Chapter 5 - The Family Comes Home
Eleanor, Chloe, and Mark returned to New York twenty-three hours earlier than planned.
Not because they were worried about Maya.
Because the money had stopped.
David knew exactly when they landed because Eleanor sent him six messages from LaGuardia.
The first demanded a car.
The second called him childish.
The third accused Maya of manipulating him.
The fourth reminded him that “blood is blood.”
The fifth said his father would be ashamed.
The sixth simply read:
WE ARE COMING TO THE HOSPITAL.
David replied.
NO.
Eleanor came anyway.
At 3:17 PM, David saw her walking down the hospital corridor.
Chloe followed.
Mark stayed several steps behind.
Eleanor still wore resort clothes beneath an expensive winter coat.
Her tan looked almost offensive under the fluorescent lights.
David stepped out of Maya’s room and closed the door behind him.
“You were told not to come.”
Eleanor stopped.
“I am your mother.”
“That isn’t a hospital pass.”
Chloe folded her arms.
“This is insane.”
David looked at her.
“What part?”
“You freezing our cards.”
“They weren’t your cards.”
“You gave them to us.”
“I authorized you to use them.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
Mark stepped forward.
“Can we talk like adults?”
David turned toward him.
“Where is my document case?”
Mark blinked.
“I already told you I don’t know.”
“You didn’t tell me anything.”
“I’ve never seen it.”
David pulled out his phone.
He showed him the security image.
Mark’s face changed.
Only slightly.
But David saw it.
Chloe leaned closer.
“What is that?”
David kept his eyes on Mark.
“Tell her.”
Mark’s jaw tightened.
“I moved a case.”
“Where?”
“I don’t remember.”
“You entered my office at 11:05 PM.”
“I was looking for a charger.”
“You stayed twelve minutes.”
“I couldn’t find it.”
“You connected a USB drive to my workstation.”
Eleanor interrupted.
“Oh, please.”
David turned.
“Stay out of this.”
“Mark is family.”
“So is Maya.”
Eleanor’s lips tightened.
David continued.
“So is Liam.”
Chloe pointed toward Maya’s room.
“She’s fine now, isn’t she?”
David stared at his sister.
“You want to try that sentence again?”
“I mean she’s in a hospital.”
“Because you left her alone.”
“She had a phone.”
“No, she didn’t.”
Chloe hesitated.
David pulled up the video of Eleanor taking Maya’s phone.
Eleanor’s face went pale.
“You recorded us?”
“My security system recorded my home.”
“That is a violation of privacy.”
“In my apartment?”
“You knew we were staying there.”
“And apparently that made you think you owned it.”
Mark stepped backward.
David noticed.
“Where are you going?”
“Bathroom.”
“Stay.”
Mark laughed.
“You don’t order me around.”
“No.”
A new voice came from behind David.
“But hospital security can ask you to leave.”
Two security officers approached.
Eleanor’s face hardened.
“You called security on your own mother?”
David didn’t answer.
A nurse opened Maya’s door.
“Mr. Bennett?”
David turned immediately.
“Yes?”
“Your wife is asking for you.”
“I’m coming.”
Eleanor tried to move toward the door.
David blocked her.
“No.”
“I want to see my grandson.”
“You left him cold without his formula.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“I have video.”
“You always take her side!”
David stared at his mother.
For years, that sentence would have worked.
It would have triggered guilt.
Not anymore.
“There shouldn’t be sides when an eleven-day-old baby needs food.”
Eleanor had nothing to say.
David looked at the security officers.
“Please escort them out.”
Chloe’s mouth fell open.
“David!”
Mark grabbed her arm.
“Come on.”
David watched them walk away.
Then Mark looked back.
Only once.
There was fear in his face.
David entered Maya’s room.
She was holding Liam.
“Was that them?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“They left.”
Maya studied him.
“That easily?”
“No.”
David sat beside her.
“My mother still thinks this is about a credit card.”
“And Mark?”
David looked toward the hallway.
“Mark knows it isn’t.”
At that exact moment, his phone vibrated.
Corporate legal.
URGENT: CONFIDENTIAL FILES MAY HAVE BEEN FORWARDED TO A COMPETITOR.
David read the message.
May you like
Then read it again.
The family argument had just become something much bigger.
