Chapter 7 - ETHAN AND EVA
Marcus stared at Ethan’s photograph.
“That’s from before.”
“Before what?”
“Before he worked for you.”
Roman looked at the image.
Ethan appeared maybe eighteen.
Younger.
Hospital volunteer badge.
Northwood Pediatric Development.
Roman’s pulse changed.
“How long did Ethan work there?”
Marcus shrugged.
“He had jobs everywhere.”
Ethan had been inside Project Orchard before joining Roman’s accounts division.
That was not coincidence.
Roman found employment records.
Ethan worked six months as a facilities assistant at Northwood when Eva was three.
Later, Michael recruited him into Vale financial operations.
Why?
Michael may have known his Orchard connection.
Marcus remembered Ethan talking about a “little girl who never smiled at doctors.”
Was that Eva?
Probably.
Then Marcus said:
“He used to sign with me.”
“Sign?”
“Hand signs.”
“Why?”
“Our mom was losing hearing before she died. Ethan learned basic sign language.”
Eva communicated through gestures long before formal therapy.
Maybe Ethan interacted with her without demanding speech.
That could explain why Project Orchard tracked her reaction.
Did Cole view Ethan as threat?
If Ethan noticed unusual testing, yes.
Michael may have recruited him specifically because he already knew Orchard from inside.
The chain tightened.
Roman returned to Michael’s ledgers.
Ethan appeared under code ES-12.
Payments from Vale operations.
Then separate entries from Project Orchard:
SURVEILLANCE FLAG.
Why flag him?
A note:
E12 accessed V.M. stimulus archive.
Ethan saw Victor Morrow materials.
Maybe he realized Orchard was not therapy.
It was witness monitoring.
Michael’s letter had said paper only.
Roman opened the second ledger.
One section documented people who discovered Orchard.
Dr. Alan Mercer.
Paid.
A therapist.
Silenced through contract.
Ethan.
Monitored.
Michael.
Internal.
Victor Morrow.
Architect.
Captain Cole.
Director?
An initial beside Cole:
OVERSIGHT.
Roman’s blood cooled.
Cole may not have created Orchard.
He ran it.
Who created it?
Victor Morrow.
Former CFO.
Why would the CFO manage a child surveillance program?
Because Morrow knew Isabella’s crash mattered financially.
Roman reviewed dates.
Two months before Isabella died, she had quietly hired an outside accountant.
Why?
The accountant’s archived email surfaced from a defunct firm.
Mrs. Vale requests review of unexplained transfers from family companies.
Project Orchard money did not exist yet.
But another shell:
Crown Harbor Initiative.
Funds moved through it.
Recipient:
Victor Morrow.
Isabella had discovered unauthorized money leaving Roman’s companies.
She investigated.
Then died.
Afterward, Crown Harbor was renamed through shells and eventually became Project Orchard.
So Orchard may have begun as a cover up system after the crash.
Monitor Eva.
Track witnesses.
Pay providers.
Protect the secret.
Roman’s organization had funded surveillance of his own daughter using money stolen from him.
The betrayal was almost too precise.
Then Marcus asked:
“What did Isabella find?”
Roman looked at him.
He had never told Marcus to use her first name.
“How do you know her name?”
“Ethan talked about her.”
“When?”
“Before he disappeared.”
“What did he say?”
Marcus hesitated.
“He said your wife left something.”
“Where?”
“He didn’t know.”
Roman leaned forward.
“What exactly?”
“Something called the blue ledger.”
Michael’s ledgers were red and black.
Blue ledger.
Original accounting record?
Maybe Isabella kept her own.
Marcus continued.
“Ethan said Morrow killed people trying to find it.”
“Morrow is dead.”
“Ethan said that didn’t end it.”
Because Cole inherited the cover up?
Maybe.
Then Jonah entered.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“Cole is gone.”
Roman stood.
“How?”
“Service tunnel.”
There was an old wine delivery passage beneath the east wing.
Few knew.
Cole did.
“Vehicle?”
“None.”
“He planned extraction.”
“Looks like it.”
Roman’s security perimeter locked.
Too late.
Cole left something in his office.
A phone.
Clean except one scheduled message.
Sent to Roman automatically:
You should have left the boy outside.
Roman stared.
Then another line appeared.
Ask Eva what she remembers about the red umbrella.
Roman looked toward his daughter.
She was in the doorway.
Her face had gone completely white.
“Eva?”
She whispered:
“Mommy.”
Then:
May you like
“Red umbrella.”
Continue to the next part: Cole’s final message triggers Eva’s first clear memory of the night her mother died.
