Chapter 9 - Two Men With One Name
The man at the hospital had left before security could stop him.
Camera footage showed him wearing a cap, a medical mask, and a federal identification badge. He never entered Lily’s room, but he spent forty seconds near the nurses’ station before disappearing down a service staircase.
Adrian ordered Lily transferred to a private medical facility owned by a trusted company partner.
Only the doctor, hospital director, and Adrian’s head of security received the new location.
Emma remained at the estate while officers searched the property.
She wanted to go to Lily, but Jonah warned that anyone following Emma might discover the transfer route.
The decision felt unbearable.
Every part of her wanted to hold her baby.
But protecting Lily required Emma to become the visible target.
She stood inside the library while Jonah examined the false federal badge.
“Could Grant create this?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Could my father?”
Jonah did not answer immediately.
“Yes.”
Adrian entered with Caleb.
“The vehicle used in the escape was found near the river.”
“Any sign of my parents?”
“No.”
“Grant?”
“No.”
Adrian placed a phone on the desk.
“But we found this.”
The phone belonged to Vivian.
Most of the data had been erased remotely.
One audio message remained.
It was from Grant.
“Everything changes if Thomas reaches the child first. Take Richard to Site Twelve. Do not contact Adrian. Do not trust Jonah.”
Emma looked toward the investigator.
“Everyone keeps telling us not to trust you.”
Jonah gave a tired smile.
“It is becoming repetitive.”
“Why would Grant warn Vivian about you?”
“Because I have investigated him for two years.”
“Or because you are working with my father.”
Jonah met her eyes.
“I did communicate with someone claiming to be Thomas.”
“You kept that secret.”
“Yes.”
“You followed Grant’s instructions by bringing us to the estate.”
“I followed evidence.”
“And someone used your identity to approach Lily.”
Jonah removed his badge and weapon, placing both on the desk.
“I will submit to an internal investigation.”
Adrian studied him.
“You are not leaving.”
“Am I being detained?”
“No. You are helping us find Site Twelve.”
Caleb had already searched the Vale Group property records.
There was no Site Twelve.
Emma remembered something from childhood.
“My father numbered his workshops.”
She used Caleb’s laptop to search old Hart Foundation insurance records.
Sites One through Eleven were ordinary properties.
Site Twelve appeared only once.
A storage facility near the mountain road where Thomas supposedly died.
The property had been destroyed in the same fire.
Or so the insurance report claimed.
Satellite records showed a building still standing there.
Adrian arranged a police escort.
Before leaving, Emma changed into dry clothes from the suitcase Caleb had retrieved from the hospital.
Inside the pocket of her coat, she found a folded paper she had not placed there.
It was a bank withdrawal slip.
The amount was $600,000.
The remaining balance from the account in her name had been withdrawn in cash despite Jonah’s freeze.
The authorization contained Emma’s signature.
Beneath it, written by hand, were six words.
You signed this one yourself, Emma.
A memory returned.
Three years earlier, shortly before her wedding, Grant had brought a stack of documents to her apartment. He said they concerned the marriage agreement and her father’s closed foundation.
Emma had signed dozens of pages.
One page had been blank except for a small line at the bottom.
Grant said it was a standard verification sheet.
May you like
Emma had signed it.
She had given him the final piece he needed.
