Chapter 2 - The Name on the File
Jace did not remember crossing the emergency room.
One moment, he was facing the security officer.
The next, his hand was around the officer’s radio.
“You will not announce that child’s location.”
The officer stiffened.
“Mr. Mercer, this is a legal matter.”
“This is my hospital.”
“It is not above the law.”
Evelyn stood motionless beside the wall.
Her eyes remained fixed on the doors through which Maisie had disappeared.
Jace handed the radio back.
“Show me the notice.”
The officer opened the file on his phone.
The report had been submitted three years earlier.
The missing child’s legal name was Margaret Rose Mercer.
Her listed guardian was Conrad Mercer.
Her listed father was Jace Mercer.
Jace read the final line twice.
Parental rights voluntarily surrendered.
His signature appeared beneath it.
“That is not my signature.”
Evelyn laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“It fooled three judges.”
Jace looked at her.
“You knew this existed?”
“I knew your father was looking for us.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“You let me believe you signed those papers.”
“I never saw them.”
“And I never received the forty-three letters I sent you.”
Jace stopped breathing.
“What letters?”
A doctor pushed through the emergency doors.
“Mr. Mercer?”
Jace turned immediately.
“How is she?”
“She is stable for the moment.”
The words for the moment struck him like a warning.
Dr. Priya Shah looked from him to Evelyn.
“Does the child have a history of cardiac problems?”
Evelyn nodded.
“She was diagnosed with a congenital valve defect when she was two.”
“Why wasn’t it corrected?”
Evelyn’s face tightened.
“Every time I arranged treatment, the funding disappeared.”
Dr. Shah frowned.
“That condition should have been addressed years ago.”
Jace looked through the glass doors.
Maisie lay beneath bright lights while nurses attached wires to her small chest.
“What does she need?”
“Immediate testing.”
Dr. Shah hesitated.
“She may also need surgery within days.”
“Do everything.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“No information leaves this floor.”
Dr. Shah lowered her voice.
“Someone has already accessed her chart.”
Jace’s head snapped toward her.
“Who?”
“An outside physician used a Mercer Family Medical authorization code.”
Jace knew only three people had that code.
Himself.
His father.
And his father’s private doctor.
The elevator doors opened.
Conrad Mercer stepped into the emergency department wearing a charcoal overcoat and an expression of practiced concern.
At sixty-eight, he still carried himself like every room belonged to him.
Two attorneys followed him.
So did a woman from Child Protective Services.
Evelyn’s knees nearly buckled.
Conrad looked at Maisie through the glass.
Then he turned to Jace.
“Thank God you found my granddaughter.”
Jace stepped toward him.
“You knew she existed.”
Conrad did not deny it.
“You were in no condition to raise a child six years ago.”
“You told me Evelyn took money and disappeared.”
“She did disappear.”
“Because you threatened her.”
Conrad glanced at Evelyn.
“She has always been dramatic.”
Evelyn’s hand curled into a fist.
Conrad addressed the social worker.
“That woman abducted Margaret after the court awarded me temporary guardianship.”
“She is her mother.”
“She is unstable.”
Jace moved closer to his father.
“Show me the original document where I surrendered my rights.”
Conrad’s smile faded.
“You signed it.”
“Then you will have no problem showing me.”
One of the attorneys opened a leather folder.
Inside was a document bearing Jace’s signature.
It also carried a notarized stamp.
The witness listed at the bottom was Jace’s former personal attorney.
A man who had died four years earlier.
Conrad leaned toward his son.
“You may dislike the truth.”
His eyes hardened.
“But the truth is still legally binding.”
A nurse suddenly rushed from Maisie’s room.
“Dr. Shah, her oxygen level is falling.”
Evelyn ran toward the doors.
The social worker blocked her.
“You cannot enter until custody is verified.”
Maisie woke behind the glass.
She looked around in terror.
Then she saw Evelyn being held back.
“Mommy!”
Her scream reached them through the door.
Conrad calmly adjusted his cuff.
“Take Evelyn downstairs.”
Jace looked at the frightened child.
Then at the forged signature.
Then at his father.
“No one takes her anywhere.”
Conrad’s expression changed.
Jace had spent his entire life obeying that face.
May you like
This time, he stepped closer.
“And if you try to separate that child from her mother, I will tear this family apart with my bare hands.”
