Chapter 11 - THE EMPTY BASSINET
Daniel reached the NICU so fast he nearly crashed into a security guard.
“My daughter!”
“Sir, stay back.”
“My daughter is in there!”
A nurse came running.
“Mr. Carter?”
“Yes!”
“Your daughter is safe.”
Daniel almost collapsed.
“Then who—”
“Different infant. We’re accounting for everyone.”
Daniel pressed both hands against his head.
He laughed once from pure relief.
Then he noticed something.
At the far end of the corridor stood Vivian.
She was staring into the NICU.
Daniel’s relief became rage.
“You.”
He crossed the hallway.
Security moved closer.
Vivian lifted both hands.
“I’m not here to hurt anyone.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
“You pushed my wife into a pool.”
“Yes.”
“You forged documents?”
“No.”
“You helped destroy my company?”
“Yes.”
Daniel almost lunged at her.
Vivian said, “My father is alive.”
Daniel stopped.
“What?”
“Thomas Cross is alive.”
Daniel stared.
“My father said he died.”
“Your father lied.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“My father called me twenty minutes ago.”
She showed him the call record.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“What does he want?”
“To destroy your family.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Then why are you helping him?”
“I’m not anymore.”
“You spent eight months in my bed.”
Vivian flinched.
Daniel continued.
“You entered my company, stole documents, manipulated Marcus and tried to terrorize my pregnant wife.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t get to say ‘I know’ like that cleans anything.”
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“Good.”
“He used me too, Daniel.”
Daniel laughed.
“That makes two of us.”
Vivian swallowed.
“I thought my father was dead. I thought I was finishing what he couldn’t.”
“And now?”
“Now I think he’s the one who wanted Emily dead.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Why?”
“Because her shares stop him from controlling Carter Development.”
Daniel froze.
“What shares?”
Vivian explained.
By the end, Daniel looked furious.
“My father left Emily control of the company?”
“Potential control.”
“And nobody told us.”
“Margaret knew.”
Daniel looked down the hall.
“My mother disappeared.”
Vivian’s phone buzzed.
A photo appeared.
Vivian opened it.
She went pale.
“What?”
She showed Daniel.
Margaret sat tied to a chair in an abandoned-looking room.
A newspaper lay across her lap.
Today’s date.
Text beneath it:
BRING DANIEL CARTER TO THE OLD CROSS PROPERTY.
COME ALONE.
Vivian whispered, “He wants you.”
Daniel stared at the image.
“Where is the old Cross property?”
Vivian’s face hardened.
“The land your father stole.”
Daniel looked toward Emily’s room.
He knew what she would say.
Call the police.
Don’t go alone.
Stop trying to save everyone by yourself.
He dialed 911.
Vivian watched him.
“You’re calling them?”
“Yes.”
“My father said alone.”
“My father taught me what happens when powerful men think rules don’t apply to them.”
Daniel looked at the picture again.
“I’m done continuing the family tradition.”
Twenty minutes later, investigators were surrounding the hospital.
Emily listened as Daniel told her everything.
When he finished, she said one thing.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
She stared at him.
“You’ve got five seconds to remember what I said about choosing for me.”
“You just had a baby.”
“And I’m not going into a warehouse.”
“Emily—”
“I’m going with police command.”
Daniel started to argue.
She cut him off.
“Margaret is Noah’s grandmother. Our daughter is here because people kept secrets and made decisions in private.”
She swung her legs carefully over the bed.
“That ends tonight.”
Daniel stared at her.
Then nodded.
For once, he listened.
But downstairs, a hospital security camera captured a gray-bearded man walking calmly through the lobby.
Scar beneath his right eye.
The same man who had attacked Daniel at Marcus’s apartment.
And he wasn’t leaving.
May you like
He was heading toward Noah.
---
