Chapter 3 - The Video Celeste Tried to Destroy
Detective Brooks placed the flash drive inside an evidence bag.
Adrian watched her seal it.
“That was hidden in the baby’s blanket.”
“We’ll examine it at the station.”
“I need to know what’s on it.”
“You need medical attention.”
“I need the truth.”
Celeste laughed bitterly.
“You think a mysterious flash drive proves anything?”
Adrian turned toward her.
“It proves someone expected the baby to reach me.”
Celeste looked away.
Paramedics examined the infant inside an ambulance.
Mia refused to leave his side.
Adrian sat beside her.
“What is his name?”
Mia looked at the sleeping child.
“I called him Noah.”
“Why Noah?”
“Because he survived something that should have swallowed him.”
Adrian lowered his eyes.
“How long have you been taking care of him?”
“Three nights.”
“Where are your parents?”
Mia’s expression closed.
“I don’t have any.”
Adrian wanted to ask more.
But Detective Brooks returned.
“The baby is severely dehydrated.”
“He also has several injuries in different stages of healing.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“So someone hurt him before he was abandoned.”
“That appears likely.”
Celeste stepped toward the detective.
“I demand that you stop making accusations in public.”
Brooks looked at her.
“I haven’t accused you of anything.”
“Not yet.”
Celeste’s voice trembled.
The detective noticed.
“We need all of you at the station.”
At the police headquarters, technicians opened the flash drive.
The first folder contained medical records.
The infant had been born at St. Matthew’s Private Clinic six weeks earlier.
The mother’s name had been erased.
The father was listed as Adrian Vale.
Adrian stared at the screen.
“I never knew about this child.”
Brooks looked at Celeste.
Celeste remained silent.
A second folder contained security footage.
The video showed a recovery room inside the clinic.
A young woman lay unconscious in a hospital bed.
Her face was partly hidden by an oxygen mask.
A newborn baby rested inside a clear bassinet.
Celeste entered the room wearing a long red coat.
She dismissed the nurse.
Then she leaned over the unconscious woman.
“You should have taken the money.”
Adrian moved closer to the screen.
The woman in the bed opened her eyes weakly.
“Where is Adrian?”
Celeste smiled.
“He chose me.”
“He doesn’t even know I’m here.”
“And he never will.”
The woman tried to reach the baby.
Celeste held her down.
“You thought having his child would make you part of his life.”
“You were wrong.”
The video ended suddenly.
Adrian stared at Celeste.
His face had become frighteningly calm.
“Who was she?”
Celeste said nothing.
Adrian slammed his hand against the table.
“Who was that woman?”
Celeste flinched.
“She was nobody.”
Adrian crossed the room so quickly that two officers stepped between them.
“She had my child.”
Celeste lifted her chin.
“She claimed she did.”
“The medical file lists me as the father.”
“Files can be changed.”
Detective Brooks pointed at the screen.
“Your face cannot.”
Celeste looked at the officers.
“I want my attorney.”
The technician opened another video.
This one had been recorded in the clinic parking garage.
Celeste carried the baby toward a black sedan.
A man waited beside the driver’s door.
He was the same man who had attacked Mia in the gala basement.
Adrian recognized him immediately.
Celeste handed him an envelope.
Then she gave him the baby.
The footage had no sound.
But Celeste’s lips were clear enough to read.
Make them both disappear.
Adrian slowly sat down.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Then he asked the technician to replay the footage.
They watched it again.
And again.
Celeste’s lawyer still had not arrived.
Detective Brooks placed handcuffs on her wrists.
Celeste’s composure shattered.
“You don’t understand!”
Brooks led her toward the door.
Celeste looked back at Adrian.
“That woman planned everything!”
“She wanted your money!”
“She wanted to destroy our marriage!”
Adrian stood.
“What happened to her?”
Celeste stopped struggling.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“I don’t know.”
The technician interrupted them.
“There’s another file.”
The final video showed the young mother being wheeled from the clinic.
She appeared unconscious.
A man dressed as a doctor pushed the wheelchair.
The timestamp was two hours after Celeste left with the baby.
The man turned toward the camera.
Adrian froze.
He recognized him.
It was Dr. Marcus Hale.
The Vale family’s private physician.
A man Adrian had trusted for fifteen years.
Then the video showed something even worse.
Dr. Hale placed the unconscious woman inside the trunk of his car.
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And Celeste was standing beside him.
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