Chapter 9 - THE EMPTY NURSERY
Hannah was discharged shortly after six that evening.
Dr. Patel made Ethan repeat the instructions back to her.
"No prolonged standing."
"Correct."
"Hydration."
"Correct."
"Call immediately if contractions return, if there is bleeding, severe headache, vision changes, sudden swelling, or decreased fetal movement."
"I understand."
Dr. Patel looked at Hannah.
"And I mean this seriously."
"I know."
"You are not responsible for keeping other adults comfortable."
Hannah's eyes filled.
"I know."
Ethan drove them to a hotel instead of home.
Hannah did not ask why.
She simply rested her head against the seat.
David had arranged two adjoining rooms under his firm's corporate account so the reservation would not immediately appear on Ethan's personal cards.
It felt excessive until Ethan remembered that someone had already opened credit in their names.
They entered through a side entrance.
Hannah sat on the edge of the bed while Ethan unpacked the small emergency bag the hospital had given them.
It contained a toothbrush, a T-shirt, and a few travel-sized toiletries.
Everything she had carefully packed for labor was still missing.
"I want to go home tomorrow."
Ethan looked at her.
"We will."
"I don't mean to live there tonight."
"I know."
"I want to see what they took."
"We'll go with someone."
"Police?"
"Maybe."
Hannah looked toward the window.
"I hate that this sounds like our house is a crime scene."
"It might be."
She closed her eyes.
"That makes it worse."
Ethan sat beside her.
"I keep thinking about every night I came home and asked how your day was."
"Don't."
"I believed Mom when she said she was helping."
"I know."
"I thanked her."
"Ethan."
"I thanked her for doing this to you."
Hannah took his hand.
"You didn't know."
"I should have."
"I hid things too."
"Because you were trying to keep peace."
"And because I didn't want to be the wife who made you choose between me and your family."
He looked at her.
"You were never supposed to have to compete with them."
"I know that now."
There was a knock at the adjoining door.
David entered with a laptop.
"I have something."
Ethan stood.
"The trust?"
"Part of it."
He set the laptop on the desk.
"First Meridian confirmed the trust exists."
"Will they talk to us?"
"They will talk to me because I sent them notice of a potential fiduciary dispute."
"What did they say?"
"Lorraine requested a distribution six weeks ago."
Hannah looked up.
"How much?"
"Four hundred thousand dollars."
Ethan stared at David.
"For what?"
"She listed preservation of family real estate."
"Fairmont."
"Probably."
"Was it approved?"
"Partially."
"How much?"
"One hundred and fifty thousand."
"Where did it go?"
"That is what we are tracing."
Hannah shook her head slowly.
"If she already got money from the trust, why take a loan in my name?"
David looked at Ethan.
"Excellent question."
"Maybe the trust money went somewhere else."
"Exactly."
Ethan paced.
"So she needed eighty-five thousand for Trevor's renovation invoice and used Hannah's credit to get it."
"Possibly."
"Where did the trust distribution go?"
David rotated the laptop.
"This is the account First Meridian sent it to."
Ethan read the bank name.
Then the last four digits.
He recognized them.
"That's Mom's household account."
"You have seen it?"
"I transferred money into it after Dad died."
"How much?"
"A few thousand at a time."
"Do you still have access?"
"No."
"Then we need statements by subpoena or consent."
Hannah looked at the transaction date.
"Six weeks ago."
"Yes."
"That was the week she moved into our house."
Ethan looked at her.
The timing was no longer a coincidence.
Lorraine requested trust money.
Then she moved in.
Then Madison arrived.
Then Hannah's mail began disappearing.
Then the documents appeared.
Then a loan was opened.
Then the camera system was removed when Ethan discovered the truth.
The pattern was becoming impossible to ignore.
David closed the laptop.
"There is more."
"Of course there is."
"First Meridian sent a letter to your home three weeks ago asking for documentation related to the expected successor event."
Hannah nodded.
"The opened letter."
"Yes."
"What documentation?"
"Proof of pregnancy and expected due date."
Ethan's face hardened.
"Why would they need that?"
"To prepare for trust transition."
"Did anyone respond?"
David looked at him.
"Yes."
The room went quiet.
"Who?"
"Someone using Hannah's name."
Hannah stood too quickly.
"What?"
Ethan reached for her.
"Sit down."
"What did they send?"
David's voice remained calm.
"A copy of an ultrasound report."
Hannah stared at him.
"From my medical folder."
"It appears so."
"What else?"
"A signed acknowledgment of the projected due date."
"I never signed that."
"I know."
"What did the letter say?"
David hesitated.
"There was a handwritten note attached."
"From who?"
"Supposedly from you."
"What did it say?"
David turned the laptop back around.
The scanned note was short.
Hannah read it once.
Then a second time.
Her hand moved to her mouth.
The handwriting was not hers.
But the message was written as if it were.
PLEASE DIRECT ALL FUTURE CORRESPONDENCE REGARDING THE CHILD'S TRUST TO LORRAINE COLE, WHO WILL ASSIST ME WITH FINANCIAL MATTERS BEFORE AND AFTER DELIVERY.
Ethan felt a cold anger settle into place.
"She was trying to insert herself into the baby's trust before the baby was even born."
David nodded.
"That is what it looks like."
Hannah stared at the screen.
"Can she do that?"
"Not legally with a forged authorization."
"But if nobody caught it?"
David did not answer.
He did not need to.
Ethan's phone rang.
Detective Brooks.
"Mr. Cole, I have preliminary news on the recorder."
"Were the videos deleted?"
"Yes."
Ethan closed his eyes.
"All of them?"
"Most."
"Can you recover anything?"
"Our technician recovered fragments from several dates."
"What kind of fragments?"
"Kitchen footage. Hallway footage. Audio."
Ethan looked at Hannah.
"Does it show last night?"
"Not yet."
"Then what does it show?"
Detective Brooks was silent for a moment.
"There is a clip from nine days ago that I think you and your wife need to see."
"What happens in it?"
"Your mother and sister are in the nursery."
Hannah's face drained of color.
"What are they doing?"
Detective Brooks answered carefully.
May you like
"They are discussing what needs to happen before the baby is born."
