Chương 7
Patel hesitated.
“We believe she was involved in moving him.”
Evan cursed under his breath.
Lauren asked, “Did you find Celeste?”
“No.”
The simple answer chilled the room.
“What about her car?”
“Still in the employee garage.”
“So she’s here?”
“We don’t know that.”
Lauren looked at Evan.
A locked maternity floor suddenly felt less protective.
Somewhere in the building, possibly, was a woman who had touched their baby and stolen Lauren’s phone.
Detective Patel saw her expression.
“We have officers checking staff areas.”
“Did she have access to this floor?”
“Yes.”
“Does she still?”
“Her badge has been disabled.”
Lauren looked toward the door.
“Badges aren’t the only way through doors.”
“No.”
Patel did not lie to comfort her.
Lauren appreciated that more than reassurance.
Margaret Vale asked for a third time to speak with her.
This time Lauren said yes.
Evan objected immediately.
“Why?”
“Because I’m tired of her talking through walls.”
“You don’t owe her anything.”
“I know.”
“I don’t want her near Noah.”
“She won’t be.”
Detective Hale suggested using the consultation room across the hall while Dennis remained inside with Evan and Noah.
Lauren refused.
“I’m not leaving him.”
So Margaret came in.
Dennis searched her handbag first.
That humiliation seemed to cost her more than the security restriction.
She placed the dark leather bag on the counter and stood near the doorway.
No one offered her a chair.
Her gaze went to Noah.
Lauren noticed.
“Look at me.”
Margaret did.
“Why did you want him?”
Margaret glanced at Detective Hale.
“I have been advised not to answer questions about an ongoing investigation.”
“Then leave.”
“Lauren.”
“Don’t.”
Margaret’s chin lifted.
“I came because there are things you need to understand about Claire.”
“I don’t need to understand Claire.”
“She is not responsible.”
“I didn’t say she was.”
“People will.”
“Because of you?”
Margaret’s eyes sharpened.
“You think you know what happened because a frightened nurse whispered something beside your bed.”
“I know enough.”
“No. You know the ugliest ten minutes.”
“Those were pretty ugly.”
Margaret looked at Evan.
He did not move from beside the bassinet.
Then she spoke with the careful precision of someone accustomed to making rooms listen.
“My granddaughter Claire went into labor yesterday afternoon. There were complications. Her son was delivered by emergency surgery.”
Lauren said nothing.
“The child is alive.”
“That’s what Dana said.”
“He is critically ill.”
Margaret paused.
Lauren waited for grief to appear.
It did, but not the way she expected.
Margaret’s right hand trembled once against the seam of her coat.
She closed it into a fist.
“Claire is thirty-two. She and her husband tried for six years to have a child. Two miscarriages. One failed adoption. This pregnancy was not easy.”
Lauren’s anger rose.
“And that made mine available?”
Margaret’s face tightened.
“No.”
“Then why are you telling me this?”
“Because what began as an attempt to protect Claire became something else.”
Detective Hale said, “Protect her how?”
Margaret looked at him.
“I’m speaking to Mrs. Mitchell.”
Lauren said, “Answer him.”
Margaret exhaled.
“Claire’s husband died in January.”
That surprised Lauren.
She had expected another wealthy spouse in a hallway somewhere.
Margaret continued.
“A construction accident. She was seven months pregnant. Since then she has not been well.”
“Depressed?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Margaret hesitated.
“She made statements during the pregnancy about not wanting to live if something happened to the baby.”
Lauren felt the direction of the story and hated it.
“So you were afraid she’d hurt herself.”
“Yes.”
“And when her son got sick, you decided to replace him.”
“No.”
The word came hard.
Margaret looked directly at her.
“I decided she should not be told immediately.”
Lauren stared.
Margaret continued before anyone could interrupt.
“The doctors said the first several hours were critical. Claire was still under anesthesia. I asked that no one tell her details until I could be there.”
Rebecca, standing against the wall, said, “You had no authority to make that request.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew it then.”
Margaret ignored her.
“Lionel Pierce was assisting our family with private matters after Claire’s husband died. He knew her history. He knew what had happened. He told me there was a way to avoid putting Claire through another catastrophic shock while she was unstable.”
Lauren’s voice went quiet.
“What way?”
Margaret’s gaze flicked toward Noah.
“Initially, he said another infant could be brought briefly to recovery. Minutes. Long enough for Claire to wake, see a healthy child, be stabilized, and then be told there had been a transfer to intensive care.”
Evan stared at her.
“You were going to use our son as a prop?”
Margaret’s mouth tightened.
“When you say it that way—”
“How else should I say it?”
Margaret looked older again.
“There is no better way.”
Lauren felt something change.
Not forgiveness.
Nothing close.
But Margaret had stopped sounding like a woman defending a plan and started sounding like someone describing the moment she stepped over a line and then kept walking because turning around would require seeing where she was.
“Then what?” Lauren asked.
Margaret looked at the floor.
“Pierce called me around two thirty. He said Claire’s child might not survive transport.”
“And?”
“He said if Claire woke and was told immediately, there was a real risk she would harm herself.”
“And?”
Another pause.
Lauren’s voice sharpened.
“What did he ask you to do?”
“He said there was another mother who had agreed to a private adoption.”
Dana’s lie.
Legal papers.
Lauren felt sick.
“Me?”
Margaret looked at her.
“He did not give me your name.”
“But you knew there was a woman.”
“Yes.”
“And a healthy baby.”
“Yes.”
“You thought I had agreed to give him up?”
“At first.”
“At first.”
Margaret’s silence answered.
Lauren leaned forward.
“When did you know I hadn’t?”
Margaret’s face became very still.
“Four fourteen.”
Four twelve.
Dana had returned Noah at 4:12.
“What happened at four fourteen?”
“I saw you.”
Lauren’s skin prickled.
“Where?”
May you like
“Through the nursery window.”
“You saw me?”
