Chapter 4 - CLAIRE’S LAST JOURNEY
By morning, the hospital was secured.
Thomas Vale was transferred to a federal holding facility. Victor remained under guard at the county jail. Sophie’s condition stabilized, but the doctors wanted all three babies observed for another night.
I sat in a private consultation room with Emma, Rebecca, and Sheriff Brooks.
Between us lay Claire’s passport.
Elena had ordered it removed from the ranch safe.
A customs stamp confirmed that Claire had entered Switzerland twenty-three days before her death.
She stayed for four days.
“I never knew,” I said.
Rebecca examined the dates.
“She traveled after we lost contact.”
“What happened?”
“Victor discovered I was alive. I disappeared again. Claire sent me one message: ‘I found the vault.’”
“What vault?”
“I assumed she meant financial records.”
Elena placed another document on the table.
“Claire opened a safety deposit box in Geneva under the name Laura Carter.”
Emma looked up.
“My biological mother’s first name and my adoptive mother’s surname.”
“A code,” Rebecca said.
“The bank requires two biological relatives to open the box,” Elena continued. “Daniel qualifies as Laura Whitmore’s brother. Emma qualifies as her daughter.”
“So Claire designed it for us,” Emma said.
I stared at the authorization papers.
“She knew we would eventually find each other.”
Emma’s expression held both grief and anger.
“She knew everything and still left us surrounded by Victor.”
“She may have run out of time,” Rebecca said.
My phone rang.
The hospital administrator informed me that Victor’s attorney had arrived requesting an emergency hearing. Victor claimed he possessed evidence that I had endangered my children by neglecting security warnings.
“He’s trying to take the triplets from me,” I said.
Elena nodded. “If he can portray you as unstable, he may push for temporary guardianship through a court-appointed custodian.”
“Victor is under arrest.”
“His chosen custodian could be someone else.”
“Who?”
The consultation room door opened.
My mother entered.
Margaret Whitmore wore a black coat and the expression she reserved for funerals and hostile corporate meetings.
Behind her stood my father’s former attorney, Charles Dean.
“Mother?”
She looked through the glass at the triplets.
“I came to protect my granddaughters.”
“From Victor?”
“From you.”
Emma rose.
Margaret’s eyes settled on her face.
For the first time in my life, I watched my mother lose control.
“Laura,” she whispered.
Emma stiffened.
“My name is Emma.”
Margaret touched the back of a chair.
“You have her eyes.”
“You knew the baby survived,” I said.
My mother looked at me.
“I suspected.”
“You told Laura her child was dead.”
“The clinic told us.”
“And when you suspected they lied?”
“I searched privately.”
“For how long?”
“Years.”
“Did you know Victor was involved?”
Her silence answered.
I moved toward her.
“You knew?”
“Your father paid Victor to arrange Laura’s confinement at the clinic. He wanted discretion.”
Emma’s face drained of color.
“My grandfather sold me?”
“No,” Margaret said quickly. “He believed he was placing you for adoption.”
“He told Laura I died.”
“Your grandfather was cruel. But Victor transformed cruelty into business.”
I wanted to hate my mother, yet she looked older than I had ever seen her.
“Why are you helping Victor take my children?”
“I am not helping Victor. I filed for temporary custody before he could place them under one of his associates.”
“You filed against me.”
“You surrendered your entire home to him after Claire died. You did not know who fed your daughters. You did not know the nursery heater had failed. You did not know your wife traveled internationally.”
Every accusation struck because it was true.
Emma stepped between us.
“He knows now.”
Margaret looked at her.
“And you are?”
“The woman who carried three babies through a blizzard while your family’s employees abandoned them.”
My mother’s jaw tightened.
Emma did not retreat.
“Daniel made mistakes,” she continued. “But Victor created those mistakes. He isolated him, controlled the staff, and used his grief. Taking the babies from Daniel will finish what Victor started.”
Margaret studied her for a long moment.
“You speak like Laura.”
“Maybe because no one listened to her either.”
Charles Dean cleared his throat.
“The custody hearing begins at two.”
Elena’s phone vibrated.
She answered, listened, and then looked at us.
“Victor escaped.”
“What?”
“Transport vehicle was attacked on the way to court. Two deputies injured. Victor is gone.”
Rebecca grabbed Emma’s hand.
“He’ll come for her.”
“No,” I said.
I looked through the glass at Sophie, Lily, and Grace.
“He’ll come for all four of them.”
At that moment, every alarm in the pediatric wing began to scream.
Smoke flooded the far end of the corridor.
Nurses ran toward us.
A man in firefighter equipment pushed a medical crib around the corner.
Inside were Lily and Grace.
I saw the scar on his wrist.
Victor’s scar.
May you like
“Stop!” I shouted.
He turned the crib and ran.
