Chapter 7 - THE ROAD BEHIND THEM
The SUV behind them accelerated.
Claire turned in her seat.
Two headlights filled the rear window.
“Is that police?”
The driver checked the mirror.
“No.”
Evan grabbed Claire’s hand.
“Seat belt.”
“I have it.”
“Pull tighter.”
The driver pushed the accelerator.
The unknown SUV stayed with them.
Claire’s phone displayed no signal.
Evan tried Grace again.
Nothing.
Then Claire suddenly inhaled sharply.
“What?”
She pressed her palm against her abdomen.
“Cramp.”
Evan’s face changed instantly.
“Is it the baby?”
“I don’t know.”
Another tightening hit.
Claire closed her eyes.
The driver looked into the mirror.
“How far along?”
“Thirty-four weeks.”
He immediately changed direction.
“We’re going to Mercy General.”
Evan looked behind them.
“What about that car?”
“I’m more worried about your wife.”
The SUV suddenly moved into the opposite lane.
It came alongside them.
Claire saw the driver.
A man.
Baseball cap pulled low.
Beside him sat someone with silver-blond hair.
Judith.
Claire gasped.
“That’s her!”
Evan turned.
His mother looked directly at him through the glass.
For one terrible second, neither moved.
Judith didn’t look panicked.
She looked furious.
Then she held something against her window.
A photograph.
Evan couldn’t see it clearly.
Before he could react, the SUV surged forward and disappeared down an exit ramp.
The police driver didn’t follow.
Claire doubled over.
This contraction was stronger.
“Evan.”
“I’m here.”
“I think something’s wrong.”
Mercy General was seven minutes away.
They arrived in five.
Nurses rushed Claire into labor and delivery while Evan was stopped at the security desk.
He became frantic.
“That’s my wife!”
“You can go up once we clear you.”
“Clear me for what?”
The driver spoke quietly to hospital security.
Within moments, two guards locked the maternity floor.
Judith’s name and photograph circulated among staff.
Evan finally reached Claire’s room.
She was connected to monitors.
The fetal heartbeat remained strong.
But the doctor’s expression was cautious.
“You’re having contractions.”
“Am I in labor?”
“Possibly.”
Claire looked terrified.
Evan moved beside her.
She allowed him to hold her hand.
Not because everything was forgiven.
Because she was scared.
That difference mattered.
Ten minutes later, Detective Torres arrived.
Alone.
Evan immediately stood.
“Where’s my father?”
Torres looked confused.
“What do you mean?”
“He was with you.”
“No.”
Evan stared.
“You were in the vehicle behind us.”
“I never left the house.”
Claire sat upright.
“What?”
Torres removed her coat.
“My team transferred Robert.”
“Where?”
“He disappeared before transport.”
Silence.
Evan’s face changed.
“What about your car?”
“I don’t know what you saw.”
Claire remembered Grace’s warning.
Judith knows Torres.
Evan stepped between Claire and the detective.
Torres noticed.
“What happened?”
Evan didn’t answer.
Torres looked toward Claire.
“Did someone contact you?”
Before Claire could speak, an alarm sounded in the hallway.
Hospital security ran past the room.
Torres opened the door.
“What’s happening?”
A nurse shouted from the desk.
“Someone accessed the medication room with a stolen badge.”
Claire’s blood went cold.
Evan slammed the door shut.
Torres drew her weapon.
Nobody moved.
Then the bathroom door inside Claire’s room clicked.
Evan slowly turned.
He hadn’t noticed it was closed.
Claire stopped breathing.
Torres raised her gun.
“Who’s in there?”
No response.
“Open the door.”
Nothing.
Torres moved forward.
Evan stood protectively beside Claire’s bed.
The detective grabbed the handle.
She pulled.
A woman stumbled out.
Thin.
Dark-haired.
Terrified.
Evan stared at the scar near her eyebrow.
His knees almost failed.
“Grace?”
The woman looked at him.
Sixteen years vanished from her face.
“Hi, Ev.”
He began crying instantly.
Grace did too.
But before he could move toward her, she pointed at Detective Torres.
“Get her out.”
Torres froze.
Grace backed against the wall.
“Her father didn’t just work at St. Agnes.”
“What are you talking about?”
Grace’s eyes hardened.
“He was the doctor who declared me mentally incompetent.”
Torres went pale.
May you like
Grace looked at Evan.
“And Robert paid him.”
