Chapter 5
Nobody touched the tea.
Maya immediately stopped the nurse.
“Who brought this?”
The nurse looked frightened.
“A volunteer from reception.”
“Name?”
“I don’t know.”
“Man or woman?”
“Woman. Older. Maybe sixty.”
Ethan’s face hardened.
“Linda.”
The nurse looked at him.
“Your mother?”
“Was she blonde? Shoulder-length hair?”
“I think so.”
Maya was already moving.
She called security.
The hospital went into controlled lockdown.
Elevators were checked.
Stairwells searched.
Parking cameras reviewed.
Linda was gone.
The tea was sealed as evidence.
Two hours later, preliminary testing found a sedative in it.
Not poison.
Something simpler.
Something designed to make me sleepy and confused.
Exactly the kind of thing that could make a recovering mother look disoriented.
Ethan stared through the hospital room window while Maya gave us the result.
“She drugged it.”
“Attempted to,” Maya corrected.
“She brought drugged tea to my wife’s hospital room.”
“Yes.”
“Arrest her.”
“We’re working on it.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means she has not returned home.”
Ethan turned.
“Where is she?”
“We don’t know.”
Her car had been found in a hospital parking garage.
Empty.
Her phone was inside.
So was her purse.
“She abandoned everything?” I asked.
“Almost everything.”
Maya placed a photograph on the table.
Inside Linda’s purse police found a folder.
The front read:
RACHEL CARTER — MATERNAL CRISIS DOCUMENTATION.
I felt sick.
Inside were pages of notes.
Dates.
Times.
Descriptions.
Rachel cried for twenty-three minutes.
Rachel said she was exhausted.
Rachel became agitated when Noah continued crying.
Rachel refused advice about feeding.
Rachel expressed distrust toward family.
Rachel displayed obsessive attachment to infant.
Some incidents were exaggerated.
Others were complete lies.
One claimed I had screamed that Noah was possessed.
I had never said anything close to that.
Another said I had left him unattended on a changing table.
Never happened.
A third said I had threatened to jump from our bedroom window.
I stared at the line.
“She wrote this?”
Maya nodded.
“There’s more.”
A typed letter from a supposed therapist stated I displayed symptoms of postpartum psychosis.
I had never seen that therapist.
“Is the therapist real?” Ethan asked.
“Yes.”
“Did they write it?”
“We contacted the office. They deny ever treating Rachel.”
Ethan laughed bitterly.
“So fake again.”
“Likely.”
Daniel entered carrying coffee.
He handed one to Ethan.
None to me because the doctors still wanted me monitored.
“We found Caroline’s old case,” he said.
“And?”
“The similarities are significant.”
That was government language for horrifying.
Caroline had been accused of hallucinations after birth.
Her sister Linda had provided testimony.
Her husband had been accused of domestic violence.
A psychiatrist’s letter had later been challenged.
Temporary guardianship had been granted.
“This woman has practiced this for thirty years,” Ethan said.
Daniel shook his head.
“Not necessarily.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means we found another case.”
The room went cold.
“Who?” I asked.
“A former coworker of Linda’s. Seventeen years ago.”
“What happened?”
“The woman was going through a custody dispute. Linda testified she had seen her mistreat her son.”
“Was it true?”
“We don’t know.”
“Where’s the woman now?”
“Deceased.”
Silence.
“How?” Ethan asked.
“Car accident. Unrelated as far as anyone knows.”
Ethan rubbed both hands over his face.
“This is insane.”
Daniel sat down.
“There’s something else.”
I hated those words.
Every time someone said them, my life got worse.
“Linda has debt.”
Ethan frowned.
“What kind?”
“Serious debt.”
“That’s impossible. She owns her house.”
“Mortgaged twice.”
Ethan stared.
“She told me it was paid off.”
“She owes more than three hundred thousand dollars across loans and credit cards.”
“Why?”
“We’re still tracing it.”
“What does that have to do with us?”
Daniel looked at him.
“The house.”
Our house.
Linda had helped with the down payment when Ethan bought it before we married.
She reminded us constantly.
“She doesn’t own it,” Ethan said.
“No. But there’s a document on file claiming she loaned you the down payment.”
“She gave it to me.”
“Do you have that in writing?”
Ethan went silent.
“She told me it was a gift.”
“Her version says loan.”
“So she’s going to sue me?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Maybe that was part of it.”
I understood first.
“If Ethan and I split up…”
“Rachel,” Ethan said.
But Daniel nodded.
“If your marriage destabilized and Linda positioned herself as Ethan’s primary support, she might expect financial access or repayment.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“She wanted Rachel gone because of money?”
“I don’t think it’s only money.”
Neither did I.
Money explained planning.
It didn’t explain hatred.
Linda hated me personally.
She hated the way Ethan touched my back when we walked.
The way he called me first.
The way our Christmas plans changed after marriage.
The way he painted the nursery with me instead of spending that weekend fixing her fence.
Small things.
Normal things.
Things that represented a son building a life separate from his mother.
My phone rang again.
This time the number was Linda’s.
Maya frowned.
“Her phone is in evidence.”
The call continued.
“Could be spoofed.”
She connected the recorder.
I answered.
“Rachel?”
Linda.
Her voice was calm.
Almost gentle.
“Where are you?”
“You know where I am.”
“Not anymore.”
Ethan moved closer.
Maya motioned for him to stay quiet.
“Why did you send me tea?”
“To apologize.”
“With drugs in it?”
Silence.
Then a sigh.
“You always assume the worst.”
“The hospital tested it.”
Another pause.
“That’s unfortunate.”
I felt a chill.
Not denial.
No surprise.
Just unfortunate.
“Where are you, Linda?”
“Safe.”
“Why did you do this?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
She laughed softly.
“You came into Ethan’s life and immediately started changing him.”
“I married him.”
“He used to call me every day.”
“He still called you.”
“Not first.”
There it was.
Small.
Petty.
Terrifying.
“After you got pregnant, he stopped listening completely.”
“Listening to what?”
“To reason.”
“What reason?”
“That you weren’t ready to be a mother.”
My hands clenched.
“You don’t get to decide that.”
“I saw what you were becoming.”
“What was I becoming?”
“Important.”
The word stunned me.
Linda continued.
“He started looking at you the way he used to look at me.”
Ethan’s face twisted with disgust.
“Like you were the person who mattered.”
I finally understood Caroline.
Linda wasn’t trying to steal Noah because she loved babies.
Noah was leverage.
I was competition.
“You wanted Ethan to think I cheated.”
“I wanted him to question you.”
“You forged a paternity test.”
“I didn’t forge anything.”
Maya wrote something on a pad.
Keep her talking.
“How did you get Noah’s DNA?”
Linda laughed.
“Babies leave pieces of themselves everywhere.”
My stomach turned.
“Why fake the result?”
“You assume it’s fake.”
Ethan’s hand grabbed the bed rail.
I knew he wanted to speak.
I shook my head.
“Ethan is Noah’s father.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then test again.”
“We will.”
“You should.”
Her voice sounded almost amused.
“Where are you?”
“You keep asking the wrong question.”
“What should I ask?”
“Ask why Daniel was already watching your family before you received that phone call.”
I looked at Daniel.
His face went completely still.
“What?”
Linda continued.
“Ask your sister’s husband why he was investigating Ethan.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Linda—”
She laughed.
“Oh, there he is.”
Ethan looked at Daniel.
“You were investigating me?”
“Don’t engage.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Linda heard him.
“Poor Ethan. Everyone keeps secrets from you.”
“Shut up,” he snapped.
“There’s my boy.”
The way she said it made my skin crawl.
“Come home, Ethan.”
“No.”
“Come alone.”
“No.”
“We can fix this.”
“You drugged my wife.”
“She’s confused.”
“You abused her.”
“She’s weak.”
“You touched my son.”
“I protected him.”
“From what?”
Linda’s voice sharpened.
“From becoming hers.”
Ethan went pale.
“He is hers.”
Silence.
Then Linda whispered, “You don’t mean that.”
“He is Rachel’s son. He is my son. He is not yours.”
Something changed on the other end.
For the first time, Linda lost control.
“She made you say that.”
“No.”
“She’s sitting there making you say it.”
“No, Mom.”
“Don’t call me that way.”
“What way?”
“Like I’m a stranger.”
“You are.”
Linda breathed heavily.
Then her voice became cold.
“If that’s what you choose, don’t blame me for what happens next.”
The call ended.
Maya immediately began tracing.
Daniel was still standing near the wall.
Ethan turned to him.
“Were you investigating me?”
Daniel looked at Maya.
She said nothing.
That told us enough.
“Yes,” Daniel said.
Emily’s husband.
My brother-in-law.
Had been investigating my husband.
“For what?”
“I couldn’t tell Rachel.”
“I didn’t ask what you could tell Rachel.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“I asked why.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“Your company.”
“What about it?”
“Someone has been moving restricted medical data through your distribution network.”
Ethan stared at him.
“My company distributes hospital supplies.”
“Exactly.”
“So?”
“Some shipments contained storage devices with stolen patient information.”
“What?”
“We believed someone inside Carter Medical Logistics was involved.”
“I own the company.”
“I know.”
“You thought it was me.”
“We investigated everyone with access.”
“How long?”
Daniel hesitated.
Ethan exploded.
“How long?”
“Seven months.”
I stared at Daniel.
Seven months.
Before Noah was born.
Before the calls.
Before the photograph.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” I asked.
“Because it was an active federal investigation.”
“You knew I was being watched.”
“I suspected the calls might be connected. That’s why I told you to change emergency contacts.”
My anger rose.
“You told me it was probably a scam.”
“I couldn’t tell you more.”
“Someone photographed me in my bedroom!”
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“I knew after you showed me.”
“And you still didn’t tell Ethan?”
“I couldn’t.”
Ethan shoved the chair backward.
“You put my wife in danger.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“No. Someone at your company put her in danger.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Maya’s phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Then looked at Ethan.
“I think we just found out.”
She turned on speaker.
An agent’s voice came through.
“We pulled footage from the garage where Linda abandoned her car.”
Maya asked, “Did she leave on foot?”
“No.”
“Who picked her up?”
There was a pause.
“A vehicle registered to Carter Medical Logistics.”
Ethan stopped breathing.
“Which vehicle?”
“A black executive SUV.”
His face drained.
He knew it.
“That car belongs to my chief financial officer.”
I knew the name before he said it.
“Victor Hale.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
Victor had worked with Ethan for eleven years.
He was more than an employee.
May you like
He was practically family.
And he was Noah’s godfather.
