Chapter 7 - The Accident
Three years earlier, Daniel had been involved in a crash.
He had forgotten most of it.
Patricia told him he had fallen asleep.
But medical records showed something different.
He had been drugged.
His blood contained sedatives.
The crash had not been an accident.
Someone had tried to kill him.
The reason?
Daniel had discovered irregularities in his inheritance.
He had planned to confront Thomas Bell.
Then he crashed.
Patricia arrived before police.
She convinced him to forget.
She told him he had been reckless.
She told him he should be grateful to be alive.
For three years, Daniel believed her.
Until now.
Detective Reed found traffic camera footage.
A second vehicle had followed Daniel.
The driver was Thomas Bell.
And sitting beside him was Charles Mercer.
But the person in the back seat was Patricia.
Emily stared at the footage.
“She has been planning this for years.”
Daniel nodded.
“And I helped her.”
“No.”
“I believed her.”
“That's different.”
“No.”
He looked at Lily's hospital room.
“I should have seen it.”
Emily took his hand.
“Then see it now.”
The investigation became federal.
The financial fraud was larger than expected.
Mercer had been laundering money through trusts belonging to families across Ohio.
Patricia was one of his clients.
Thomas was the legal architect.
Harold was the paperwork specialist.
Patricia was the person who controlled the families.
And Lily's inheritance was supposed to become their largest score.
Then Rachel was found.
Alive.
Terrified.
She had been held in a rented house.
She told police Mercer had ordered her to falsify evidence.
Rachel had refused.
That was why she disappeared.
She gave investigators the final piece.
A recording.
Patricia speaking to Mercer.
“She'll never give up the baby.”
Mercer answered:
“Then make the mother look unstable.”
Patricia laughed.
“And if that fails?”
“Then we use the accident.”
Emily closed her eyes.
The plan had always included a second attempt.
If Lily survived the fall, they would create another incident.
The hospital immediately increased security.
But Patricia was already planning something.
She had escaped custody.
A guard found her missing from the transport vehicle.
She had disappeared.
Hours later, Emily received a photograph.
Lily's hospital room.
Taken from inside.
The message said:
YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED.
Emily's blood turned cold.
Someone was inside the hospital.
Security locked down the floor.
Police searched every room.
Then the lights went out.
For thirty seconds, the entire pediatric wing went dark.
Emily grabbed Lily's crib.
“Daniel!”
He rushed in.
A figure appeared at the doorway.
Emily screamed.
But the person stopped.
It was Dr. Blake.
“Don't move.”
He held up his hands.
“I'm here to help.”
Behind him, Detective Reed arrived.
“Patricia's been found.”
Emily stared.
“Where?”
Reed looked at Daniel.
“At the courthouse.”
“She surrendered?”
“No.”
“She filed an emergency custody petition.”
Emily almost laughed.
“She wants custody while she's wanted?”
Reed's expression was grim.
“She isn't trying to win custody.”
“Then what?”
“She wants the judge to declare Daniel incompetent.”
Daniel went pale.
“If she gets that order…”
“She controls the trust.”
“And Lily.”
“Yes.”
The hearing was scheduled for the next morning.
Emily looked at her daughter.
May you like
Then at Daniel.
“We're going.”
