Chapter 10 - THE ROOM UNDER THE BARN
Police entered the property first.
Cole stayed with Emily inside Brooks's vehicle.
He hated every second of it.
But his job wasn't to play hero.
His job was to make sure Emily and their unborn daughter went home safely.
Twenty minutes later, Brooks's radio crackled.
“Detective.”
She answered.
“We found Bennett.”
Emily grabbed Cole's hand.
“Alive?”
Brooks listened.
Then nodded.
“She's okay.”
Emily started crying.
Carol had been locked inside an upstairs bedroom.
Victor was gone.
Again.
But he had left something behind.
A trapdoor beneath the barn floor.
Below it was a narrow concrete room.
Shelves covered every wall.
Boxes.
Files.
Videotapes.
Financial records.
Hospital documents.
Brooks stared around the room.
“This isn't just about Emily.”
It wasn't.
Patricia had spent decades helping wealthy clients manipulate records.
Adoptions.
Guardianships.
Medical documents.
Property transfers.
Victor had turned those secrets into leverage.
Richard had known part of it.
Not all.
Emily found a box marked 1997.
Inside was the truth.
The original hospital record.
Carol Bennett had delivered a healthy baby girl.
No complications.
No death.
No emergency.
Richard and Patricia had arranged for Diane to leave the hospital with Emily under falsified documentation.
Carol had been sedated.
When she woke, she was told her daughter had died.
Emily couldn't speak.
Cole stood beside her.
He didn't tell her how to feel.
He simply stayed.
Then Brooks found another file.
MERCER, EMILY.
Recent.
Inside were photographs of Emily leaving medical appointments.
Schedules.
Copies of prenatal records.
And a handwritten note.
TRANSFER BEFORE DELIVERY.
Cole stared at those words.
Emily whispered.
“What does that mean?”
Brooks turned the page.
A legal petition had already been prepared.
It alleged that Emily was mentally unstable.
That pregnancy had worsened her condition.
That Richard should receive temporary guardianship.
And if Emily became incapacitated after delivery, Richard would control decisions regarding the baby.
Emily covered her mouth.
Cole read every page.
Then he noticed the signature line.
Victor Shaw.
But underneath Victor's name was another.
Richard Hale.
Emily stepped backward.
“No.”
Cole looked at her.
“He signed it.”
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“He told you to take me somewhere safe.”
Cole didn't answer.
Emily stared at her father's signature.
“He knew.”
The door above them opened.
Ruiz came down the stairs.
His expression was grim.
“Detective.”
Brooks turned.
“What?”
Ruiz looked at Emily.
“Richard Hale has been released.”
Cole's head snapped toward him.
“How?”
“His attorney arranged bond.”
“Victor?”
Ruiz shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
Ruiz hesitated.
“A woman named Diane Hale.”
Emily stopped breathing.
“My mother is dead.”
May you like
Ruiz looked just as confused.
“Apparently, someone used her identity less than an hour ago.”
