Chapter 6 - Claire’s Warning
Elena was taken to St. Matthew’s Medical Center under police escort.
Richard rode in the ambulance beside her.
Neither of them spoke during the first ten minutes.
The sound of the tires against the highway filled the silence.
Finally, Richard reached for her hand.
Elena pulled hers away.
His face tightened.
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Elena.”
“You knew something was happening.”
Richard looked down.
She had seen the guilt before.
Now she understood it.
“How long?”
“Six weeks.”
Elena turned toward him.
“You knew for six weeks?”
“I knew someone was accessing the trust records.”
“And you said nothing to me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“That sentence is becoming an excuse for every man in your family.”
Richard closed his eyes.
She immediately regretted the cruelty of it.
But she did not take it back.
He deserved the truth.
“So what did you do?”
“I hired a private auditor.”
“Without telling me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the first documents I found had your signature.”
Elena stared at him.
“For one second, did you believe them?”
Richard did not answer quickly enough.
That hurt more than if he had lied.
Elena looked toward the ambulance window.
“I believed something was wrong.”
“You believed I might steal from you.”
“I believed I didn’t know what was happening.”
“That isn’t better.”
Richard leaned forward.
“Then I found the March fourth transfer.”
“When you knew I was in surgery.”
“Yes.”
“And that was when you realized I had been framed.”
“Yes.”
Elena looked at him again.
“Why didn’t you tell me then?”
Richard swallowed.
“Because Claire called me.”
The ambulance seemed to become smaller.
“What did she say?”
“She told me not to discuss anything at home.”
“Why?”
“She believed someone had access to the mansion.”
Elena’s face went cold.
Richard continued.
“She said the visible security system had been compromised.”
Elena almost laughed.
“That’s why I installed the second system.”
Richard stared at her.
“You knew too?”
“I knew someone was erasing footage.”
For a moment, they simply looked at each other.
Husband and wife.
Living under the same roof.
Protecting each other with secrets.
Ruining their trust while trying to save it.
Richard whispered, “We should have talked.”
“Yes.”
At the hospital, Dr. Lane ordered immediate tests.
Nearly an hour passed before he returned.
Elena sat upright.
Richard stood beside the window.
Dr. Lane finally smiled.
“The baby’s heartbeat is strong.”
Elena covered her face.
Richard leaned against the wall.
Relief nearly broke him.
“There are no signs of placental injury.”
Dr. Lane continued.
“You are bruised and exhausted.”
“But your daughter looks stable.”
Elena started crying quietly.
Not from fear.
From release.
Richard approached the bed, but stopped before touching her.
Elena reached for him first.
Only for a moment.
It was enough.
Then Detective Ruiz entered.
His expression told them the night was not finished.
“Claire Benton woke up.”
Richard stood.
“What did she say?”
Ruiz closed the door.
“She said the person searching your office wore gloves and a mask.”
“But before losing consciousness, she heard his voice.”
Richard’s face tightened.
“Did she recognize it?”
Ruiz nodded.
“She says it was Gerald Pike.”
Elena looked at Richard.
Ruiz continued.
“And she says Gerald kept asking one question.”
“What question?”
“Where is the original codicil?”
Richard frowned.
“The codicil to my father’s will?”
Ruiz nodded.
Elena remembered something.
Three months earlier, Mrs. Howard had given Elena a box of old family photographs.
Inside had been a sealed envelope marked with Daniel’s initials.
Elena had never opened it.
She had placed it in the nursery desk.
Her heart stopped.
“Richard.”
He saw her expression.
May you like
“What?”
“I think I know where it is.”
