Page 55 of The Library on Plum Island
Shock waves zapped through Daniella, and she raced over to the boxes, her eyes widening in surprise to find the tape had been ripped off the box marked important documents. Balancing the phone between her shoulder and ear, Daniella discovered her files had been rifled through. They were mainly financial files, medical files, and one other she’d hidden in the box. Daniella stopped cold when she noticed three files were missing: Emily’s medical records from the meningitis and all the specialists they saw afterward, Daniella’s medical records from the fertility clinic, and the file she now knew Meg was in possession of.
Daniella dropped her forehead on the cool garage wall as she drew in a calming breath to steady herself.
This is not good—not good at all!Daniella felt sick to her stomach and then nearly jumped out of her skin when the garage door blew shut. She stared wide-eyed at the object holding her chest, and her heart thumped like a trapped bird.
“Daniella, are you still there?” Meg’s voice was filled with concern. “Is this some sort of prenup thing that you and Alex are looking into each other’s personal lives?”
“Excuse me?” Daniella pushed herself away from the wall. “What do you mean?”
“The file on you was commissioned by Alex Blackwell six months ago,” Meg’s words sent another jolt of shock through Daniella.
Her eyes narrowed as she realized it may just be another Doctor Jackson tactic. “Can you send me a picture of the document?”
“Sure,” Meg was suddenly very helpful. “Sending it now.”
Daniella felt even more terrible about misleading the young woman. Or at least Meg sounded relatively young. Daniella’s heart squeezed for her if she was young and had lost her husband.
You’re a terrible person, Daniella, her subconscious screamed at her.It’s for a good cause, her logical side reasoned. Daniella felt like she was in a bad comedy with her good side on one shoulder and her bad side on the other, each pulling her in opposite directions.
Daniella’s phone bleeped, and she closed the box and went back into the living room. A frown creased her brow as she noticed the lower living room window was wide open.
Was that like that before?Daniella couldn’t remember. Her mind felt like it was in a constant state of shock and disbelief, and ready to hit fight or flight mode at any second. How many times had she walked past her box in the garage and not realized it had been tampered with. Daniella wasn’t even sure when it would’ve been tampered with other than in the past two weeks when her boxes had been delivered to Uncle Sam’s house.
Daniella pulled up the picture and stared at the invoice sent from Stanley Wells, Wells Investigations. Stanley Wells had started his own investigation firm! It was an itemized list of what Stanley had been hired to investigate. Daniella’s eyes dropped to the bottom of the page, and her breath caught in her throat when she saw Alex’s name scrawled on the document. A smile spread across her lips, and her heart warmed—Alex hadn’t signed the document. Whoever had signed it trying to fake his signature and handwriting obviously didn’t realize that Alex wrote his E’s backward.
“Listen, Meg.” Daniella walked through the house and out the backdoor to where she hoped she couldn’t be heard by their eavesdropper. “What’s it going to take to have you return those files to me and not write about this?”
“I—“ Meg hesitated. “Daniella, I really need this story. I’ve been trying to get noticed by more serious news outlets. I—” She went silent for a few seconds. “I’ll send them back to you.”
Daniella sighed, and her heart went out to the young woman. She knew how hard it was to succeed in life, especially after the loss of someone you loved. Daniella knew she should check Meg’s story, and she was going to, but right now, the young woman needed a break.
“Thank you,” Daniella said. “What is your mobile number, Meg? I see you’ve blocked it.”
“Why?” Meg asked.
“If you prove to be trustworthy, I may want to tip you off on an exclusive you can sell to a more reputed news outlet. So don’t break your word to me about running a gossip piece about Alex and me,” Daniella warned.
“Really?” Meg sounded amazed. “You’d do that?”
“Yes,” Daniella answered.
“Okay, sending you my number now,” Meg told her, and within a few seconds, Daniella heard a message ping on her phone.
Daniella walked back into the living room, putting her phone on speaker. “I don’t trust journalists or reporters,” Daniella told her honestly. “But I’m going to trust you.”
“You can trust me,” Meg assured her.
Another pang of guilt shot through Daniella, and because she clenched her jaw each time she felt guilty, she was starting to get a toothache.
“Be at the Boston courthouse tomorrow at two-thirty in the afternoon,” Daniella invited Meg. “Don’t tip off any other reporters because I will not be amused if you do. Alex will be furious with me as he doesn’t want reporters there at all. Contrary to what the world believes, Alex is a very private person, and we’ve been having a few issues lately in our relationship.” She gave a dramatic sigh, hoping it sounded authentic. “I don’t want our wedding day ruined by a horde of paparazzi, or my marriage will be over before it begins.”
“I won’t!” Meg promised. “I need this one for myself. Thank you, Daniella. Thank you!”
“Of course,” Daniella said, ignoring her good side, which was screaming at her. “Maybe I can even get Alex to do an interview.”
“Wow!” Meg said excitedly. “That would be amazing. I’ll be there tomorrow. Thank you, Daniella, and I’m so sorry about the misunderstanding.” She paused. “If it wasn’t you who called me from the clinic, then who was it?”
Good question!Daniella thought. “It was me.”Let’s see how the narcissist enjoys his limelight being stolen.“But please, please, don’t say anything. You know… it would make Alex mad.”
