Chapter 3 - the nurse who remembered another little girl)
For several seconds after Claire whispered, “Why is he here?” no one moved.
Rachel looked from the nurse to Travis.
Travis’s entire posture had changed.
His shoulders had tightened.
His phone disappeared into his jacket pocket.
“Claire,” he said again.
Rachel had never heard him say the name before.
Claire’s face was pale.
“You know my husband?”
Claire looked at Rachel.
Then at Lucy.
Then back at Travis.
“Yes.”
Travis stepped forward.
“No, you don’t.”
Claire’s eyes sharpened.
“I remember you.”
“Claire,” Travis said quietly, “be careful.”
The warning in his voice made Rachel’s skin crawl.
Claire backed away.
Dr. Reed was not in the room.
Two nurses were visible at the far end of the hall.
Rachel suddenly felt isolated despite the busy hospital around them.
“What does she mean?” Rachel asked.
Travis ignored her.
“She has me confused with someone.”
Claire laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“No.”
“Claire.”
“You used a different last name.”
Travis’s face went completely still.
Rachel stared at him.
“What?”
Claire looked at Rachel.
“He called himself Travis Hale.”
Rachel felt as though she had been struck.
Morgan was Travis’s mother’s maiden name.
He had told Rachel he changed his surname after a falling-out with his father.
At least that was the story.
“When?” Rachel asked.
Claire looked toward Lucy again.
“Seven years ago.”
Rachel’s mouth went dry.
“What happened seven years ago?”
Travis moved closer.
“This is ridiculous. Rachel, she’s mistaken.”
Claire took Rachel by the wrist.
“Come here.”
That was when she guided Rachel toward the computer.
That was when the old record appeared.
That was when Travis lunged toward the monitor.
And that was when Claire whispered the sentence Rachel would hear in her sleep for years afterward.
“He’s done this before.”
The photograph was attached to an archived emergency-room record.
The child was named Sophie Hale.
Age three.
Rachel read the name twice.
Then a third time.
“Who is she?”
Claire’s voice was barely audible.
“His daughter.”
Rachel turned.
Travis shook his head immediately.
“No.”
Rachel stared at him.
“You told me you never had children before Lucy.”
“I didn’t.”
Claire reached toward the screen.
“The man listed as Sophie’s father was Travis Hale.”
“That could be anybody.”
Claire clicked another section.
An old identification photograph appeared.
Travis.
Younger by seven years.
Same eyes.
Same scar near his left eyebrow.
Rachel felt the room narrow.
“What happened to her?”
Claire did not answer.
Rachel grabbed her arm.
“What happened to that little girl?”
Claire swallowed.
“She came into this emergency department three times.”
“For what?”
Claire’s voice shook now.
“Unexplained sedation. Falls. Vomiting. Bruising.”
Rachel looked at Lucy.
Everything inside her went silent.
Travis stepped toward them.
“That proves nothing.”
Claire’s expression hardened.
“The third time she came in, I reported my concerns.”
Travis’s jaw tightened.
“You were a trainee nurse who wanted attention.”
“I was right.”
“No, you destroyed a family.”
Rachel turned sharply.
“What family?”
Travis looked at her and seemed to realize he had said too much.
Claire answered.
“Sophie’s mother was named Hannah.”
Rachel whispered, “Where is she now?”
Claire stared at Travis.
“I don’t know.”
Rachel looked at the record.
“Where is Sophie?”
This time Claire closed her eyes.
“When she was three, she was brought in unconscious.”
Rachel’s knees weakened.
“Did she die?”
“No.”
Rachel exhaled.
Claire continued.
“But after social services became involved, Travis disappeared with her before a full investigation could be completed.”
Rachel looked at him.
“That’s impossible.”
Travis shook his head.
“It is impossible.”
Claire kept talking.
“There was a custody dispute. Police searched for them. Then Sophie appeared six weeks later at a church in another state.”
Rachel’s heart hammered.
“Alone?”
Claire nodded.
“Someone had left her there.”
“And Travis?”
“Gone.”
Rachel turned.
Travis was moving toward the door.
“Stop.”
He kept walking.
Rachel’s voice rose.
“Travis.”
Hospital security appeared in the hallway.
Claire must have triggered an alert from the computer.
Travis stopped.
A security officer stepped into the doorway.
“Sir, we need you to remain here.”
Travis looked at Rachel.
His expression changed instantly.
The fear disappeared.
In its place came wounded disbelief.
“Rachel, you’re really going to let them treat me like this?”
The transformation was so familiar that Rachel almost responded automatically.
For years that look had worked.
It had made her apologize after arguments he started.
It had made her question memories she trusted.
Now she saw the machinery behind it.
“Did you have a daughter named Sophie?”
“No.”
Claire said, “Yes, he did.”
Travis raised his voice.
“She’s lying.”
Lucy stirred at the sound.
Rachel looked down.
The child’s heart rate increased on the monitor.
“Lower your voice.”
Travis ignored her.
“You know me.”
Rachel met his eyes.
“No.”
The word surprised both of them.
Travis blinked.
Rachel repeated it.
“No. I don’t think I do.”
Dr. Reed returned with another staff member.
Security remained by the door.
Travis realized the room had changed.
He was no longer the husband arriving to comfort his family.
He was a man surrounded by witnesses.
His face hardened.
“Fine. Ask Claire what happened to Hannah.”
Claire went still.
Rachel looked at her.
“What does he mean?”
Travis smiled for the first time.
It was a terrible smile.
“Ask her why Hannah never testified.”
Claire whispered, “Don’t.”
“Ask her,” Travis said.
Rachel’s stomach twisted.
Claire looked at Rachel.
“Hannah disappeared.”
“When?”
“Two days before the custody hearing.”
Rachel stared.
“Was she ever found?”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
Rachel slowly turned toward her husband.
Travis lifted both hands.
“You see? She’s blaming me for things nobody proved.”
Rachel looked at him for a long moment.
Then Lucy whispered through the oxygen mask.
“No Daddy juice.”
May you like
Everyone heard it.
Travis’s smile vanished.
