Chapter 87: Strategic Security
After showing the photos to Blake, Norman slipped his smartphone back into his pocket. He then turned to the two officers behind him and asked them to take Blake out for a moment, letting Blake know he needed to wait outside. Blake understood right away, stood up, and walked out of the room with the two officers. Once the door was shut tight again, Norman turned to look at Chloe, Eric, and Katie.
"Okay... so it’s proven. The Melissa lying in the ICU is the same 12-year-old girl with leukemia whose condition drove her father to take that hit job from Paul," Norman concluded.
"Yeah... exactly. It’s quite a coincidence that you ran into her younger stepbrother here, Eric," Katie said, turning to look at him.
"Well, that’s actually what I want to talk about right now, Officer Norman, Katie. If you ask me, this is no coincidence," Eric said.
The room went completely quiet, and every eye fixed on Eric, including Emma, Priya, Monica, Heidi, and Laura, who had remained silent, acting as little more than background decoration in the room.
"What makes you assume that?" Norman asked.
"Because somehow, some way, I was listed as Melissa’s emergency contact. So when she got into the accident, the hospital called me and it just so happened that the one making the call was Avery, my cousin’s sister-in-law," Eric answered.
"That’s true. According to the data from when we questioned Avery, she mentioned that Melissa updated her personal info at this hospital two days ago. That means she already had Eric’s phone number by then. But I’m baffled, Eric is E-R Holdings, and his contact info is listed under the name E-R Holdings as the second-largest shareholder in my company. If Melissa was close with Mason, there’s a good chance she got or stole that data from him, but she really shouldn’t have known that Eric is actually E-R Holdings," Chloe added, thinking hard.
Everyone instantly fell silent. Nobody said a word, especially the five room decorations, who looked so tense they were completely speechless. Norman appeared to be in deep thought, then he looked back up at Eric and Chloe.
"So you’re saying Melissa might have accessed the company database using Mason’s login credentials? But even if she did, did she actually know that Eric is E-R Holdings?" Norman asked.
"Ah... that’s right. I already submitted Eric Reed’s name as E-R Holdings to Mr. Bryan and the legal team, along with his phone number, so the company database could be updated. So the data changes had likely already been processed, because I submitted it the day after I got ahold of Eric’s shareholder files on Mr. Richard’s orders. But absolutely no one should have known the name Eric Reed besides Bryan, Chloe, and the legal team, just like Chloe said," Katie answered.
"Hmm... I see. Maybe she saw my name somewhere, immediately set my number as her emergency contact, and by sheer chance, I was the one the hospital reached out to when she crashed, leading us all to come here together," Eric muttered, thinking it through.
"And then as soon as you guys get here, you run into Blake, her stepbrother. This is definitely suspicious," Norman noted.
"You’re right, Officer. Blake probably came here after seeing the news on TV, social media, or a website. Plus, since this is the closest hospital to the accident scene, he must have guessed his sister would be brought here," Katie chimed in, thinking out loud.
"So you mean... before the accident, Melissa set it up so Eric would run into Blake here, especially since she made Eric her emergency contact?" Laura blurted out, raising her hand.
Heidi immediately slapped a hand over Laura’s mouth, while Monica, Emma, and Priya glared at Laura with their index fingers pressed to their lips, signaling her to shut up. But Norman took Laura’s input seriously.
"There is a possibility it’s exactly as she says... Melissa’s accident... might not have been an accident at all. And Melissa knew beforehand, allowing her to arrange everything in advance. I’m going to dig deeper into this," Norman declared.
Eric, Chloe, Katie, Emma, Priya, Monica, and Heidi immediately whipped their heads around to stare at Laura, who just looked back at them with a face full of questions.
"What? I’m right, aren’t I?" Laura asked, completely bewildered.
"Seriously, why do you always have to just blurt things out?" Heidi scolded from beside her.
"Because this is taking forever and it’s exhausting. Besides, why would that girl go through all the trouble of making sure Eric ran into Blake anyway? What could someone like Blake even do?" Laura asked.
Hearing Laura’s point, everyone naturally turned their attention right back to her. Meanwhile, Heidi smacked her own forehead, threw her arms around Laura’s neck, and started shaking her until the others stepped in to break them up.
But Eric, Chloe, Katie, and Norman stayed quiet. Reflecting on how terrified Blake had been of the police, putting up a massive wall before eventually spilling everything like a leaking faucet, they instantly grew suspicious.
"If Melissa really did orchestrate a meeting between you and Blake, then Blake definitely knows something. I’m going to take him down to the station and interview him there. My office is obviously much more secure," Norman stated.
"Sounds like a plan, Officer Norman. But please deploy a unit to guard Melissa for the time being. If she’s a vital witness and this accident was actually an attempted murder, we can definitely narrow down the list of suspects," Katie said, clearly directing her suspicion toward Mason.
Suddenly, Laura raised her hand again. Everyone turned to look at her once more, including Norman, who looked exhausted but was nonetheless intrigued by what she had to say.
"Officer, how about I have my guys guard the girl here instead? Wouldn’t a police presence look a bit too suspicious?" Laura asked, completely casual and unbothered.
Hearing Laura’s proposal, Emma, Priya, Monica, and Heidi looked absolutely jaw-dropped. Even Eric and Chloe rubbed their eyes in disbelief, while Katie adjusted her glasses, eagerly waiting to see where Laura was going with this.
"Who exactly are you?" Norman asked Laura.
"My name is Laura. My uncle is Joe Whitmore," Laura answered.
At the mention of Joe’s name, Norman’s face visibly cracked for a split second. He clearly knew who Joe was, but he quickly recovered and smiled.
"Alright, I see. Go ahead, as long as you don’t violate hospital regulations or the law," Norman agreed.
"Great," Laura replied with a smile.
She immediately pulled out her smartphone, made a call, put it on speaker, and placed it on the coffee table.
"Greetings, Young Miss. To what do I owe the call?" a man’s voice answered on the other end.
"Bring the boys over to Medstar Hospital. Ten of them. I need you to guard someone here, make it quick," Laura ordered.
"Understood, Young Miss," the man replied.
The call ended. Laura looked quite pleased with herself as she leaned back and crossed her arms. But then she noticed that everyone was staring at her with very peculiar expressions, except for Norman, who didn’t look over at all.
"What now?" Laura asked.
"Sigh," everyone just exhaled in unison, completely speechless. They all simply sat back down, quiet and peaceful in their respective seats. Heidi’s jaw looked incredibly tight as she pictured a bunch of wild, rough guys barging into her dad’s hospital.
She glared at Laura like she wanted to strangle her, though she couldn’t actually do it since Emma, Priya, and Monica were holding her back. After that, Eric turned to look at Chloe beside him,
"Chloe, do your two uncles know that I’m E-R Holdings yet?" Eric asked.
"No, the only ones who know are me, Bryan, and the legal team. Why?" Chloe asked.
"Nothing... we already have a plan, right? So my name shouldn’t get out just yet. I’m just making sure," Eric answered.
"Don’t worry, Eric. I’ve already made sure with legal that your name won’t get out. The only ones who have it are the head of legal and the deputy; the rest of the team is completely in the dark," Katie added, placing a hand on Eric’s shoulder with a reassuring smile.
"Alright, in that case, we should probably wrap things up here. I’m going to take Blake down to the station right now. As for your number being listed as Melissa’s emergency contact, I’ll shut that down and look into it as well," Norman said, standing up and straightening his long coat.
"Thank you, Officer," Eric said.
"Okay, I’ll head back to my office as well," Katie said, standing up.
"We’ll stick around for a bit and wait for her guys to get here," Eric said, pointing at Laura, who immediately looked thrilled to be singled out by him.
"Alright then, we’ll take our leave first," Katie said.
"Very well. Excuse me, Mr. Eric, Ms. Chloe, everyone," Norman said.
"Sure, thank you, Katie... Officer Norman," Chloe replied.
Katie and Norman walked out of the room, and a brief commotion could be heard just outside before the hallway fell quiet again. "Sigh." Eric exhaled deeply because today had been an incredibly long and exhausting day.
"Eric," Emma called out to him.
"Yeah?" Eric asked.
"The song you shared earlier... was that song about Melissa?" Emma asked.
Eric fell completely silent. He didn’t confirm it, but he didn’t deny it either. He simply smiled at the six girls without saying a word, even though they were all waiting for his answer.
