Chapter 5 — Two Cracked Ribs

Dr. WhitfieldTwo cracked ribs, lacerations to both palms, and a hairline fracture in the left cheekbone. She'll make a full recovery in about eight weeks.

AdrianThank you, Doctor. Put her in the private suite on nine.

Dr. WhitfieldAlready arranged, Mr. Cole. I'll be back at noon.

The door closed behind him. Adrian pulled a chair up to the side of the bed and sat down and took Nora's bandaged hand, and the morning light came through the blinds in long stripes across the blanket.

NoraYou shouldn't have hit her.

AdrianIf I had waited two more seconds she would have put that heel through your shoulder.

NoraI kept thinking you weren't going to get there in time.

AdrianI got the corridor alert on my phone in the middle of the Governor's toast. I was off that stage before he finished the sentence.

NoraPeople saw you leave.

AdrianFour hundred of them.

NoraWhat happens to the estate now?

AdrianThe deed goes back into your mother's name. It should never have come out of it.

NoraAnd the foundation?

AdrianGerald resigned at four this morning. The board accepted it at six.

NoraHe resigned.

AdrianHe was told what the alternative looked like.

Nora shifted against the pillows and stopped, and breathed carefully for a moment before she tried again.

NoraThe press outside. I saw them from the window when they wheeled me up.

AdrianReyes released the corridor stills at seven. Nobody out there is asking me a single question about you.

NoraThen what are they asking about?

AdrianThe 2009 transfer.

NoraOh.

AdrianTwo of them have already found the filing. It's public record. It always was — you just had to know which county to look in.