Chương 13
“We are voting on an emergency resolution suspending Daniel’s interim succession authority and freezing any extraordinary transactions pending investigation.”
“Do you need me?”
“Only to confirm your request.”
“Put me on.”
Patel immediately said, “No.”
I glared at him.
“This will take thirty seconds.”
“You are six centimeters and contracting every three minutes.”
“Then they have between contractions.”
Miriam said, “He’s right.”
“You are all becoming extremely irritating.”
“That’s reassuring,” Ethan said.
Another contraction began.
I crushed his fingers.
He stopped smiling.
The pressure grew until the room narrowed to breathing and pain.
When it passed, I heard Miriam’s voice.
“Claire?”
“Yes.”
“State your full legal name.”
I did.
“Do you request the immediate suspension of Daniel Mercer’s succession authority and any corporate power contingent on your incapacity or death?”
“Yes.”
“Do you authorize the board to take emergency protective action consistent with the bylaws and trust documents?”
“Yes.”
Miriam paused.
“Do you understand this may create significant legal and financial consequences?”
I looked at the fetal monitor.
“Yes.”
“Recorded.”
A male voice came faintly through Miriam’s connection.
Leon Park.
“Claire, we’ve got it.”
Another voice joined.
Barbara.
“You take care of that baby.”
For once, she sounded completely serious.
The call shifted away as Miriam muted herself.
I breathed out.
Something had changed.
Daniel could still hurt me.
Hale was still missing.
Vanessa could be anywhere.
But one path had closed.
The company no longer waited for my death like an unlocked door.
Ethan’s phone rang again.
Unknown number.
We both looked at it.
Ruiz hurried back into the room.
“Answer.”
Ethan put it on speaker.
A man’s voice came through.
Calm.
Breathless.
Familiar.
“Claire?”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
Dr. Marcus Hale continued.
“You need to listen to me before Daniel gets to you.”
Ruiz raised one finger and pointed toward Ethan’s phone.
“Keep him talking.”
Hale heard her.
“Police?”
“Yes,” I said.
He swore softly.
“That changes things.”
“It should.”
“Claire, Daniel is going to tell you I planned this.”
“You discussed infecting me during delivery.”
“That is not what I intended.”
“You said yes to half a million dollars.”
“I let him think I was agreeing.”
Ruiz’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because I needed him to keep talking.”
I laughed despite the pain beginning to tighten across my abdomen again.
“That is an interesting defense.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Then why did you run?”
Hale did not answer immediately.
“Because I panicked.”
“That’s convenient.”
“I know how it looks.”
“You abandoned your car.”
“Because Daniel had someone following me.”
Ruiz stepped closer.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where are you?”
“No.”
“Hale.”
“If I tell you on an open line and Daniel has access to anybody’s device, I’m finished.”
I gripped the bedrail as the contraction built.
“Then stop wasting time and tell us what Daniel planned.”
Hale breathed out.
“He wanted you declared unstable if the delivery went badly.”
“What?”
“He believed a medical crisis could create grounds for temporary incapacity even if you survived.”
Miriam’s voice came through my phone.
“That would not automatically give him corporate authority.”
“He didn’t need automatic authority.”
Hale sounded exhausted.
“He needed uncertainty.”
The contraction peaked.
I shut my eyes.
Teresa counted my breathing under her breath.
Hale kept talking through the pain.
“He said if you died, the succession plan solved everything.”
“And if I didn’t?”
“He wanted records showing severe complications, confusion, possible neurological injury, anything that could keep you from acting quickly.”
I opened my eyes.
“You were going to falsify my chart.”
“No.”
“You were discussing it.”
“I was trying to understand how far he was willing to go.”
“By asking for five hundred thousand dollars?”
“He offered it.”
“You negotiated.”
“I repeated the amount.”
“You said you wanted assurances.”
“I wanted him to specify the plan.”
Ruiz said, “Do you have evidence supporting that?”
“Yes.”
Every person in the room became still.
“Where?” Ruiz asked.
“My attorney has copies of messages Daniel sent me.”
“Why would you wait until now to disclose them?”
“Because they implicate me too.”
“That is not helping you.”
“I know.”
His voice cracked slightly.
“I accepted money from Halcyon.”
Miriam said something under her breath.
I stared at the phone.
“How much?”
“Not from Daniel.”
“How much?”
“One hundred and eighty thousand over two years.”
“For what?”
“Consulting.”
“Hale.”
“For introductions and information.”
“What information?”
“About your pregnancy schedule, your expected leave, things Daniel said would help them time another offer.”
I felt sick.
“You sold my medical information.”
“Not records.”
“My appointments.”
“Yes.”
“My due date.”
“Yes.”
“My complications?”
“No.”
“You told Daniel when I was admitted.”
“He already knew.”
“You told Halcyon.”
Silence.
“Hale.”
“Yes.”
The next contraction came harder.
Patel moved to the monitor.
“Claire, I need you off the call.”
“No.”
“Now.”
I shook my head.
Hale heard the tension.
“What’s happening?”
“You don’t get to ask.”
The fetal heart rate dipped again.
This time it stayed low longer.
Patel’s voice changed.
“Turn her.”
Teresa and another nurse rolled me onto my side.
The monitor continued sounding.
“Claire, oxygen.”
A mask came over my face.
I pushed at it instinctively.
Teresa caught my wrist.
“Leave it.”
I did.
Patel watched the tracing.
“Come on.”
Ethan stood frozen beside me.
Ruiz pulled him back to clear space.
The heart rate climbed.
The room loosened by one degree.
Patel looked at me.
“We are not doing this much longer.”
“Doing what?”
“Waiting.”
My mouth went dry.
“C-section?”
“If the decelerations become recurrent or prolonged, yes.”
I nodded.
There was nothing to argue with.
For once, a decision existed that did not care about betrayal or evidence or money.
Hale’s voice came faintly from the phone.
“Claire?”
Ruiz answered.
“Dr. Hale, you need to give me your location.”
He exhaled.
“All right.”
He gave an address.
A motel near the interstate.
Ruiz repeated it into her radio.
“You stay there.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“You said that before you left the hospital.”
“I know.”
May you like
“Do not destroy anything.”
“I haven’t.”
