Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN DANIEL COULD NOT SAVEThe hospital went into lockdown.
Marcus attacked the concealed door with a metal chair.
It did not move.
“There has to be another exit,” Claire said.
Daniel searched the walls.
“My father wouldn’t build a room like this with one door.”
Maya coughed.
“Your father did a lot of questionable things.”
Claire pressed fabric over her mouth.
The baby moved violently.
Fear sharpened every sensation.
She could not panic.
Not here.
Not now.
Vanessa searched behind boxes.
Marcus shouted, “Stay low!”
Smoke thickened near the ceiling.
Daniel found a ventilation grate.
“Here.”
Too small.
Marcus tore it loose anyway.
Behind it, a narrow maintenance tunnel disappeared into darkness.
Maya stared.
“I officially hate old factories.”
Marcus examined the opening.
“Claire goes first.”
Daniel nodded.
Claire looked at the tunnel.
“I can barely fit.”
“You can.”
Daniel took her hands.
She looked at him.
For one second, everything else disappeared.
The affair.
The lies.
The ballroom.
There was only a frightened woman and the man who had once promised to protect her.
“I’m scared,” she whispered.
Daniel’s eyes filled.
“I know.”
It was the first honest thing between them that required no explanation.
“I’ll be right behind you.”
Claire crawled.
The tunnel scraped her elbows.
Her belly made movement slow.
Smoke followed.
She focused on breathing.
One movement.
Then another.
Behind her, Maya coughed.
Daniel kept speaking.
“You’re doing great.”
Claire almost snapped at him for sounding encouraging.
Then the tunnel sloped upward.
Cool air.
“There’s air!”
She pushed harder.
A rusted grate blocked the end.
Claire hit it.
Nothing.
“Daniel!”
He crawled forward until he could reach around her.
Together they pushed.
The grate broke loose.
Claire fell onto wet grass behind the factory.
Fresh air entered her lungs.
She rolled onto her side.
Daniel emerged after her.
Then Maya.
Vanessa.
Marcus.
Security.
Thirty seconds later, flames burst through the roof of the administrative wing.
Daniel stared.
“The archive.”
Marcus shook his head.
“We took the ledger and tape.”
Claire clutched her bag.
Rose’s ledger was inside.
So was Richard’s recording.
Someone had failed.
Claire looked toward the distant road.
A black SUV disappeared beyond the trees.
Harrison.
Maybe.
But they had no proof.
Firefighters arrived.
Police followed.
This time, they could not keep authorities out.
An arson investigation began.
Claire was transported to the hospital as a precaution.
Daniel rode with her.
She almost objected.
She was too tired.
At the hospital, Dr. Patel examined her.
“The baby’s heartbeat is strong.”
Claire cried from relief.
Daniel turned away so she would not see his own tears.
She saw them anyway.
Later, he sat beside the bed.
Neither spoke for several minutes.
Finally Claire said, “I believed you were cheating.”
“I know.”
“I still don’t know what to believe.”
“I know.”
“I need you to stop saying that.”
He nodded.
“Fair.”
Claire looked at him.
“Did you love Vanessa once?”
“Yes.”
The answer hurt less than expected.
“Do you love her now?”
“No.”
“Do you love me?”
Daniel’s expression broke.
“Yes.”
Claire stared at the ceiling.
“That’s almost worse.”
“I know.”
She glared.
He gave a sad smile.
“Sorry.”
Claire looked back at him.
“You loved me and still chose to manipulate me.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe I was paranoid.”
“Yes.”
“You made decisions about my safety without me.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know whether our marriage survives that.”
Daniel looked down.
“I don’t either.”
That surprised her.
A week earlier, Daniel would have promised to fix everything.
Now he said, “I want it to. But wanting doesn’t erase what I did.”
Claire turned toward him.
“You’re finally learning.”
He nodded.
“Too late, maybe.”
“Maybe.”
The word hurt both of them.
Marcus arrived.
“Harrison Whitmore has disappeared.”
Daniel stood.
“Accounts?”
“Frozen where possible.”
“Travel?”
“No verified movement.”
Claire said, “He knows we have evidence.”
“Yes.”
“Then why burn the archive?”
“To destroy whatever we didn’t find.”
Marcus placed a folder on the table.
“There’s something else.”
Claire opened it.
Phone records.
Vanessa had exchanged thirty-seven calls with the man calling himself Martin Shaw.
Thomas Vale.
“Have you found him?”
Marcus shook his head.
“But we traced one number.”
“To where?”
“A prepaid phone activated near Rhinebeck.”
Claire frowned.
“Near my grandmother’s house.”
Daniel stood instantly.
Marcus nodded.
“Exactly.”
Claire’s hidden property was compromised.
“How?”
“We don’t know.”
Maya arrived with coffee and overheard.
“Then she’s not going there.”
“No,” Claire agreed.
Daniel said, “You’re coming to the Connecticut estate.”
Claire looked at him.
He corrected himself.
“If you choose.”
That small correction mattered.
“I’ll stay at Maya’s sister’s place.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Too easy to identify.”
Vanessa, standing in the doorway, spoke.
“I have somewhere.”
Everyone turned.
She almost smiled.
“You all look delighted to see me.”
Daniel frowned.
“Where?”
“My father owns a cabin in Vermont under a corporation not linked to me publicly.”
Claire stared at her.
“You expect me to hide in your family cabin?”
“No. I expect you to survive long enough to continue hating me.”
Maya whispered, “I’m starting to like her and I resent it.”
Claire considered.
Before she could answer, a nurse entered.
“Mrs. Whitmore? There’s a package for you.”
Marcus immediately stopped her.
“From whom?”
“No name.”
The package was small.
Security scanned it.
No explosive.
Inside was a baby blanket.
White.
Soft.
Expensive.
Claire touched it.
Then she saw the embroidery.
Baby Whitmore.
Beneath the blanket lay a card.
Daniel read it first.
His face turned gray.
Claire took it.
Only seven words were written.
A CHILD SHOULD GROW UP WITH FAMILY.
No signature.
On the back was a photograph.
Claire asleep in the hospital bed.
Taken less than an hour earlier.
May you like
Someone had been inside the hospital.
Watching her.
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