Chapter 6 - Dr. Cole
Adrian wanted to drive straight to the hospital.
Rachel stopped him.
"We do this cleanly."
Police met them there.
Dr. Cole was not in his office.
Victoria was gone too.
But the hospital compliance director confirmed something worse.
Someone had accessed Noah's newborn screening file twice using Dr. Cole's credentials.
Someone had also downloaded Elena's postpartum notes.
"Was that authorized?" Elena asked.
"No."
The compliance director looked miserable.
Then he handed police a badge log.
Victoria had entered the records wing six times in two months using a visitor credential approved by Dr. Cole.
Adrian's voice went flat.
"Why would our pediatrician help her?"
No one knew yet.
Rachel did.
She searched corporate records from her tablet.
Dr. Cole sat on the board of a charitable foundation funded by Victoria.
Three months earlier, that foundation received a two-million-dollar donation from Bennett Family Holdings.
Authorized by:
VICTORIA MARSH.
Elena whispered, "She bought him."
Rachel shook her head. "We don't know that yet. But we know they are connected."
That distinction mattered.
Police finally located Dr. Cole in a conference room.
He asked for counsel immediately.
Before leaving, he looked at Elena and said one thing.
"Ask your husband why his father created the trust."
Adrian stepped toward him.
"What does that mean?"
Dr. Cole said nothing else.
On the drive home, Adrian called the trustee named in the blue folder.
The trustee, Harold Finch, sounded surprised Adrian had never been briefed.
"Your father insisted the documents remain sealed until the birth of the first grandson."
"Why?"
"Because he believed someone inside the family was diverting assets."
Elena looked at Adrian.
Harold continued.
"The trust was designed to remove control from any adult family member once Noah was born."
"Then why does the guardianship matter?"
Harold paused.
"Because a court-appointed guardian can direct certain beneficiary votes until adulthood."
Adrian understood.
Noah had not inherited money.
He had inherited power.
Then Harold added:
"There is one more condition your father wrote into the trust."
May you like
"What condition?"
"If Noah dies before his first birthday, the voting rights revert to Victoria."
