Chapter 5: The Woman Who Buried an Empty Coffin

Claire Bennett arrived at the hospital at 3:40 a.m.

She came through the doors wearing jeans, an old sweater, and bedroom slippers.

She had driven two hours without stopping.

Maya ran to her.

The sisters held each other in the center of the waiting room.

“Tell me it isn’t true,” Claire whispered.

Maya could not.

Claire looked through the glass at the baby.

Her face changed instantly.

She touched the window.

“Oh, my God.”

Sebastian stood several feet away.

He had faced senators, prosecutors, and hostile boards without fear.

But he could not make himself approach the woman whose child had been raised in his home.

Claire looked at him.

“You have my son?”

Sebastian’s voice was rough.

“I did not know.”

“Did you hold him?”

“Yes.”

“Did he cry at night?”

“Yes.”

“Who comforted him?”

Sebastian looked at Maya.

“She did.”

Claire covered her mouth.

For two months, she had believed her baby was buried in a cemetery outside Columbus.

Hospital staff had told her he suffered a fatal heart condition shortly after birth.

They had not allowed her to see his body because, they claimed, a medical procedure had made it too traumatic.

The funeral home delivered a sealed white coffin.

Claire had placed a blue knitted hat inside before it was lowered into the ground.

There had been no baby in it.

Detective Brooks sat across from her with a notebook.

“Did Dr. Adrian Cole speak with you?”

“Yes,” Claire said. “He told me my son died.”

“Did anyone offer financial assistance?”

“A hospital foundation paid the bills and funeral costs.”

Sebastian already knew the answer before he asked.

“What foundation?”

Claire looked at him.

“The Vance Family Trust.”

Maya closed her eyes.

Sebastian walked away, fighting the urge to smash his fist through the wall.

His family name had paid for an empty coffin.

Isabella sat under guard at the opposite end of the waiting room.

Claire saw her.

“You,” she said.

Isabella looked up.

Claire walked across the room.

A police officer moved to stop her, but Detective Brooks lifted a hand.

Claire stood directly in front of Isabella.

“You held my baby.”

Isabella’s lips trembled.

“Yes.”

“You let me bury a box.”

“I was told you abandoned him.”

“Then why pay for a funeral?”

Isabella had no answer.

Claire’s hands curled into fists.

Maya stepped beside her.

“Claire.”

“I prayed over that grave every day.”

“I know.”

“I thought I failed him.”

“You didn’t.”

Claire looked at the woman in the silk robe.

“I should hate you.”

Isabella lowered her head.

“You should.”

Claire raised her hand.

For one moment, it looked as if she would strike her.

Then she let it fall.

“No,” Claire said. “I will not become you.”

The intensive care doctor entered.

“Alexander is awake.”

Claire flinched at the name.

The doctor looked between her and Sebastian.

“One person may enter.”

Sebastian did not hesitate.

“His mother.”

Claire stared at him.

Then she followed the doctor through the doors.

Sebastian watched her approach the crib.

The baby turned his head at the sound of her voice.

“Hi,” Claire whispered. “I’m here.”

His fingers wrapped around hers.

Claire collapsed into the chair beside him, sobbing.

Sebastian turned away.

Maya touched his arm.

“You did the right thing.”

“I did the easiest thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“He belongs with her.”

“That does not mean losing him will be easy.”

Sebastian looked at the baby through the glass.

“No,” he said. “It won’t.”

Behind them, Thomas suddenly shoved the officer guarding him.

He ran toward the stairwell.

Detective Brooks shouted.

Two officers chased him through the door.

Seconds later, a fire alarm began to scream.

Red lights flashed across the hospital corridor.

A nurse ran from the intensive care unit.

“There’s smoke on the third floor!”

Sebastian looked toward the crib.

Claire was still inside.

Then the power went out.

In the darkness, someone opened the emergency exit beside Isabella.

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When the lights returned, her chair was empty.

So was the baby’s crib.