Chapter 4 - The Husband Who Sold Us
“Turn around.”
Luka stared at me.
“No.”
“My house has my father’s evidence.”
“Which means whoever is there wants you to go back.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
“I spent four years married to a man who apparently sold access to my baby for two million dollars. I’m done letting other people decide what I should know.”
Luka studied me.
Then told the driver, “Take us to Mercer Street.”
Mom grabbed his arm.
“Luka, no.”
“She’s right.”
“That house is compromised.”
“So we don’t walk through the front door.”
Twenty minutes later, the SUV stopped behind the house next door.
My neighbor, Mrs. Hart, was in Florida.
I still had her spare key.
We entered through her garage and crossed her backyard.
My house was dark.
The nursery window was broken.
Luka touched my shoulder.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“My daughter is with me.”
“Exactly.”
Mom took Sophie reluctantly.
“I’ve got her.”
I kissed my daughter’s forehead.
Then followed Luka.
He muttered, “Your father was stubborn too.”
“Maybe that’s why you liked him.”
His eyes flicked toward me.
“I loved him.”
That stopped me.
Before I could ask what he meant, he climbed through the broken nursery window.
I followed.
The room looked destroyed.
The crib was overturned.
Drawers dumped.
Drywall smashed open.
My chest tightened.
I had spent months making this room perfect.
Ryan had helped me choose the rocking chair.
Now I wondered how many of those moments had been lies.
Luka examined the wall.
“They didn’t find it.”
“How do you know?”
“Because they’d be gone.”
I stared at the torn insulation.
“Then where is it?”
A floorboard creaked downstairs.
Luka pulled me behind the door.
Footsteps climbed the stairs.
A man entered.
Then another.
One said, “Carter swore she never knew.”
The other answered, “Carter says whatever keeps him alive.”
I recognized the first voice.
My obstetrician.
Dr. Samuel Harlow.
My hand flew to my mouth.
The man who had delivered Sophie.
The man who had reassured me through fourteen hours of labor.
Luka’s jaw tightened.
Harlow crouched near the damaged wall.
“We need the original drive.”
His companion said, “What if Moretti has it?”
“Then we eliminate Moretti.”
I felt Luka’s body go rigid.
The man continued.
“And the mother?”
Harlow hesitated.
“Nonessential after the child is secured.”
My stomach turned.
Luka gently pushed me farther behind him.
A phone rang downstairs.
Both men left the nursery.
Luka whispered, “We go now.”
“No.”
I pointed toward the closet.
“When Ryan opened the wall, he never touched the built-in shelves.”
We moved quickly.
I pulled clothes aside.
Behind a row of baby blankets was a small wooden star my father had carved for me when I was little.
I had placed it in the nursery for Sophie.
Suddenly I remembered something.
Dad used to say, “Stars hide what walls can’t.”
I grabbed the carving.
It felt heavier than it should.
Luka took it.
Twisted the back.
A tiny USB drive dropped into his palm.
He stared at me.
“Daniel, you genius.”
A voice behind us said, “Put it down.”
Dr. Harlow stood in the doorway.
He held a pistol.
I stopped breathing.
Harlow looked almost apologetic.
“Claire, I genuinely hoped you’d stay ignorant.”
I stepped in front of Luka.
“You delivered my daughter.”
“Yes.”
“You touched her.”
“I kept her alive.”
“So you could use her.”
His face hardened.
“Give me the drive.”
Luka smiled.
“No.”
Harlow raised the gun.
Then another voice came from the hallway.
“Maybe you should listen to him.”
Ryan stepped into view.
May you like
And he was pointing a gun at Dr. Harlow.
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