Sign the Papers Mr. Langford novel Chapter 137

By the time Wren returned to Stellaris, the sky was pitch black.

Only a few lights remained on in the office. Phoebe was sitting next to her desk, her computer screen lit up, and a stack of files spread out across the surface. Seeing her walk in, Phoebe didn't ask about the project or Leo; she simply slid her phone across the table.

"I looked into the number. It's a burner."

Wren draped her jacket over the back of her chair. "Expected."

"The Southside Medical Archives is a real place, though," Phoebe said, pulling up a map. "It used to be the city's medical records facility, but they relocated. The old building was abandoned for a few years, and now it's mostly just a storage annex. Asking you to go there alone at 8 PM... they really know how to pick a spot."

Wren stared at the gray, decrepit building on the screen.

After her mother passed away, Quentin Whitaker had thrown out most of her belongings. Wren had been sixteen at the time, standing in the doorway of Vivian's study, watching box after box being hauled out, never knowing exactly what was inside them.

She only remembered Lydia Whitaker standing at the end of the hall, softly persuading Quentin: 'Wren is still young. Seeing these things will only make her more heartbroken. It's better to pack them away.'

So those things were well and truly 'packed away.'

Hidden for so many years.

Phoebe closed the laptop. "You don't actually plan on going alone, do you?"

Wren didn't answer right away.

Phoebe scoffed. "Wren, if you dare say you're afraid of alerting the enemy, I'll pin you to that chair right now and make you retake basic safety protocols."

Wren looked up at her.

"I'm not that stupid."

"Good." Phoebe exhaled a breath of relief. "I'll go with you tomorrow night. Maya can come too and trail us from a distance. I can also check in with Dr. York—he's well-connected with the hospitals, so maybe he knows someone at the old archives."

Wren fell silent for a moment.

She was gradually getting used to accepting help.

But getting used to it didn't mean it felt easy.

Wren scrolled down, her eyes locking onto the guest list.

Lawrence.

Jude.

Willow.

And then there was a separate row that read: Special Guest: Stellaris Medical Representative (TBD).

Maya laughed bitterly. "They sure know how to play the game. They stall our pilot on the front end, and then invite us as guests on the back end. If we go, we're basically giving them our endorsement. If we don't, it looks like we're too scared to show our faces."

Phoebe looked at Wren. "What's even sicker is that this foundation might be connected to your mother."

Wren's fingertips paused. "What did you find?"

Phoebe handed her another file. "In The Southside Medical Foundation's earliest donor logs, Vivian Vance is on the list. The timeline matches up to right around the time she left Langford Medical's old device division. Oh, and the foundation's very first sponsored initiative? It was called the Project Morning Star Pediatric Heart Screening."