Chapter 7 - The Badge at the NICU
The badge failed.
Raymond had disabled every Whitmore credential.
But the attempt occurred at 5:42 a.m.
The person wearing it disappeared before security reached the corridor.
When Raymond returned to the hospital, Emily was sitting upright despite orders to rest.
“You should be lying down.”
“My son is behind those doors.”
Two security officers now stood outside the NICU.
Raymond showed Emily the photograph from Catherine’s hidden room.
She stared at Preston’s younger face.
“He told me we met at a fundraiser.”
“That was nine years ago.”
“This picture is eleven years old.”
“Yes.”
Emily turned it over.
Her mother’s handwriting made her hands tremble.
They are watching Emily now.
For the first time, Emily looked frightened by something other than her baby’s condition.
“My marriage started before I knew it started.”
Raymond did not soften the truth.
“Possibly.”
A NICU nurse appeared.
“Mrs. Whitmore?”
Emily stood too quickly.
Pain crossed her face.
“Samuel?”
“He is stable.”
Emily exhaled.
“You may see him.”
Inside the NICU, Emily placed two fingers through the incubator opening.
Samuel’s hand was smaller than her thumb.
He wrapped his fingers around the tip of hers.
Emily bowed her head.
“You stay.”
Her voice cracked.
“You hear me?”
“You stay.”
Raymond watched through the glass.
Then his phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Saint Claire.”
Vanessa’s voice came through.
“I want immunity.”
Raymond’s expression changed.
“For what?”
“For telling you what Preston planned.”
Raymond stepped away from the glass.
“Where are you?”
“Not somewhere you can trace.”
“You assaulted my niece.”
“And I’m telling you she was never supposed to go into labor.”
Raymond’s jaw tightened.
Vanessa continued quickly.
“The kick was supposed to scare her.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
Her breathing became uneven.
“But Preston told me the stress would help make her look unstable.”
Raymond said nothing.
“He needed a medical record showing emotional disturbance.”
“Why?”
“To activate a competency review.”
Raymond looked toward Emily.
A competency review could temporarily restrict her authority over certain trust assets.
Vanessa whispered.
“He said once she was declared incapable, he could act for her.”
“That is not how the trust works.”
“I know that now.”
Raymond heard traffic in the background.
“Where is Preston?”
“I don’t know.”
“Vanessa.”
“He has a storage unit.”
Raymond became still.
“What storage unit?”
“South Harbor.”
“What is inside?”
“I never saw everything.”
“What did you see?”
“Copies of Emily’s medical records.”
Raymond’s stomach turned.
“And photographs.”
“Of what?”
“Emily.”
Vanessa paused.
May you like
“Hundreds of them.”
Then the line went dead.
