Chapter 2 - Emergency Guardian
“Why did you move?”
Yara blinked.
“What?”
“When she put the folder down.”
“I didn’t.”
Royce answered quietly.
“You did.”
Yara turned on him.
“Nobody asked you.”
Royce didn’t react.
The nurse pushed the folder toward me.
“Ms. Holloway left this during a prenatal appointment three weeks ago. She instructed us to release it if she arrived unconscious or became unable to make medical decisions.”
“Why me?”
“You’re listed as the child’s father.”
Yara laughed.
“A bartender writing his name proves nothing.”
The nurse’s expression hardened.
“There is a certified prenatal paternity report.”
Silence.
Yara’s smile disappeared.
I broke the seal.
The report was first.
Probability of paternity: greater than 99.9%.
I sat down.
Cormack Hale did not sit down in public because bad news arrived.
But Cormack Hale had never learned he was becoming a father while the mother of his child was being prepared for emergency surgery.
Under the report were guardianship documents.
Brin had named me.
Not her sister.
Not a friend.
Me.
Why?
After what I had done, why trust me with anything?
Then I found the phone.
Clear evidence pouch.
Yellow note.
Play the most recent video.
Yara moved.
“Cormack, don’t.”
Royce stepped between us.
That was when suspicion became certainty.
I unlocked Brin’s phone using the old elevator code from Vesper Row.
The video began inside a parking garage.
Brin appeared frightened, breathing hard.
A man stood somewhere beyond the camera.
“Ms. Salcedo gave you nine months to disappear.”
Yara turned white.
The man continued.
“You should’ve taken the money.”
Brin stared directly into the lens.
“Cormack, if you’re watching this, Yara found me before I could tell you about our son.”
I stopped the recording.
Not because I had seen enough.
Because if I watched another second while Yara stood beside me, I might forget where we were.
“Royce.”
“Yes, boss.”
“Preserve every camera from the garage, entrance, and maternity floor.”
Yara laughed nervously.
“You believe her?”
“I believe your face.”
“My father will hear about this.”
“He should.”
“You’re destroying an alliance over some pregnant bartender.”
“No.”
I stood.
“I’m investigating who threatened the mother of my child.”
Yara stepped closer.
“You think she’s innocent?”
Something strange entered her expression.
Almost pity.
“You don’t know Brin at all.”
Before I could answer, the maternity doors reopened.
A doctor rushed toward us.
“Mr. Hale?”
“Yes.”
“The baby has been delivered.”
My chest tightened.
“And Brin?”
The doctor hesitated.
“We’re still fighting for her.”
I closed my eyes.
Then he added:
“But there’s something unusual about your son.”
Yara whispered behind me:
“Oh God.”
May you like
The doctor heard her.
And looked directly at Yara.
