Mom says you lost your job. Are we okay?
I called her.
She answered immediately.
“Dad?”
“Hey, kiddo.”
“Are you fired?”
“Temporarily unemployed.”
“That means fired.”
I almost laughed.
“Your mother taught you to be precise.”
“Are we going to be okay?”
I looked through the glass at the people still gathered around the conference table.
“I’m going to figure it out.”
Sophie paused.
“Are you sure?”
I wanted to give her an answer that would erase her worry.
Instead, I told her the truth.
“I’m working on it.”
She mentioned the family trip we had planned for the following month.
Sarah had said we might need to postpone it.
I closed my eyes.
I had spent a year saving for that trip.
Sophie wanted to visit the museums.
Lucy wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial.
“I’ll talk to your mom,” I said.
“Okay.”
“And Sophie?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Dad.”
When I returned to the conference room, Eleanor was looking at a photograph on her phone.
She had taken it at the hospital.
It showed me beside her bed, holding a paper cup of water.
“I wanted to remember the man who stopped,” she said.
I didn’t know what to say.
Daniel’s phone rang again.
This time, he took the call outside.
When he returned, he said the security team had found a vehicle that appeared to have followed Eleanor’s car that morning.
They had not yet identified the driver.
Eleanor stared at the table.
“Someone knew my route.”
Nobody contradicted her.
Source: kaylestore.net
Click here to continue reading: PART 7: What My Name Was Hiding
The Morning My Boss Decided a Stranger’s Life Was Worth Less Than a Business Deal, and I Finally Learned What My Loyalty Was Worth
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