Chương 5
“You believed I wrote that?”
“It sounded like you.”
Celia looked up. “That is not a compliment.”
Jonas ignored her.
“I gave Elena the name of a retired federal agent in Wisconsin. Someone I trusted. He helped her change vehicles and find temporary housing.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I made sure I didn’t know. At the time, I thought I was violating your order. I wanted to limit what I could be forced to disclose.”
“And six months ago?”
“I found evidence your account had been accessed from the residence tablet while you were overseas.”
“Why not tell me then?”
His eyes met mine.
“Because by then I had already disobeyed you, concealed it, and lost her.”
The honesty did not soften anything.
“You protected yourself.”
“Yes.”
Celia stopped folding the receipt.
Jonas continued. “I started looking quietly. North Lake dissolved three months after Elena disappeared. Its final payment came from a consulting account authorized by Victor’s office.”
“Victor approves hundreds of vendors.”
“He also approved the maintenance contractor that serviced the residence network the week your account was accessed.”
Celia stood.
“Are you saying Victor threatened Elena?”
“I’m saying someone used Adrian’s account to order me away from her, and the trail passes through two companies Victor controlled.”
I rose more slowly.
“Where is Victor now?”
Jonas checked his phone. “At home, according to his driver.”
“Bring him here.”
Celia stepped between us.
“No.”
“He will answer questions.”
“He will arrive with lawyers, security, and a version of events prepared before the elevator reaches this floor. You are standing in a hospital with blood on a doctor’s gloves and no proof.”
“I don’t need proof to ask my brother a question.”
“You have never asked a question in your life. You issue warnings disguised as grammar.”
Jonas looked away.
Celia put both hands on my chest.
“If Victor did something to Elena, then anger is the least useful thing you own.”
“My anger built the company that pays for your museum and your apartment.”
“My museum has donors. My apartment has a mortgage. And your company was built by frightened people doing what you wanted before you explained why.”
The words should have offended me.
Instead, they sounded like something Elena had once tried to say.
A nurse came through the door and called my name.
We all turned.
“Elena is out of surgery. She is being transferred to the cardiac intensive care unit. Dr. Kline can speak with you.”
The doctor met us in a consultation room with beige walls and a box of tissues placed so carefully on the table that I hated it immediately.
He had removed the bloody gloves.
“Elena developed severe heart failure associated with pregnancy,” he said. “Her left ventricle is functioning at a critically reduced level. We delivered the baby because continuing the pregnancy was placing additional stress on her heart, but she became unstable during the procedure.”
“What did you put in her chest?”
“A temporary device to support circulation. She is also intubated and receiving medication to maintain her blood pressure.”
“Will her heart recover?”
“It can. I cannot promise that it will.”
“What happens if it doesn’t?”
“We evaluate further support options. Right now we are focused on the next several hours.”
“Can I see her?”
“Her legal proxy has arrived.”
I looked toward the door.
A woman stood there wearing jeans, a navy sweater, and a winter coat zipped to her throat. I recognized her after a moment.
Claire Bennett.
Elena’s cousin.
She had been maid of honor at our wedding and had once poured red wine into my lap after I made Elena cry at a Christmas dinner. It had not been an accident.
Claire entered without acknowledging me.
“I’m her proxy,” she said to the doctor.
Kline nodded. “We need to review several decisions.”
“Do it.”
“Ms. Bennett,” I said.
She turned.
The hatred in her face was old enough to have become organized.
“Don’t.”
“I need to know what happened to her.”
“You needed to know months ago.”
“She disappeared.”
“She ran.”
“From whom?”
Claire looked at Jonas, then Celia, then Madison’s empty chair.
“From all of you.”
Kline cleared his throat.
“This discussion can wait. Ms. Bennett, I need your attention.”
Claire sat.
I remained standing until Celia pulled out the chair beside her.
Kline explained medications, risks, procedures, and what would happen if Elena’s circulation worsened. Claire asked precise questions. She knew the terminology. She had clearly attended appointments or read enough to prepare.
“When was she diagnosed?” I asked.
Claire did not look at me.
“Two weeks ago.”
“Why wasn’t she hospitalized?”
“She was.”
“Where?”
“In Madison.”
“The city?”
“Yes, Adrian. Wisconsin has one. She left against medical advice after someone tried to access her records.”
Kline’s pen stopped.
“Who?”
“They claimed to be from her insurance company. The hospital found no valid request.”
“Why come here?” I asked.
“Her cardiologist arranged a transfer to Northwestern under another surname. She deteriorated in the ambulance.”
“You knew she was pregnant.”
Claire laughed once, without humor.
“I knew before she did.”
“You let her hide my child from me.”
That made her look at me.
“I helped her survive you.”
My chair scraped backward as I stood.
Celia said my name.
Claire did not flinch.
“She received messages from your number,” she said. “You told her you knew about the baby. You told her not to come back. You told her that if she made the child public, you would prove she was unstable and take custody.”
“I never sent those messages.”
“She believed you.”
“She should have known better.”
The moment the words left me, I wanted them back.
Claire’s face went still.
“That,” she said, “is why she believed them.”
I sat down.
No one spoke for a while.
Kline looked at the clock.
“I need a decision about a line placement if her pressures worsen.”
May you like
Claire turned to him. “What would Elena choose?”
He explained.
