Chapter 5 - TWO HEARTBEATS IN DANGER
Julian reached me before the paramedics did.
“Audrey!”
He caught my shoulders.
I could barely focus on his face.
“The babies.”
My voice broke.
“Something is wrong.”
He looked down and saw the blood.
Every trace of color disappeared from his face.
A paramedic pushed him aside.
“We need space.”
Julian stayed close.
“What happened?”
Hannah was crying.
“The fire alarm went off.”
“She started having pain.”
“She is almost eighteen weeks pregnant with twins.”
The paramedics placed me on a stretcher.
Julian grabbed the side rail.
“I’m her husband.”
I looked at him.
“Not anymore.”
The words came out weakly.
Pain crossed his face.
The paramedic looked between us.
“Are you the father?”
“Yes,” Julian said.
I closed my eyes.
The ambulance doors shut with him inside.
During the drive, he sat near my feet because there was nowhere else to sit.
He did not touch me.
He kept both hands clenched together.
I watched him silently praying.
I had never seen Julian pray before.
At the hospital, nurses rushed me into an examination room.
Julian was stopped at the door.
“You need to wait outside.”
“I’m staying with her.”
I looked at the nurse.
“Let him stay.”
Julian’s eyes met mine.
He said nothing.
The doctor entered several minutes later.
She examined me while an ultrasound technician prepared the monitor.
The room filled with tense silence.
I stared at the screen.
“Please tell me they are alive.”
The technician moved the probe.
A heartbeat filled the room.
Fast.
Strong.
I started crying.
Then a second heartbeat followed.
Julian covered his face.
“They are both alive,” the doctor said.
Relief hit me so hard that I almost laughed.
But the doctor’s expression remained serious.
“You have a small placental bleed.”
“You also have signs of cervical shortening.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you are at increased risk of losing the pregnancy or delivering extremely early.”
Julian’s hand tightened around the chair.
“What can we do?”
“Strict rest for now.”
“Medication.”
“Frequent monitoring.”
“And no unnecessary stress.”
The doctor looked at both of us.
“Has anything stressful happened recently?”
I laughed bitterly through my tears.
Julian lowered his head.
The doctor left to arrange my admission.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
Then Julian stood.
“I am going to find out how that fire started.”
“It may have been an accident.”
“It started in the office.”
“How do you know?”
“I asked a firefighter before they brought me here.”
My pulse quickened.
Hannah kept hotel records in that office.
My employee files were there.
So was a copy of my medical insurance information.
Someone who wanted to find me could have learned everything from that room.
Julian saw the fear on my face.
“You think my mother did this.”
“I don’t know.”
“I will find out.”
He moved toward the door.
“Julian.”
He stopped.
“Do not leave me alone.”
The words escaped before I could stop them.
His face changed.
He returned immediately.
“I’m here.”
He sat beside the bed.
He still did not touch me.
After a few minutes, I reached for his hand.
His fingers closed around mine carefully.
“I’m scared,” I whispered.
“So am I.”
“If something happens to them—”
“It won’t.”
“You cannot promise that.”
“No.”
He swallowed.
“But I can promise you will not face it alone.”
I looked away.
“You already left me alone.”
“I know.”
The pain in his voice was real.
“I will spend the rest of my life regretting that.”
A nurse entered carrying medication.
She checked the IV.
“Your friend is downstairs speaking with the police.”
Julian stood.
“What police?”
“The fire investigator believes the hotel fire may have been deliberately set.”
I felt cold.
“Why?”
“They found an accelerant near the office door.”
Julian’s expression changed instantly.
The frightened husband disappeared.
The ruthless businessman who had built an empire took his place.
“Who had access to the building?”
The nurse blinked.
“I don’t know.”
He removed his phone.
I tightened my grip on his hand.
“Do not call your mother.”
“I’m not.”
“Then who are you calling?”
“My head of security.”
“You brought security to Albany?”
“I brought one man after my mother appeared.”
I stared at him.
“You expected something.”
“I expected her to threaten you legally.”
“I did not expect this.”
He stepped away and made the call.
“Marcus, lock down every camera recording from the hotel and the surrounding roads.”
“Do not give anything to Foster corporate security.”
“Send it directly to me.”
He listened.
Then his face tightened.
“What do you mean the cameras were disabled?”
He turned toward me.
“When?”
His eyes became colder.
“Thirty minutes before the fire.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?” I asked.
“The hotel cameras were shut down remotely.”
“Hannah does not even know how to do that.”
“Someone did.”
“Was it your mother?”
“I don’t know.”
But I could tell he was thinking the same thing.
An hour later, Hannah came upstairs.
There was soot on her sleeve.
She hugged me carefully.
“The babies?”
“They are alive.”
She closed her eyes in relief.
Then she looked at Julian.
“The police found something.”
“What?”
“A flash drive.”
She placed a small evidence bag on the bedside table.
“It was outside the office window.”
“The fire investigator thinks someone dropped it while climbing out.”
Julian stared at it.
“What is on it?”
“The police have not checked yet.”
A detective entered behind her.
He was a tall man with tired eyes.
“Mr. Foster?”
Julian nodded.
The detective held up his phone.
“We already reviewed part of the drive.”
“What did you find?”
“Employee files.”
“Financial records.”
“Private correspondence.”
Then he looked at me.
“And photographs of Mrs. Foster taken over the last four months.”
My stomach turned.
“What kind of photographs?”
“You leaving the hotel.”
“Visiting the doctor.”
“Buying baby clothes.”
“Meeting with an attorney.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“Who took them?”
“We don’t know yet.”
The detective scrolled to another image.
“But this was also on the drive.”
He turned the phone toward us.
The photograph showed Madison Carter sitting inside a café.
Across from her sat Eleanor Foster.
The date in the corner was from three weeks earlier.
My mouth went dry.
Julian stared at the image.
“My mother told me she had not spoken to Madison since I fired her.”
The detective swiped again.
The next image showed Madison handing Eleanor a thick envelope.
Hannah whispered.
“What is happening?”
Julian’s face became unreadable.
Then the detective spoke.
“There is one more thing.”
He opened an audio file.
Static filled the room.
Then Madison’s voice played through the phone.
“She is pregnant.”
Eleanor answered.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“With Julian’s child?”
“Children.”
A pause followed.
Then Eleanor spoke again.
“If Audrey returns to Chicago with twins, Julian will never let her go.”
Madison’s voice became tense.
“What do you want me to do?”
Eleanor answered calmly.
“Make sure she has a reason to disappear again.”
The recording ended.
No one moved.
Julian stared at the phone.
His face was pale.
I pressed both hands over my stomach.
May you like
The detective looked at us grimly.
“That conversation was recorded six days before tonight’s fire.”
