“Yes.”
Another pause.
“I wondered when you’d call.”
That irritated me.
“What does that mean?”
“The evidence against Claire always looked too neat.”
I sat straighter.
“You never said that.”
“You weren’t interested in hearing it.”
I had no answer.
Because he was right.
“Find Claire.”
Marcus went quiet.
“She’s using Bennett again?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you want checked?”
“Everything.”
I looked over Bellmere through my office windows.
“Where she lives.”
“Where she worked.”
“Any legally available hospital or assistance records.”
“And every piece of evidence from the divorce.”
“The transfers?”
“Yes.”
“Hotel photographs?”
“Yes.”
“The necklace?”
“All of it.”
Marcus paused.
Then asked:
“What happened?”
“I saw her.”
“And?”
“She had twins.”
Silence.
“How old?”
“Maybe ten months.”
Marcus understood the timing immediately.
“Adrian.”
“I know.”
“No.”
His voice was firm.
“You don’t know anything yet.”
“Then find out.”
MARCUS CALLED THAT EVENING
“I found a hospital record.”
I stood.
“What kind?”
“Emergency maternity intake.”
“When?”
“Eleven months ago.”
My legs suddenly felt weak.
“Where?”
“Willowcrest Medical Center.”
That hospital was less than half an hour from my old house.
“She was pregnant?”
“Twins.”
I sat.
“Was she alone?”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
Then Marcus said:
“Your name was listed as her emergency contact.”
I opened them.
“What?”
“Personal number.”
“Home.”
“Office.”
“All three.”
“She never called me.”
Marcus went quiet.
“The hospital did.”
I stopped breathing.
WILLOWCREST MEDICAL CENTER HAD TRIED THREE TIMES
“Two calls went to your house.”
“One went to your office.”
“I never got them.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“The office call was redirected.”
I stood again.
“Redirected how?”
“Someone temporarily altered your forwarding settings.”
“Who?”
“Still tracing it.”
I pressed my fist against my mouth.
Marcus continued:
“There’s more.”
Of course there was.
“Someone tried to modify Claire’s intake file after she was discharged.”
“What did they try to change?”
“Emergency contact information.”
“Who?”
“No name yet.”
Then:
“But the request used a household administrative credential.”
My household.
At that time, several people had some level of access.
Claire.
My security director.
Me.
And—
Vanessa.
I had given Vanessa temporary access while she lived in our guesthouse.
Claire had complained.
I remembered dismissing her.
Stop being paranoid.
My stomach turned.
“Send me the record.”
Two minutes later, it arrived.
I opened the Willowcrest intake form.
Patient: Claire Bennett Vale.
Pregnancy: Twins.
Emergency Contact: Adrian Vale.
