Chapter 2
The ambulance took me to the hospital.
Dad rode beside me.
Every bump in the road made my stomach tighten.
I kept one hand over my daughter and the other wrapped around Dad's fingers.
“You came back early,” I whispered.
Dad looked at me.
“I had a feeling.”
“What kind of feeling?”
He hesitated.
“Damon called me yesterday.”
My heart started pounding.
“What?”
“He asked questions about the house.”
I stared at him.
“What questions?”
“Whether your name was the only name on the deed. Whether the property would automatically become his if something happened to you.”
A cold feeling moved through me.
Dad squeezed my hand.
“I didn't tell him anything.”
The ambulance doors opened before I could answer.
Doctors rushed me inside.
For nearly an hour, I was examined while Dad waited outside.
The baby was safe.
I was dehydrated and exhausted, but there were no signs of early labor.
When the doctor finally left, Dad walked into my room carrying my recovered phone.
“The police released this.”
I took it.
There were thirty-seven missed notifications.
Most were from people I barely knew.
Then I saw Damon's mother.
Elaine.
Fourteen calls.
Six messages.
The newest one made my chest tighten.
Do not tell the police anything until I arrive.
I showed Dad.
His jaw hardened.
“You're not answering.”
Before I could respond, another message appeared.
Claire, Damon made a mistake. Don't destroy your child's family because you're emotional.
Dad read it.
“He locked you in a kennel.”
“He's her son.”
“That doesn't make him innocent.”
My phone rang.
Elaine.
Dad reached toward it.
I shook my head.
“I want to hear what she says.”
I answered.
“Claire?”
Her voice was sharp.
Not worried.
Not frightened.
Angry.
“Where are you?”
“The hospital.”
“Of course you are.”
I stared at the phone.
“What does that mean?”
“Damon told me you've been acting irrationally.”
Dad heard every word.
I put the call on speaker.
Elaine continued.
“Pregnancy hormones can cause women to imagine betrayal.”
“I didn't imagine Lacey wearing my robe.”
Silence.
Then Elaine sighed.
“Lacey shouldn't have been there.”
“You knew?”
Another silence.
That one lasted longer.
Dad's expression changed.
Elaine lowered her voice.
“Claire, listen carefully. Damon could lose everything because of what happened today.”
“He locked me in a dog kennel.”
“And your father hit him.”
Dad leaned toward the phone.
“Elaine, your son is lucky all I did was slap him.”
She gasped.
“You assaulted my child.”
“Your child imprisoned mine.”
“Damon is her husband.”
“That doesn't give him ownership of her.”
Elaine's voice turned cold.
“You always hated him.”
“No. I trusted him.”
The room became quiet.
Then Dad added, “Until he asked what happens to Claire's property if she dies.”
Elaine stopped breathing for a second.
I heard it.
Dad heard it too.
“Elaine?”
She hung up.
My skin went cold.
Dad took my phone.
“She knows something.”
A nurse entered before I could respond.
“Mrs. Carter?”
“Yes?”
“There are two detectives asking to speak with you.”
Dad helped me sit higher.
The detectives entered carrying a folder.
One was the officer from my backyard.
Detective Ramirez.
The other introduced herself as Detective Sloan.
“We searched your husband's office with his consent initially,” Ramirez said. “After discovering the documents, we obtained authority to secure additional evidence.”
“What did you find?”
Sloan placed several copies on my bedside table.
The first document transferred ownership of my house to a company I had never heard of.
The second authorized Damon to control a trust Dad created for me when I was twenty-one.
The third was worse.
It was a medical power of attorney.
My name appeared at the bottom.
My fake signature.
Damon was listed as the person authorized to make medical decisions for me.
I looked at Dad.
He was pale.
“I never signed this.”
“We believe you,” Sloan said.
Ramirez opened another page.
“There's more.”
It was a life insurance policy.
Two million dollars.
Beneficiary: Damon Carter.
“I didn't know this existed.”
Dad stood so quickly his chair scraped the floor.
“When was that created?”
“Three months ago.”
My hands started trembling.
Then Detective Sloan placed a photograph beside the documents.
It showed Damon leaving a downtown office.
Beside him was Elaine.
His mother.
They were walking with a man in a gray suit.
“Who is he?” I asked.
“A private attorney,” Sloan said.
Dad stared at the photograph.
“What kind?”
“Estate planning.”
The baby kicked hard.
I pressed my hand against my stomach.
Detective Sloan leaned closer.
“We need to ask you something difficult.”
“Ask.”
“Has Damon ever tried controlling your medications?”
I remembered the vitamins.
The tea.
The pills he had started setting beside my breakfast every morning.
“He said my doctor prescribed supplements.”
Sloan and Ramirez exchanged a look.
My blood turned cold.
“What?”
May you like
Ramirez spoke carefully.
“Your doctor says he didn't prescribe anything.”
