Chapter 1 - THE MAN BEHIND THE NAME
Four hospital security officers stepped through the double doors first.
Behind them came a man Preston had seen hundreds of times in newspapers but had never once expected to see walking toward him.
Raymond Saint Claire was sixty-one years old, silver-haired, broad-shouldered, and dressed in a dark charcoal suit with no tie.
He did not look hurried.
He did not look angry.
That somehow made everyone else in the hallway more afraid.
The nurse behind the desk straightened instantly.
“Mr. Saint Claire.”
Raymond did not answer her.
His eyes had already found Emily.
Then they dropped to the hand she was holding beneath her stomach.
Then to the faint red mark visible near the side of her maternity dress.
Something changed in his face.
Only slightly.
But Emily knew that look.
She had seen it once at her mother’s funeral when Raymond discovered a reporter had climbed over the cemetery fence.
“Who touched you?”
His voice was quiet.
Preston stepped forward before Emily could answer.
“Raymond, I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”
Raymond finally looked at him.
“Did I ask you?”
The hallway fell silent.
Vanessa shifted closer to Preston.
Preston’s face tightened.
“This is a private family matter.”
“No.”
Raymond glanced toward the ceiling camera.
“This happened inside one of my medical facilities.”
Vanessa gave a nervous little laugh.
“Your medical facility?”
Raymond looked at her as though he had only just noticed she existed.
“Yes.”
Preston frowned.
“My family owns this hospital.”
Raymond’s expression barely changed.
“No, Preston.”
He walked closer.
“Your family operates under a management agreement.”
Preston stared at him.
Raymond continued.
“The land belongs to Saint Claire Holdings.”
“The medical real estate belongs to Saint Claire Holdings.”
“The surgical towers belong to Saint Claire Holdings.”
“The maternity pavilion belongs to the Eleanor Saint Claire Foundation.”
Emily closed her eyes for half a second.
Her mother’s name.
Eleanor.
Raymond turned toward Emily.
“And forty-eight percent of the controlling trust belongs to my niece.”
Vanessa’s face lost its color.
Preston said nothing.
Raymond looked at the four security officers.
“Lock this floor.”
One of them nodded.
Preston’s eyes widened.
“You can’t do that.”
Raymond looked back at him.
“I already did.”
Two elevator lights turned red.
The doors locked.
Raymond then pointed toward Vanessa.
“And nobody leaves until security preserves every second of video from this hallway.”
Vanessa took one step backward.
“That’s ridiculous.”
Raymond’s eyes went cold.
“You kicked a thirty-two-week pregnant woman inside a maternity ward.”
Vanessa swallowed.
“She came at me first.”
The nurse behind the desk suddenly spoke.
“No, she didn’t.”
Everybody looked at her.
Her hands trembled around the clipboard.
“I saw the whole thing.”
Preston stared at the nurse.
The threat appeared in his face before he spoke.
“You need to be very careful about what you think you saw.”
Raymond slowly turned toward him.
That was the moment Preston made his first serious mistake.
Raymond smiled.
Not warmly.
“Thank you.”
Preston frowned.
“For what?”
“For threatening a witness while the security system is still recording.”
Emily looked at her husband.
For the first time that day, Preston Whitmore looked genuinely frightened.
But Raymond was not finished.
He walked to Emily.
His voice softened.
“Can you walk?”
Emily nodded.
Then pain tightened suddenly beneath her ribs.
Her face changed.
Raymond saw it.
So did the nurse.
“Mrs. Whitmore?”
Emily gripped the rail.
A second wave of pain moved through her abdomen.
The nurse dropped the clipboard.
“We need obstetrics now.”
Preston finally moved.
“Emily?”
Raymond stepped between them.
“Do not touch her.”
A wheelchair appeared from around the corner.
Two nurses hurried toward Emily.
As they helped her sit, Raymond bent beside her.
Emily caught his sleeve.
“Uncle Raymond.”
“I’m here.”
She looked toward Preston.
“Don’t let him delete anything.”
Raymond followed her eyes.
Then he stood.
His face became stone.
“He won’t.”
The nurses rushed Emily toward Labor and Delivery.
Preston tried to follow.
Two security officers blocked him.
“What the hell are you doing?”
May you like
Raymond took out his phone.
“Changing the locks.”
