Chapter 1 - The Man Behind the Doors
Raymond Saint Claire did not come through the public elevator.
That was the first sign something was wrong.
Three minutes after Emily made the call, the double doors at the end of the hallway opened with a soft hydraulic sigh.
Four hospital security officers stepped out first.
Behind them came the chief legal counsel, the director of nursing, and Raymond Saint Claire himself.
He was sixty-two, broad-shouldered, silver-haired, and dressed in the same dark suit he had worn to a foundation meeting that morning.
He did not look at Preston.
He did not look at Vanessa.
He went directly to Emily.
“What happened?”
Emily removed her hand from beneath her stomach.
The red mark below her ribs had already begun darkening through the pale fabric of her dress.
Raymond’s face changed.
The warmth disappeared from his eyes.
“Who touched you?”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“She is exaggerating.”
The nurse behind the desk finally found her voice.
“I witnessed the assault, Mr. Saint Claire.”
Preston stared at Raymond.
“Why are you calling him that?”
The nurse looked at him as though he had asked why the sun was bright.
Raymond placed one hand gently against Emily’s shoulder.
“Are you bleeding?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Any contractions?”
“The baby moved hard after the kick.”
Raymond turned toward the director of nursing.
“Call Dr. Patel.”
“Clear Maternal Assessment Room One.”
“No one enters without my authorization.”
Preston stepped forward.
“This is my wife.”
Raymond looked at him for the first time.
“No.”
“She is my niece.”
“And at this moment, you are the man who watched someone assault her.”
Vanessa laughed nervously.
“Do you have any idea who Preston is?”
Raymond’s gaze moved to the hospital logo behind her.
“I know exactly who he is.”
“He is the executive vice president of a management company contracted by this hospital.”
“He does not own this building.”
“He does not own this floor.”
“And he certainly does not own the woman his mistress just kicked.”
Preston’s face drained of color.
“My family built the Whitmore Pavilion.”
“Your family donated twelve percent of its construction cost.”
“My family paid the rest.”
Raymond pointed toward the silver letters on the wall.
“Saint Claire is not a decorative name.”
“It is the controlling trust.”
One security officer stepped toward Vanessa.
“Ma’am, place your purse on the floor.”
She clutched it against her side.
“You cannot search me.”
Raymond glanced at the camera above the elevator.
“We do not need to search you to know what happened.”
“This hallway records audio and video.”
Preston looked up sharply.
He had apparently forgotten that.
Emily did not.
That was why she had looked directly into the camera before making the call.
A contraction tightened across her abdomen.
She gripped Raymond’s sleeve.
His anger vanished beneath alarm.
“Emily?”
She took one careful breath.
Then another.
“I think something is wrong.”
As the medical team rushed toward her, Vanessa’s purse slipped from her hand.
A folder fell open across the floor.
The first page carried Emily’s name.
May you like
The second page was titled:
EMERGENCY MATERNAL PSYCHIATRIC HOLD.
