Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN ACROSS THE HALL
Hospital security removed the flowers.
Detective Brooks ordered the card tested for fingerprints.
The florist confirmed that the order had been placed with cash by a woman wearing sunglasses.
Security footage showed Linda’s sister entering the shop.
She claimed she had only been doing Linda a favor.
The message proved that even from custody, Linda was still trying to reach me.
The judge denied Ryan’s request for immediate release.
However, he scheduled another bond hearing after his attorney challenged the most serious charges.
For the moment, Ryan remained behind bars.
I remained in the hospital for six days.
The baby’s heartbeat stabilized.
The bruising near the placenta began to heal.
Dr. Torres warned me that stress could trigger early labor.
She also told me that returning to the apartment was not an option.
Dad arranged for me to stay in a secure house near the base.
It belonged to a retired military couple who had moved overseas for a year.
The location was quiet and private.
Dad installed cameras.
Captain Mason helped change the locks.
A civilian victim advocate named Claire moved into the guest room for the first week.
Dad wanted to remain there every night.
I refused.
“You still have a command.”
“I have leave.”
“You used three days already.”
“I have more.”
“You taught me that duty matters.”
“You are my duty.”
I smiled for the first time in weeks.
“You also taught me not to hide from life.”
Dad understood.
He returned to work during the day but called every few hours.
This time, I answered every video call.
On the second morning at the house, Detective Brooks arrived with an elderly woman.
I recognized her immediately.
She lived across the hall from our apartment.
Her name was Margaret Ellis.
She had watched from her doorway while the paramedics carried me out.
Margaret sat at the kitchen table and twisted a handkerchief between her fingers.
“I should have spoken sooner.”
I poured her tea.
“You didn’t know.”
“I heard things.”
My hand stopped.
“What things?”
“Arguments.”
“Furniture moving.”
“You crying.”
Margaret looked down.
“Ryan told me you were having episodes.”
“He said you threw things.”
“He said you became confused at night.”
Linda told Margaret that pregnancy had made me unstable.
They asked her to sign a written statement describing the noises.
Margaret refused.
However, she still remained silent.
“I was afraid,” she whispered.
“Ryan knew my grandson had been arrested years ago.”
“He said he could make trouble for him.”
Detective Brooks placed a small digital camera on the table.
Margaret had installed it outside her door after packages were stolen.
The camera faced the hallway.
It recorded everyone entering and leaving our apartment.
Most of the footage showed ordinary movement.
Ryan going to work.
Linda arriving with groceries.
Delivery drivers leaving packages.
Then Margaret showed us a clip recorded three weeks earlier.
Ryan and Linda stood outside our apartment.
The door was partly open.
My voice could be heard inside.
“Please don’t make me take it.”
Linda responded.
“It is only a vitamin.”
“I don’t want it.”
Ryan entered the frame.
He held my arms while Linda carried a glass of water.
The camera did not show what happened inside.
But it recorded my scream.
Dad watched the footage with Detective Brooks.
His face became rigid.
Margaret began crying.
“I should have called the police.”
I reached across the table.
“So should I.”
“You were trapped.”
“So were you.”
Margaret looked at me.
“No.”
“I was only scared.”
“You were surviving something too.”
Her footage gave the prosecution independent evidence.
It also proved Linda had lied when she claimed she rarely visited the apartment.
Over three months, she entered our home eighty-seven times.
Sometimes she stayed overnight.
Sometimes she arrived carrying pharmacy bags.
Detective Brooks traced the pharmacy logo.
The store was located twenty miles away.
The pharmacist remembered Linda.
She regularly collected prescriptions for Dr. Marcus Hale.
The problem was that Dr. Hale was no longer legally allowed to prescribe medication.
Police obtained a warrant.
They searched his office and found blank prescription pads.
They also found copies of my medical records.
Someone had written notes across the front page.
Increase dose before evaluation.
Keep patient isolated.
Prepare husband for guardianship hearing.
At the bottom of the page was another instruction.
Delivery must occur before August 18.
I stared at the date.
“That’s two weeks before my due date.”
Detective Brooks nodded.
Dad looked at the note again.
“What delivery?”
Before anyone could answer, Sarah Kim called.
Investigators had found an email from Ryan to Dr. Hale.
May you like
The subject line contained only two words.
Final procedure.
