Chapter 13 - The Hours She Heard Me
In the second clip, I was crying so softly I almost didn't recognize myself.
"I can't stand up," the voice on the recording said. "Something's wrong."
Ruth entered the nursery hallway with a towel over her arm. For a moment she stood outside my room. Then she spoke.
"If I call them now, the bank will ask questions."
The recording captured the sound of my bedroom door closing. It did not show what happened inside. But when Ruth emerged, she was carrying the towel twisted tightly in both hands. She put it into a plastic laundry bag and walked away.
I turned my face toward the pillow. "She knew."
Ortiz stopped the video. "We'll preserve the original files. You don't need to watch them again."
Daniel came back to my bedside. "I should've called last night," he said. "When you didn't answer, I should've known."
"No," I told him. "She made you think I wanted to sleep. That's on her. What matters is what you do now."
He nodded, and for once I believed he understood the difference between guilt and responsibility.
Later, while Daniel went downstairs for coffee, a man in a gray suit approached him near the elevator. Security footage would later identify him as Victor Hale.
"You've got a beautiful little girl," Victor said. "I hear she's having a rough start."
"Stay away from my family."
"I'm offering to make this easy. Withdraw the fraud allegation. We'll restructure the loan. Ruth keeps the house. Your wife gets a quiet recovery."
"You tried to steal our business."
Victor smiled without warmth. "Businesses disappear all the time, Daniel. So do opportunities."
Daniel stepped back and called security rather than letting Victor bait him into a fight. The man left before the guards reached the elevator.
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Then Daniel's hospital pager went off. The NICU had given him one so staff could reach him anywhere in the building.
The message said only: COME TO YOUR DAUGHTER'S BEDSIDE NOW.
