Chapter 3 - FOURTEEN MISSING MINUTES
Kiora spent the next three hours under observation.
The baby was stable.
Those words should have brought relief.
Instead, she felt numb.
Daniel had access to the courthouse security system.
That fact made no sense.
He wasn't a judge.
He wasn't a court employee.
He wasn't even supposed to know Kiora had been there.
Yet fourteen minutes had disappeared.
Elias sat beside her hospital bed.
"We need to assume your phone may be compromised."
Kiora looked at him.
"Compromised?"
"Tracked."
"By Daniel?"
"Possibly."
She laughed bitterly.
"My husband?"
Elias said nothing.
That silence answered her.
A nurse entered.
"Mrs. Bennett?"
"Yes?"
"Your husband is outside."
Kiora's stomach tightened.
"I don't want him here."
The nurse nodded.
"I'll tell security."
A man's voice came from the hallway.
"Kiora!"
Daniel.
She flinched.
Elias stood.
"Stay here."
He stepped into the corridor.
Daniel was arguing with a security guard.
"She's my wife."
"She asked that you not enter."
"She's emotional."
Elias stopped behind him.
Daniel noticed.
"Move."
"No."
Daniel lowered his voice.
"You've poisoned her against me."
Elias almost smiled.
"I've barely said anything."
"You've always hated me."
"That's not true."
Elias stepped closer.
"I distrusted you."
Daniel's eyes hardened.
"There's a difference."
"Get out of my way."
"No."
Daniel pointed at him.
"You think because you worked for Arthur you're important?"
Elias's expression didn't change.
Daniel continued.
"You were his bodyguard."
Kiora could hear everything through the partially open door.
Elias answered quietly.
"Is that what he told you?"
Daniel laughed.
"What else were you?"
Elias looked at him.
"Ask your father."
Daniel's smile disappeared.
"My father?"
"He knows."
"Knows what?"
Elias walked back into Kiora's room.
Daniel remained in the hallway.
For the first time, uncertainty appeared on his face.
Kiora stared at Elias.
"What did you mean?"
"Later."
"No more later."
Elias stopped.
She sat up carefully.
"My father hid things from me."
"You hid things from me."
"My husband apparently lied to me."
Her voice cracked.
"I am done being the only person who doesn't know what's happening in my own life."
Elias nodded slowly.
"Fair."
He closed the door.
Then he pulled a chair closer.
"I wasn't your father's bodyguard."
"What were you?"
"His attorney."
Kiora stared at him.
"What?"
"More specifically, I handled matters Arthur didn't trust to his corporate legal team."
"But you were always around."
"That was intentional."
"You drove him."
"Sometimes."
"You traveled with him."
"Frequently."
"You carried a gun."
Elias raised an eyebrow.
"Attorneys can own guns."
Despite everything, Kiora almost smiled.
Then she became serious again.
"What matters?"
"Fraud."
"Blackmail."
"Corporate theft."
"Threats."
Kiora swallowed.
"And Daniel?"
Elias looked directly at her.
"Your father began investigating Daniel six weeks before your wedding."
"Why?"
"Because someone inside Harrington Holdings was selling confidential information."
Kiora felt a chill.
"Daniel?"
"We never proved it."
"But you suspected him."
"Your father did."
Kiora looked away.
"Why didn't he stop the wedding?"
"He tried."
She remembered.
Her father's strange behavior.
The argument three days before the ceremony.
Arthur telling her she was moving too quickly.
Kiora screaming that he couldn't control her forever.
Then Arthur had apologized.
Or she thought he had.
"He knew I'd choose Daniel."
"Yes."
"So he let me."
"He loved you enough to know forcing you would only push you away."
Kiora wiped another tear.
Elias continued.
"So he changed the trust."
"How?"
"Daniel can never control it."
Kiora stared at him.
"Even if I sign?"
"Even then."
A strange relief passed through her.
Then Elias added something.
"Unless one condition is met."
Her relief vanished.
"What condition?"
Elias didn't answer.
His phone vibrated.
A message.
He read it.
Then stood immediately.
"What?"
"The courthouse officer found something."
"What?"
Elias showed her the screen.
It was a photograph from courthouse security footage.
Vanessa stood near the west staircase.
Daniel stood beside her.
The timestamp was 9:41 a.m.
The attack happened at 9:58.
Kiora stared.
"He told me he was in Boston."
Elias zoomed in.
Daniel was handing Vanessa something.
An envelope.
Kiora whispered.
"He was there."
"Yes."
"He lied."
"Yes."
Her eyes moved toward the door.
Daniel was still somewhere outside.
"What was in that envelope?"
Elias looked at the photograph.
"I intend to find out."
Then another message arrived.
May you like
This one contained only four words.
WE FOUND THE ENVELOPE.
