Chapter 6 - The Dead Man's Empire
Julian didn't speak for almost a minute.
Then he walked into the bathroom and became sick.
I couldn't blame him.
His father had been dead for six years.
Or at least that was the story Julian had buried.
When he returned, he looked different.
Older somehow.
“My mother knew.”
“Yes.”
“She buried an empty coffin.”
“We don't know that.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Clara, please.”
I closed the laptop.
“We need facts.”
“My father just called you.”
“We need facts that survive in court.”
That stopped him.
This wasn't about revenge.
Not anymore.
It was about Grace.
If we moved recklessly, Eleanor and Dominic would use it against us.
At 2:30 p.m., the hospital received an emergency custody petition.
Dominic had filed it.
They weren't retreating.
They were accelerating.
The petition described me as unstable.
Dangerous.
Delusional.
It even claimed I had installed surveillance because of “paranoid beliefs regarding the Vance family.”
Julian read the sentence three times.
“They're using the camera against you.”
“Of course.”
“How?”
“They'll argue that everything I did proves their psychiatric narrative.”
“But the recording proves they attacked you.”
“Which is why we need the original footage authenticated immediately.”
I called someone I hadn't spoken to in two years.
Assistant State Attorney Rebecca Shaw.
She answered on the third ring.
“Clara Bennett.”
“Vance now.”
“I heard.”
Of course she had.
“Rebecca, I need help.”
“Official or unofficial?”
“Both.”
I explained everything.
She didn't interrupt once.
When I finished, she said:
“Do not leave that hospital.”
“Why?”
“Because the Vance file was reopened three months ago.”
I felt my heart pound.
“By whom?”
“Federal investigators.”
Julian stared at me.
Rebecca continued.
“And Clara?”
“Yes?”
“They've been looking for David Vance.”
I closed my eyes.
“He's alive.”
Silence.
“How do you know?”
“He called me.”
Rebecca cursed quietly.
“Send me everything.”
“I will.”
“And don't trust hospital security.”
I looked toward the door.
“Why?”
“Because Hawthorne Behavioral Partners doesn't just work with doctors.”
My stomach tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“They own a private healthcare staffing company.”
I understood immediately.
The nurses.
Dr. Warren.
Maybe security.
Rebecca's voice became urgent.
“Clara, who is currently guarding your door?”
I looked through the glass.
A hospital security officer stood outside.
I had seen him before.
Not tonight.
Months earlier.
At Eleanor's house.
I grabbed Julian's arm.
May you like
“We have to move.”
Then the lights went out.
