Chapter 10 - Three Minutes Apart
The investigation disappeared behind a wall of medical urgency.
Priya ordered medication to slow the contractions, IV fluids, and a steroid injection to help the baby’s lungs in case labor could not be stopped.
This time, every medication was shown to me before it entered my body.
Name. Dose. Reason.
Consent.
It should not have felt revolutionary.
Grant stayed at the foot of the bed until I finally said, “You can sit.”
He moved to the chair beside me.
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s not enough yet.”
“I know.”
He stared at our hands but did not touch mine.
“I spent my whole life thinking keeping Mom calm was the same thing as keeping peace.”
“Peace for whom?”
He had no answer.
That was at least honest.
Priya checked my cervix and gave me the first piece of good news all day.
“No major change. We may be able to stop this.”
I breathed again.
Then Raymond entered holding a sealed envelope.
“The detectives found this in Caleb’s office safe.”
Grant looked at the label.
BABY HART - POST-DELIVERY.
I felt sick.
Raymond did not open it himself. The detective did.
Inside was a private-room reservation at a postpartum recovery facility two counties away.
Not for me.
For Evelyn.
A second document listed a newborn discharge plan transferring the baby to “paternal family care pending maternal psychiatric stabilization.”
There was even a security instruction barring me from contact if I became “combative.”
Grant stood up.
“I never approved this.”
The detective pointed at a signature line.
“Your name appears here too.”
“That is not my signature.”
For the first time, he sounded certain instead of confused.
Then he pulled out his wallet.
“My mother has my old signature card.”
“What?”
“When I joined the family company, she kept copies for corporate filings.”
The detective gave him a long look.
“Mr. Hart, you need your own lawyer.”
Grant nodded.
“I know.”
Raymond’s phone buzzed.
He read the message and looked toward the hall.
“Caleb has asked to speak with investigators.”
“Good,” I said.
Raymond’s expression told me it was not that simple.
“He says he will cooperate under one condition.”
“What condition?”
“He wants protection from Evelyn.”
Grant laughed bitterly.
“Protection from my mother?”
Raymond looked at him.
“Caleb says your mother has been planning this since before you married Emily.”
May you like
Then he added the part that silenced us both.
“And he says Hannah was the first person who tried to stop her.”
