Chapter 5: The Driver
Richard Whitmore arrived at the hospital with two attorneys and a bouquet of white lilies.
Daniel blocked him outside Sarah’s room.
“You don’t get to see her.”
Richard handed the flowers to a nurse.
“I’m her father.”
“You watched your son kick her down a staircase.”
“It happened too quickly.”
“You laughed.”
Richard lowered his voice.
“Daniel, you’re emotional.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Do not confuse restraint with weakness.”
One of Richard’s attorneys intervened.
“My client is here to express concern for his daughter.”
Detective Bennett approached from the end of the hallway.
“Your client is also here because we asked him to come in for questioning.”
Richard looked at her.
“I have already answered your questions.”
“Not this one.”
She held up a copy of Miriam’s crash report.
“Were you driving the night your wife died?”
Richard’s face did not move.
“No.”
“Jason says otherwise.”
“My son is frightened and confused.”
“He called Sarah from a disposable phone. We recorded it.”
Richard’s attorney whispered something to him.
Richard ignored the advice.
“Jason has always had emotional problems.”
Sarah heard him from inside the room.
She pushed herself upright despite the pain.
“Let him in.”
Daniel turned.
“Sarah—”
“I need to see his face.”
Richard entered.
For once, Sarah did not see the powerful father who had controlled every room of her childhood.
She saw an aging man calculating how much she knew.
He sat beside the bed.
“You look like your mother.”
“You hated when people said that.”
“I never hated it.”
“You hated her.”
Richard sighed.
“Marriage is complicated.”
“Did you drive her car?”
“No.”
“Did Jason cut her seat belt?”
Richard’s eyes flickered.
It was brief.
But Sarah saw it.
“You know what he did.”
Richard stood.
“You are under medication. You’re confused.”
Sarah reached for her phone.
“Then explain this.”
She played part of the recording.
Richard’s own voice filled the room.
You should have destroyed the original will years ago.
His expression became stone.
Sarah stopped the playback.
“You covered up what happened.”
“I protected this family.”
“You protected Jason.”
“He was twenty-three years old.”
“So was I.”
“You were different.”
“Yes,” Sarah said. “I was the daughter you could sacrifice.”
Richard looked toward Daniel.
“You’ve poisoned her against us.”
Daniel laughed once, without humor.
“She’s bleeding because of you.”
Richard moved toward the door.
Bennett blocked him.
“You’re not leaving yet.”
At that moment, Sarah’s monitor alarm sounded.
A contraction struck harder than the others.
Sarah gasped and grabbed her stomach.
A nurse rushed in.
Then another.
Daniel was pushed back as the medical team surrounded her.
“The fetal heart rate is dropping,” someone said.
Daniel’s face went white.
“Sarah?”
Dr. Morris looked at him.
“We may need to deliver the baby now.”
Richard stood against the wall, watching.
And for one terrible second, Sarah saw no fear in his face.
May you like
Only calculation.
If she and the baby died, the inheritance problem would disappear.
