Chapter 1 - The Ride to St. Matthew’s
The paramedics reached the house less than nine minutes after Michael made the call.
Emily was barely conscious when they lifted her onto the stretcher.
Mason refused to release her hand.
“I’m coming with Mom.”
One of the paramedics looked at Michael.
Michael nodded immediately.
“I’ll drive behind you.”
Emily heard him.
Her eyes opened.
“No.”
Michael stopped.
Emily swallowed against the pain.
“Mason stays with me.”
The words were quiet.
But the message behind them was unmistakable.
She did not trust Michael anymore.
Michael looked as though she had struck him.
He deserved it.
Ten minutes earlier, he had slapped his eight-month-pregnant wife without asking a single question.
Sophia stood near the hallway while the paramedics carried Emily outside.
Her face had recovered some of its color.
“Michael, she’s turning Mason against you.”
Michael slowly looked at her.
Sophia immediately lowered her voice.
“I know what that camera looks like.”
She pointed toward the staircase.
“But security cameras don’t always record continuously.”
Michael said nothing.
Sophia stepped closer.
“You saw me on the floor.”
“You said your shoulder was injured.”
“It was.”
“You stopped holding it.”
Sophia’s expression tightened.
“Because your wife was bleeding, Michael.”
Michael stared at her for several seconds.
Then he walked toward the security panel near the kitchen.
Sophia followed quickly.
“What are you doing?”
“Checking the footage.”
“The hospital should be your priority.”
Michael looked at her.
“My wife is already going to the hospital.”
Sophia’s lips parted.
Michael entered the security code.
The screen illuminated.
CAMERA 04.
STAIRCASE.
RECORDING ACTIVE.
Sophia went completely still.
Michael selected the previous thirty minutes.
The loading icon appeared.
Then the screen flashed.
FILE UNAVAILABLE.
Michael frowned.
He tried again.
FILE UNAVAILABLE.
Sophia released a breath almost too softly to hear.
Michael noticed.
He opened the camera settings.
Remote deletion enabled.
Last remote access: 7:42 PM.
Michael stared at the time.
Sophia had arrived at 7:31.
He turned.
She was already walking toward the front door.
“Sophia.”
She stopped.
“Give me your phone.”
She laughed nervously.
“Excuse me?”
“Your phone.”
“You don’t get to search my property.”
“You were in my house.”
“I came to see my nephew.”
“You told me you were in Boston.”
Sophia’s face hardened.
“That was because Emily told me not to come here.”
Michael took one step toward her.
“Why were you looking for a red folder?”
“I wasn’t.”
“Mason saw you.”
“Mason is seven.”
Michael’s jaw tightened.
“He also saw you push his mother.”
Sophia’s eyes changed.
For the first time that evening, the frightened sister disappeared.
Something colder replaced her.
“You’re really going to believe a terrified child over me?”
Michael reached for the phone in her hand.
Sophia jerked backward.
The phone slipped from her fingers.
It struck the floor.
The screen lit up.
A notification appeared.
UPLOAD COMPLETE.
Michael saw the sender name.
DANIEL REEVES.
He knew that name.
Daniel Reeves was the chief financial officer of Michael’s company.
And beneath the notification was a message that made Michael’s stomach turn.
DELETE THE HOUSE FOOTAGE.
GET THE FOLDER.
WE HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT.
Sophia snatched up the phone.
But it was too late.
Michael had read everything.
“What the hell is Daniel doing in this?”
Sophia stared at him.
Then she smiled.
“You should go to the hospital.”
Michael’s blood went cold.
“Why?”
“Because if Emily wakes up before midnight, your marriage might be the least important thing you lose tonight.”
Then Sophia opened the door and ran.
Michael stood motionless in the foyer.
His phone rang.
It was St. Matthew’s Hospital.
He answered immediately.
“Mr. Carter?”
“Yes.”
“This is Dr. Holden.”
Michael gripped the phone tighter.
“Is Emily okay?”
There was a pause.
“Your wife is being taken into emergency surgery.”
Michael stopped breathing.
“And the baby?”
May you like
Another pause.
“We’re trying to save both of them.”
