Chapter 3: The Second Attempt
I had barely finished reading the message when the lights in my hospital room flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then the monitor beside my bed gave a sharp electronic chirp.
My heart jumped.
Daniel immediately stood.
“Stay here,” he said.
“Where are you going?””
“To get security.””
He reached the door.
A nurse appeared from the hallway at the exact same moment.
“Mr. Carter?””
Daniel stepped aside.
“Yes?””
“We need to move your wife to another room.””
“Why?””
The nurse glanced toward the hallway before answering.
“There's been a security concern on this floor.””
My stomach dropped.
“What kind of concern?”” I asked.
She forced a professional smile.
“We're still assessing it.””
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Did someone come onto this floor asking for Emma Carter?””
The nurse hesitated.
That hesitation told us everything.
“Yes,” she said quietly.
“A woman matching your mother's description was seen near the elevators.””
My blood turned cold.
“My mother?””
“We haven't confirmed her identity.””
Daniel stepped into the hallway.
“Call security.””
The nurse grabbed his arm.
“Sir, please stay in the room.””
“She's carrying altered legal documents and someone has been threatening my wife.””
The nurse's eyes widened.
“Sir, I understand.””
“No, you don't.””
Daniel lowered his voice.
“We've received messages from someone who knows where we are.””
The nurse pulled a radio from her pocket.
“I'll contact security.””
She turned away.
Daniel locked our door.
I watched him check the window, then the bathroom, then the closet.
I almost laughed.
“Daniel.””
He looked at me.
“You're checking the closet?””
“I know it sounds stupid.””
“It does.””
“It won't in ten minutes.””
My smile disappeared.
The baby moved.
A tiny flutter beneath my ribs.
I froze.
Daniel saw my face.
“What?””
“She moved.””
He came to the bed immediately.
“Really?””
I nodded.
“She did.””
He put his palm against my stomach.
A second flutter followed.
His eyes closed.
“Hi, baby girl.””
I smiled through tears.
Then the door rattled.
Three soft knocks.
Daniel's head snapped toward it.
“Who is it?””
A woman's voice answered.
“It's me.””
My mother.
I felt the blood leave my face.
Daniel moved between me and the door.
“Mom,” I said.
There was silence.
Then she spoke again.
“Emma, please open the door.””
Daniel shook his head.
“Don't.””
My mother continued.
“I just want to talk.””
“Leave,” Daniel said.
“I didn't hurt her.””
My fingers curled around the hospital blanket.
“You stood there,” I said loudly.
“I was trying to stop Claire.””
“You watched.””
“I didn't know what was going to happen.””
Daniel laughed once.
It wasn't a happy sound.
“You knew enough to steal the trust documents.””
Silence.
Then my mother whispered,
“You don't understand what your father found.””
Daniel looked at me.
I mouthed, “Don't open it.””
My mother knocked again.
“The papers aren't what you think.””
“What are they?”” I asked.
“They're proof.””
“Proof of what?””
She didn't answer.
Daniel stepped closer to the door.
“Why did you tell Claire she would lose everything if the baby lived?””
My mother's voice cracked.
“I never said that.””
“We have it on video.””
Another silence.
Then—
“You shouldn't have let Noah keep the recording.””
My stomach tightened.
Daniel opened his phone and recorded the conversation.
“Who sent my wife those messages?””
My mother started crying.
“I don't know.””
“Who knows about the hospital?””
“I don't know.””
“Who altered the trust?””
“I don't know.””
“Then why are you here?””
No response.
Daniel's voice became dangerously quiet.
“Answer me.””
My mother finally said,
“Because they told me to come.””
The room went still.
“Who?””
She whispered a name.
Before we could hear it clearly, someone shouted from the hallway.
“Ma'am, step away from the door!””
My mother gasped.
Footsteps thundered past.
A male voice shouted,
“Stop!””
Then there was a crash.
Daniel opened the door just enough to look outside.
“Security!”” a guard yelled.
Two officers rushed down the hallway.
My mother was being held against the wall.
The brown envelope was on the floor.
My mother screamed.
“Don't let them take it!””
Detective Harris appeared behind the officers.
He bent down and picked up the envelope.
Then he looked directly at my mother.
“Mrs. Carter, you're coming with us.””
She began sobbing.
“No.””
Detective Harris opened the envelope.
Several pages slid loose.
He scanned the first page.
Then his expression changed.
He looked at Daniel.
“Your wife needs to see this.””
My mother shook her head.
“No, she doesn't.””
Detective Harris stepped into the room and handed me the first document.
I recognized my grandmother's signature immediately.
The original trust.
Except there was something beneath the signature that I had never seen before.
A handwritten clause.
I read it twice.
Then my hands started trembling.
“What does this mean?””
Daniel leaned over my shoulder.
The clause stated that if the primary beneficiary were to die under suspicious circumstances before reaching a certain age, an independent trustee would control the estate until a full investigation was completed.
I looked up.
“So even if my daughter dies…”
“The money doesn't automatically go to your family,” Detective Harris said.
“Then why would they need her gone?””
Detective Harris looked toward my mother.
“That is the question.””
My mother was crying silently.
I stared at her.
“Mom.””
She wouldn't meet my eyes.
“Mom, look at me.””
Slowly, she did.
“Who told you to come here?””
She shook her head.
“You don't want to know.””
“I absolutely do.””
Her lips trembled.
“Your father.””
Daniel's face hardened.
“He sent you?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“He said the hospital was the only place he could get close to you without the police stopping him.””
I felt cold all over.
“Get close to me for what?””
My mother looked at my stomach.
Then away.
“He said you would have to make a decision.””
“What decision?””
“I don't know.””
“You're lying.””
“I swear.””
I looked at Detective Harris.
“Can you arrest my father?””
“Not without evidence of a crime.””
“The video isn't enough?””
“It proves the assault. We're already investigating your sister. The document may establish motive, but we still need to connect your father to any plan against the baby.””
Daniel crossed his arms.
“Then start with his phone.””
Detective Harris nodded.
“We have officers at your parents' house.””
My mother suddenly grabbed the detective's sleeve.
“Don't go there.””
He looked at her.
“Why?””
She swallowed.
“Because if you go there, he'll know I told you.””
“What happens then?””
My mother closed her eyes.
“He'll run.””
The monitor beside my bed began beeping faster.
A nurse rushed in.
“Mrs. Carter, your heart rate just increased.””
I put a hand over my stomach.
“My baby moved.””
The nurse checked the monitor.
“There's increased uterine activity.””
My pulse raced.
“What does that mean?””
“We need to get you another ultrasound.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“I'll go with her.””
The nurse nodded.
As she began pushing my bed toward the door, Detective Harris suddenly stopped.
“Wait.””
Everyone turned.
He was staring at the envelope.
“There is one more page.””
He pulled out a folded sheet.
It wasn't part of the trust.
It was a photograph.
A printed photograph of me.
Pregnant.
Standing outside my doctor's office.
Taken from across the street.
My mouth went dry.
“When was this taken?””
Detective Harris turned the photo over.
There was a date written on the back.
Three weeks ago.
Daniel took the photo from him.
His eyes narrowed.
“That's the day Emma had her anatomy scan.””
I remembered that day.
My mother had claimed she couldn't come because she was sick.
I looked at the photograph again.
Someone had been watching me.
But there was something else.
In the background, reflected in the clinic window, was the side of a black SUV.
Daniel stared at it.
“I know that vehicle.””
Detective Harris looked at him.
“Whose is it?””
Daniel didn't answer.
He slowly turned toward me.
“That belongs to Claire's fiancé.””
My breath caught.
“James?””
Daniel nodded.
“But James wasn't there that day.””
Detective Harris looked at the photograph.
“Maybe he was.””
The nurse pushed my bed faster toward the ultrasound room.
Then my phone buzzed.
Daniel checked it.
His face went blank.
“What now?”” I asked.
He didn't respond.
“Daniel.””
He turned the screen toward me.
A new message.
*You found the photo. Good.*
My blood ran cold.
Another message appeared.
*Now ask your husband what he did the night your father disappeared for six hours.*
I looked at Daniel.
He wasn't looking at the phone anymore.
May you like
He was looking at me.
And for the first time since this nightmare began, my husband looked afraid of what I might ask next.
