Chapter 10 - EVELYN’S EMPIRE
The police arrived twelve minutes later.
By then, Evelyn was gone.
Dr. Reed was missing.
One attacker was dead.
The other refused to talk.
The ledger went into evidence.
Daniel gave statements for six hours.
Rosa sat nearby holding Ethan.
Claire sat alone.
For the first time since Daniel had known her, nobody rushed to comfort her.
Detective Sarah Mitchell entered the room.
“We checked the names.”
Daniel stood.
“And?”
“Most are real.”
Rosa’s hand tightened around Ethan.
Mitchell continued.
“Several women were told their babies died.”
“How many?”
“At least eleven.”
Daniel felt sick.
“And the others?”
“Some appear to have signed documents, but we’re investigating whether those signatures were obtained legally.”
“Evelyn?”
“Her financial records show payments to doctors, nurses, administrators, and private attorneys.”
Claire looked up.
“My mother has friends in the state attorney’s office.”
Mitchell nodded.
“We know.”
“Then she’ll disappear.”
“She already did.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
“Her jet left twenty minutes before officers reached the airport.”
“Where?”
“Flight plan said Nassau.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“That’s fake.”
Everyone looked at her.
“She hates the Bahamas.”
Mitchell stepped closer.
“Where would she go?”
Claire hesitated.
Daniel saw it.
“You know.”
Claire swallowed.
“My grandfather owned a ranch in Wyoming.”
Mitchell made a call.
Daniel turned to Claire.
“Why didn’t you say that earlier?”
“Because once I help you catch her, she’ll destroy me too.”
Daniel’s voice went cold.
“She already tried to have you killed.”
Claire looked away.
Rosa stood.
“I want custody.”
Everyone went silent.
Daniel’s heart tightened.
Rosa held Ethan closer.
“He’s my son.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“I know.”
“I want him back.”
“You should.”
Claire began to cry.
“No.”
Rosa turned.
Claire stood.
“Please.”
“You don’t get to say please.”
“I love him.”
Rosa’s eyes flashed.
“Then why did you barely touch him?”
Claire froze.
Daniel looked at her.
It was true.
Claire had fed Ethan when people were watching.
Taken photographs.
Held him at parties.
But the everyday things?
The midnight rocking.
The messy diapers.
The long crying spells.
She avoided them.
Claire whispered:
“Because every time I looked at him, I remembered what I did.”
Rosa’s anger softened for half a second.
Then hardened again.
“That was your guilt. Not his fault.”
Claire sat back down.
Detective Mitchell’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her face changed.
“What?”
Everyone waited.
Mitchell looked at Daniel.
“They found the ranch.”
“And Evelyn?”
“She’s there.”
Rosa exhaled.
Mitchell wasn’t finished.
“They also found Dr. Reed’s car.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Is he alive?”
“We don’t know.”
Then Mitchell paused.
“But they found something else inside the house.”
“What?”
“A nursery.”
Daniel frowned.
May you like
Mitchell’s voice dropped.
“With three newborn babies in it.”
