Chapter 9 - The Man Who Should Have Protected Me
My father came to the hospital under police escort.
Not because he was arrested.
Not yet.
Because Detective Ortiz wanted him questioned where I could identify what he knew.
He looked ten years older than he had during our last dinner.
When he entered my room, he started crying.
I felt nothing.
“Claire.”
“Sit down.”
He sat.
Ortiz stood near the door.
Hannah stayed beside me.
I placed the photograph on the blanket.
“What were you doing at the cabin?”
Dad looked at it.
His shoulders collapsed.
“Daniel told me he was planning an intervention.”
“What kind?”
“He said you were refusing treatment.”
“What treatment?”
“He never explained.”
“And you accepted that?”
“He showed me papers.”
“Forged papers.”
“I know that now.”
I stared at him.
“What was in the red folder?”
Dad rubbed both hands over his face.
“Documents.”
“What documents?”
“A plan to transfer you somewhere.”
“Where?”
“A private facility.”
Hannah asked, “Did you verify the facility existed?”
Dad did not answer.
I understood.
“You were going to help him take me.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I thought it was temporary.”
“You signed papers.”
“I thought I was saving your marriage.”
My voice rose.
“You thought handing me over to a man who spent months telling everyone I was crazy would save me?”
Dad started crying harder.
“I was wrong.”
“That doesn’t undo anything.”
Ortiz stepped forward.
“Mr. Avery, did Daniel ever discuss the baby?”
Dad froze.
That reaction terrified me.
“What did he say?”
Dad looked at me.
“He said once you were receiving treatment, he would seek temporary custody after the birth.”
My hand moved instinctively over my stomach.
“He wanted my daughter too.”
“I didn’t know what he was really doing.”
I turned my face away.
Ortiz continued questioning him for another hour.
Dad admitted he had accepted twelve thousand dollars from Daniel.
He called it repayment of an old loan.
Bank records showed no loan existed.
By evening, my father was arrested for conspiracy, forgery-related offenses, and financial fraud.
When police led him away, he looked back at me.
I did not wave.
I did not forgive him.
That night, the baby began moving strongly again.
I cried into my pillow while she kicked beneath my hand.
Then Hannah received a message from the prosecutor.
Mara wanted to make a deal.
She offered evidence against Daniel and his mother.
In exchange, she wanted reduced charges.
I hated the idea.
Until I heard what Mara claimed she could prove.
May you like
Daniel had not invented the plan.
His mother had.
