Chapter 3 - The Bracelet
My son weighed six pounds, four ounces.
Premature only by two weeks.
Alive.
That was everything I needed to hear.
Then Dr. Levin explained what frightened him.
The baby had a narrow scar-like mark beneath his left shoulder.
Not an injury.
A healed prenatal procedure site.
“What procedure?”
“That’s the problem.”
He turned the tablet toward me.
“Nothing in Ms. Holloway’s hospital record says fetal surgery was performed here.”
Yara started walking away.
“Stop.”
She froze.
“I’m sick, remember?”
“You were.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
“It means sit down.”
She did.
Not because I raised my voice.
I didn’t.
Royce’s phone buzzed.
He read something, then approached.
“Garage footage.”
A camera had captured Brin arriving.
She was followed by a black Escalade.
A man approached her.
Brin backed away.
Then the video corrupted.
Exactly forty-seven seconds were missing.
“Who has access?” I asked.
“Hospital security.”
“Find out who accessed the server.”
Dr. Levin looked uncomfortable.
“Mr. Hale, there’s another issue.”
He showed me the infant identification bracelet.
Mother: Brin Holloway.
Father: Cormack Hale.
But underneath it was a second bracelet.
Older.
Placed around my son’s ankle before he arrived at this hospital.
It carried no hospital name.
Only a sequence of numbers.
Royce recognized them first.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“That’s not medical.”
He photographed the number and sent it to one of our accountants.
The response came seconds later.
The sequence matched an internal Salcedo asset-accounting format.
Yara stood.
“That proves nothing.”
Nobody had accused her yet.
Interesting.
“What does your family have to do with my son?”
“Nothing.”
Royce looked at me.
“Should I call Rafael?”
“No.”
Yara seemed surprised.
I turned toward her.
“You call him.”
She laughed.
“You’ve lost your mind.”
“Call your father and tell him Brin survived long enough to deliver my son.”
Her confidence disappeared.
“Why?”
“I want to hear his reaction.”
Yara stared at me.
Then her phone rang.
Father.
Perfect timing.
She answered but didn’t use speaker.
“Daddy?”
Her expression changed.
“What?”
She turned away.
“No, I didn’t tell him anything.”
Royce and I exchanged a glance.
“Tell who what?” I asked.
Yara ignored me.
Then she whispered into the phone:
“The baby is alive.”
A long silence.
Yara’s face drained.
“What do you mean that wasn’t supposed to happen?”
I took the phone from her hand.
“Rafael.”
Nothing.
Then a click.
He had disconnected.
Yara stared at me.
“I can explain.”
“Start.”
Before she could, a nurse ran from surgery.
“Mr. Hale!”
I turned.
“Ms. Holloway regained consciousness.”
I started toward her.
The nurse blocked me.
“But she won’t let anyone bring you inside.”
I stopped.
“Why?”
May you like
The nurse swallowed.
“Because she says you’re the reason someone tried to kill her.”
