CHAPTER 13 — The Professor Who Knew My Father
I confronted Professor Hughes in her office.
She looked at the frozen video image.
Then she sat down slowly.
“That was twelve years ago.”
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“You said you barely knew him.”
“I lied.”
The word hurt more because she admitted it so easily.
“What was in the folder?”
“Research.”
“Mine?”
“No. Sarah’s father’s.”
Professor Hughes explained that she had once worked for Holloway Medical Technologies.
Richard Bennett had approached her after gaining control of my trust.
He wanted help turning stolen patents into a new company.
“Did you help him?”
“At first.”
My stomach turned.
“I thought the documents belonged to him legally. When I discovered the truth, I threatened to report him.”
“What happened?”
“He threatened my daughter.”
I stared at her.
“He seems to do that a lot.”
“He had photographs of her buying drugs. She was nineteen and struggling with addiction. He said he would make sure she went to prison.”
“So you stayed silent.”
“For years.”
“And then you became my professor.”
“I didn’t know who you were until your second semester.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was ashamed.”
I stepped away.
Every adult in my life had a reason for lying.
Fear.
Love.
Protection.
Shame.
The reasons changed.
The damage didn’t.
Professor Hughes opened a locked drawer.
“I kept something.”
She removed three laboratory notebooks.
“These belonged to your grandfather.”
Sarah’s father.
“The patents your father used to build his company came from these.”
“Can they prove he stole everything?”
“Yes.”
“Then why hide them?”
“Because they also prove I helped him.”
I looked at her.
“If you give them to investigators, you could lose your career.”
“I know.”
She placed them in my hands.
“I should have chosen the truth twelve years ago.”
Before I could answer, the fire alarm screamed.
Smoke poured beneath the office door.
May you like
Someone had set fire to the building.
And the laboratory notebooks were the target.
