Chapter 2 - WHAT KHLOE KNEW
Harrison reached St. Matthew’s in eleven minutes.
He didn’t remember the drive.
He remembered only the elevator doors opening onto the trauma floor.
A nurse was waiting.
“Mr. Cole?”
“Yes.”
“Come with me.”
They moved quickly.
“Your sister has internal bleeding.”
Harrison’s face remained controlled.
“The baby?”
“The fetal heart rate is unstable.”
“Then why haven’t you delivered?”
The nurse looked at him.
“Because your sister demanded to see you first.”
They reached the trauma room.
Khloe looked impossibly small beneath the blankets.
Her face was pale.
There was dried blood near her hairline.
Machines surrounded her.
A doctor stood beside the bed.
“You have two minutes.”
Harrison moved closer.
Khloe opened her eyes.
“Harry.”
“I’m here.”
Her fingers moved weakly.
He took her hand.
“You’re going to surgery.”
Khloe shook her head.
“Listen.”
“After surgery.”
“No.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Now.”
Harrison leaned closer.
Khloe whispered.
“The blue folder.”
He frowned.
“What blue folder?”
“In my car.”
“Khloe—”
“Under the spare tire.”
Harrison’s expression changed.
“What’s inside?”
“Everything Richard doesn’t know I found.”
Harrison stared at her.
“I already have the financial records.”
“Not those.”
She struggled for breath.
“New records.”
“How new?”
“Yesterday.”
Harrison’s stomach tightened.
Khloe continued.
“I found payments.”
“To Vanessa?”
She shook her head.
“To someone else.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Her monitor began beeping faster.
The doctor moved closer.
“We need to go.”
Khloe squeezed Harrison’s fingers.
“Harry.”
“I’m listening.”
“Richard knew I was coming to court.”
Harrison went still.
“How?”
“I never told him.”
The doctor stepped forward.
“That’s enough.”
Khloe fought to continue.
“He knew.”
Harrison bent closer.
“What happened this morning?”
“Vanessa called me.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she had proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That Richard was hiding something bigger than the affair.”
Harrison stared at her.
“And you came alone?”
“I thought…”
Khloe winced.
“I thought Vanessa wanted out.”
The doctor reached for the bed rail.
“We’re moving now.”
Khloe’s eyes widened.
“She was scared, Harry.”
“Vanessa?”
Khloe nodded.
“Before she pushed me.”
Harrison frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“She kept looking behind me.”
“At Richard?”
“I didn’t see him.”
The bed began moving.
Khloe’s fingers slipped from Harrison’s hand.
“Wait.”
Harrison walked beside the bed.
“What else?”
Khloe whispered the final words before the operating-room doors closed.
“Richard told her something.”
“What?”
Tears slid into Khloe’s hair.
“He told her if she didn’t do it…”
The doors began closing.
Harrison caught only the final words.
“…he’d take her baby.”
Then she disappeared.
Harrison stood alone.
For the first time, the structure of the case changed.
Vanessa was still responsible for the shove.
He had seen enough witnesses.
There was likely video.
But Khloe had just introduced something else.
Coercion.
Blackmail.
And possibly conspiracy.
Harrison pulled out his phone.
He called his investigator.
“Daniel.”
A sleepy voice answered.
“Harrison?”
“I need you working.”
“It’s two in the afternoon.”
“Then stop sleeping.”
Daniel sighed.
“What happened?”
“Khloe was attacked.”
Silence.
Then Daniel’s voice changed.
“Where?”
“Courthouse.”
“Is she alive?”
“Surgery.”
“What do you need?”
Harrison looked through the glass toward the operating wing.
“Find Khloe’s car.”
“And?”
“There’s a blue folder beneath the spare tire.”
“What’s in it?”
“I don’t know.”
Harrison paused.
“But Richard Harrington may.”
Daniel understood immediately.
“You think someone else will go looking.”
“Yes.”
“Police?”
“Not yet.”
“Harrison—”
“Get there first.”
Daniel hung up.
Thirty-seven minutes later, Harrison received another call.
He answered immediately.
“Tell me you have it.”
Daniel didn’t respond.
“Daniel?”
“I found the car.”
“And the folder?”
“Gone.”
Harrison’s blood ran cold.
“Was the car locked?”
“Yes.”
“Any damage?”
“No.”
“Then someone had a key.”
Daniel paused.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“I checked the courthouse parking camera.”
Harrison waited.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Someone opened Khloe’s trunk twelve minutes after she fell.”
“Who?”
“I’m sending the image.”
Harrison’s phone vibrated.
He opened the photograph.
A man stood beside Khloe’s car.
Dark suit.
Baseball cap.
Head lowered.
But the camera had captured enough of his face.
Harrison recognized him.
Richard’s chief financial officer.
Martin Vale.
Harrison stared at the image.
Richard wasn’t simply having an affair.
He wasn’t simply hiding money.
His company was involved.
And someone had removed evidence while Khloe was bleeding thirty yards away.
Harrison called Daniel back.
“Find Martin.”
“I already tried.”
“And?”
Daniel’s next words changed everything.
“He boarded a private plane twenty minutes ago.”
“To where?”
“No destination filed.”
Harrison looked toward the operating room.
“Stop that plane.”
“Harrison, I’m not the FAA.”
“Then call someone who is.”
Before Daniel could answer, the surgical doors opened.
A doctor stepped out.
Harrison immediately stood.
The doctor removed his mask.
“Mr. Cole.”
Harrison searched his face.
“My sister?”
“She survived the surgery.”
Harrison exhaled.
“And the baby?”
The doctor hesitated.
Harrison stopped breathing.
Then he heard a sound behind the doctor.
Small.
Furious.
Alive.
A newborn crying.
Harrison closed his eyes.
The doctor smiled faintly.
“You have a niece.”
For the first time that day, Harrison nearly collapsed.
But the relief lasted only seconds.
Because the doctor wasn’t finished.
“Your niece is premature, and we’re transferring her to the NICU.”
“Can Khloe see her?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
The doctor’s expression became serious again.
“Your sister lost a significant amount of blood.”
Harrison’s relief vanished.
“She’s alive.”
“Yes.”
“But?”
“She hasn’t regained consciousness.”
“How long?”
“We don’t know.”
Harrison looked through the doors.
His sister had survived.
His niece had survived.
May you like
Now he had one job.
Make sure the people responsible couldn’t reach either of them again.
