Chapter 8 - THE SIDE GATE
Preston swore he had given no order.
Gary showed him the security log.
The command came from Preston’s phone.
Preston pulled the device from his pocket.
“It was with me.”
Audrey looked closer.
A remote-access application had been installed under a false name.
Carlo had configured Preston’s phone months earlier when he helped set up new banking authentication.
Rocco’s anger changed direction.
“Carlo can impersonate him.”
Gary nodded.
“And Brenda is loose.”
Audrey moved toward the stairs.
“Then I’m leaving this house.”
Rocco followed.
“You’re going to the safe property.”
“No.”
Audrey stopped.
“I’m going to a hospital first, and then somewhere neither Brenda nor Carlo knows.”
Preston stepped forward.
“Let me come.”
“No.”
“Audrey—”
“You watched your mother prepare to frighten me while I was pregnant.”
Her voice shook, but she did not.
“You don’t get to stand beside me because you feel guilty now.”
Rocco said nothing.
Preston lowered his head.
At the hospital, doctors confirmed the baby was still safe.
Audrey cried for the first time when she heard the heartbeat.
Rocco held her hand.
“I should have told you about the trust years ago.”
“Yes.”
“I thought secrecy was protection.”
“It wasn’t.”
“I know.”
Before dawn, Gary arrived with another problem.
Someone had accessed Sofia’s trust account.
No money had moved.
But a document had been uploaded.
It was a petition asking a judge to appoint an emergency guardian for Audrey’s unborn child if Audrey became medically incapacitated.
The proposed guardian was Preston.
Audrey’s stomach turned.
May you like
Then Gary showed her the signature page.
Preston had signed it six weeks earlier.
