Lila's Door

Nora did not show Evan the form.

She showed him her phone instead, tilted just enough for him to see Brooke Chen's number already dialing.

Evan stopped two feet away. His face rearranged itself back into concern so quickly Nora almost admired the muscle control.

"You don't need to make this adversarial."

"Then move."

"That paper belongs to Kind Harbor."

"It has my forged signature."

The word forged changed the hallway. A nurse at the medication cart looked over. Evan's smile thinned.

"You are grieving," he said. "Misunderstandings feel sharper."

Nora stepped around him. Every nerve in her body expected his hand on her arm. He did not touch her. Men like Evan kept witnesses.

She reached her car before Brooke answered.

"Tell me you are not inside Kind Harbor," Brooke said.

"I'm outside."

"That is not better."

Nora locked the doors and photographed the form again with shaking hands. "Daniel Marlow. Assignment to Vale Family Foundation. Witnessed by me. I didn't sign it."

Brooke's silence had weight.

"Do you know Daniel?"

"Tessa's brother."

"Alive?"

"Very."

"Send me the photo."

"Can I trust you with the original?"

Brooke hated that she understood the question. "No. Not yet."

Nora blinked.

"Send the photo," Brooke said. "Hide the paper somewhere no one will guess. Then go somewhere public."

"Lila told me assignments matter."

"You spoke to Lila Hart?"

"She called me."

Brooke stood so fast her chair rolled back into the wall. "When?"

"Last night."

"Nora, listen carefully. Lila Hart disappeared from the address on file six months after the first payout. If she contacted you, someone else may know."

Nora looked through the windshield.

Across the parking lot, Judith Vale sat in a silver SUV beside the hospice garden, watching Nora's car as if she had been waiting for the call to end.