Chương 6
Jonathan entered a few minutes later.
“Security has been notified.”
I looked at him.
“You called hospital security?”
“Reeves did.”
“Why?”
“Because your family knows where you are, and there’s an active criminal investigation.”
My first instinct was embarrassment.
Not fear.
Embarrassment.
I imagined nurses whispering about the pregnant woman whose family needed to be kept out of the maternity floor.
Then I hated myself for caring.
“They’re not violent.”
Jonathan said nothing.
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Your brother stepped toward you during an argument, and you ended up on the floor.”
“I slipped.”
“Maybe.”
“I did.”
“Then he left you there.”
The word left sat between us.
I turned toward the window.
A delivery truck was backing into an alley below.
The driver leaned out and shouted at someone I couldn’t see.
For reasons I couldn’t explain, I watched until the truck disappeared.
Another contraction came.
Stronger.
Closer.
By the time it ended, Dr. Patel had returned with a neonatal specialist named Dr. Green.
He explained what thirty-four weeks could mean.
Possible breathing support.
Temperature regulation.
Feeding difficulties.
Time in the neonatal intensive care unit.
He was calm, precise, and careful not to promise anything.
I appreciated him for that and resented him for every sentence.
“Will she be okay?”
“We have every reason to be hopeful.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“No.”
His eyes met mine.
“It’s the most accurate answer I can give you.”
I nodded.
My throat burned.
Maya sat beside me and put her hand over mine.
For once, she did not make a joke.
An hour later, my parents arrived.
I knew because my father called from downstairs.
I did not answer.
Then hospital security called the room.
A man identified himself as Officer Daniels and said two people claiming to be my parents were requesting access.
“Don’t let them up.”
“Understood.”
My voice shook after I hung up.
Maya pretended not to notice.
Five minutes later, Dad texted.
This is ridiculous.
Then Mom.
We are your parents.
Then Dad again.
Ethan is devastated.
I read each message.
None asked whether the baby was safe.
I blocked both numbers.
The action took less than ten seconds.
It felt like lifting something enormous.
Maya watched me.
“Done?”
“For now.”
“Good.”
“I feel twelve.”
“That’s because family has a special talent for making adults feel twelve.”
I stared at the blocked-contact screen.
“When my company nearly failed in year two, Dad told me I should get a real job.”
Maya leaned back.
“I remember.”
“Mom said Ethan needed more support because his career was less stable.”
“Also remember.”
“He was twenty-nine.”
“He was selling luxury condos and posting pictures from Miami.”
“He said networking.”
“He networked with a lot of champagne.”
A laugh escaped me.
Then I started crying.
Not dramatically.
No sobbing.
Tears simply came and would not stop.
Maya pulled a tissue from the box.
“I hate that I still want her to ask if I’m okay.”
She handed me the tissue.
“I know.”
“I blocked her, and I’m sitting here hoping she finds another number.”
“I know.”
“That’s pathetic.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
“You’re supposed to say something insulting.”
“I’m saving it for your brother.”
A knock came at the door.
My entire body tensed.
Jonathan entered with Special Agent Reeves.
Reeves had removed his raincoat.
Without it, he looked less cinematic and more like a tired federal employee who had missed lunch.
He stayed near the door.
“I can leave if this is a bad time.”
“Everything is a bad time.”
“That seems fair.”
Jonathan closed the door.
Reeves pulled a chair away from the wall but did not sit until I nodded.
“We executed a search warrant at your brother’s office.”
My pulse accelerated.
“Was he there?”
“No.”
“Where is he?”
“We don’t know.”
Maya’s head snapped toward him.
“You lost him?”
“We didn’t have him.”
“You know what I mean.”
Reeves ignored the tone.
“His phone is off.”
I said, “What about Chloe?”
“She’s not answering investigators.”
“Are they together?”
“We don’t know.”
I hated that answer because it allowed too many possibilities.
“Did you find anything?”
“Yes.”
He looked at Jonathan, then back at me.
“Your driver’s license copy.”
I stopped breathing for a second.
“In Ethan’s office?”
“On a computer.”
Maya swore.
Reeves continued.
“We also found scans of your signature.”
“How many?”
“Several.”
My skin went cold.
“What were they used for?”
“We’re still reviewing the files.”
“Don’t.”
He frowned.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t give me that careful voice.”
“It’s my regular voice.”
“No, it isn’t.”
He considered arguing, then apparently decided against it.
“We found draft documents involving more than the penthouse.”
Jonathan went still beside him.
“What documents?”
“Potential amendments to trust and beneficiary records.”
I looked at Jonathan.
He had lost color.
“Could Ethan change those?”
“No.”
“Could he fake them?”
Jonathan’s answer took too long.
“He could try.”
Reeves said, “There’s more.”
Of course there was.
“There are emails between Ethan and someone using the name Martin Vale.”
The name from the property filing.
“Who is he?”
“We now believe Martin Vale is an alias.”
“For whom?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Maya crossed her arms.
“Convenient.”
Reeves looked at her.
“I also dislike not knowing things.”
“Then we have something in common.”
He turned back to me.
“The emails go back approximately seven months.”
Seven months.
Before I had told most people I was pregnant.
Before Ethan proposed to Chloe.
“What are they about?”
“Initially, business debt.”
I waited.
“Then you.”
My mouth went dry.
Reeves took out a printed page.
“I need to ask whether you recognize a phrase.”
He read it.
“Claire doesn’t watch the boring accounts.”
For a moment, I felt nothing.
Then memory hit with humiliating clarity.
Thanksgiving.
My parents’ apartment.
Ethan standing beside the kitchen island while I tried to help Mom rescue an overcooked turkey.
He had asked about the company sale.
Not how much.
May you like
He knew better than to ask directly.
He asked how I managed everything afterward.
