Chapter 6 - the bride who ran barefoot
The police found Bianca three blocks from the ballroom.
She was barefoot, still wearing her wedding gown, and attempting to enter a black car parked behind a closed restaurant.
The driver escaped before officers reached the vehicle.
Bianca was taken back to the hotel for questioning, but she was not arrested immediately. Her lawyers arrived within twenty minutes.
By then, Ethan had moved Claire and Noah into a private sitting room away from the guests.
Claire stood near the window while Dr. Holloway examined Noah.
“He is fine,” the doctor said. “The noise frightened him, but there is no sign anyone hurt him.”
Ethan looked at the blanket.
“Someone reached for him when the lights went out.”
Claire nodded.
“Did you see who?”
“No.”
The question that followed seemed to cost him something.
“May I see him?”
Claire studied Ethan’s face.
He looked older than he had six months earlier. There were shadows beneath his eyes and tension in his jaw.
Part of her wanted to refuse.
Another part remembered the man who used to speak to children at foundation events as if they were the only people in the room. The man who had once stayed awake all night beside Claire when she was ill.
She shifted the blanket slightly so he could see Noah’s face.
Ethan took one careful step closer.
Noah opened his eyes.
They were dark blue.
Ethan’s eyes.
Ethan lowered his head.
“I didn’t know.”
Claire looked away.
“I know.”
“I should have found you.”
“You tried?”
“For months.”
“How?”
“I hired investigators. Your apartment had been cleared. Your phone was disconnected. Your employer said you resigned through an email.”
“I never resigned.”
“I know that now.”
“Why didn’t you question Bianca?”
“I did.”
“And you believed her?”
“I believed the evidence she gave me.”
Claire’s expression hardened.
“You chose the evidence that made your life easier.”
Ethan did not defend himself.
“Yes.”
The admission surprised her.
He continued.
“I told myself you had made a decision because that was less painful than admitting I might have failed you.”
“You did fail me.”
“I know.”
Noah made a small sound.
Ethan looked at him.
“What was the pregnancy like?”
Claire’s throat tightened.
“You don’t get to ask me that yet.”
He nodded slowly.
“You’re right.”
Dr. Holloway closed her bag.
“The police need Claire’s statement.”
Ethan looked toward the door.
“Bianca’s lawyers will try to stop the video from being admitted.”
“They can try,” Dr. Holloway said. “The restored footage has a verified chain of custody.”
“What about my father’s authorization?”
“The code is authentic.”
“That cannot be true.”
Claire turned toward him.
“Why?”
“My father died in a plane crash.”
“Was his body recovered?”
Ethan did not answer immediately.
“The aircraft went down over the Atlantic. Search teams recovered wreckage.”
“But not his body.”
“No.”
The room became quiet.
Ethan walked to the table and picked up the access card found in the corridor.
“This card was issued to an employee in the Vale Foundation’s hospital program.”
“Who?” Claire asked.
“Audrey Lane.”
“Do you know her?”
“She was my father’s executive assistant.”
“Was?”
“She disappeared two weeks after his plane went down.”
Dr. Holloway looked at the card.
“This was used on the night Claire was admitted and again tonight.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“Again?”
“The hotel’s security system recorded the card being placed against the ballroom’s electrical control panel seconds before the outage.”
Claire moved closer.
“Hospital cards can control hotel lights?”
“No,” Ethan said. “But Vale Global uses an encoded identification system across several private properties. This hotel was once owned by my family.”
“Then someone used the card to access a service area.”
“Yes.”
Dr. Holloway looked at Ethan.
“Who would know that?”
“My father.”
A knock came from the door.
An officer entered.
“Mr. Vale, Ms. Bennett, we need you in the adjoining room.”
“Why?”
“We recovered a phone from the vehicle Ms. Moretti tried to enter.”
Bianca was seated at a table when they arrived. Her wedding veil had been removed, and a gray coat covered her gown.
Celeste sat beside her attorney.
The officer placed the recovered phone inside an evidence bag.
“There was one unsent message on the screen.”
He turned it so they could read it.
The message contained only one line.
I failed to take the child.
Ethan’s hand closed into a fist.
Bianca stared at the table.
Claire stepped closer.
“Who were you sending that to?”
Bianca looked up.
Her eyes were wet, but Claire saw no remorse in them.
“You should never have brought Noah here.”
“You knew his name?”
Bianca’s face changed.
Claire had never told her.
Ethan moved between them.
“How did you know his name?”
Bianca looked toward Celeste.
Celeste remained perfectly still.
Then Bianca laughed.
It was not a happy sound.
“You all think this started six months ago.”
Claire felt a chill.
“When did it start?”
May you like
Bianca looked directly at Ethan.
“The day your father learned Claire existed.”
