Chapter 4 - BRITNEY MERCER
I stared at Britney's signature until the letters stopped looking like a name.
Britney Mercer.
Not Lane.
Not future Mercer.
Not a joking little fantasy written on hotel stationery.
Mercer.
Signed beneath a legal declaration concerning my children.
Three days before Bradley told me our marriage was over.
"How can she use his name when they are not married?"
The social worker closed the file.
"People can write almost anything on a form."
Amelia shook her head.
"Not if the form is sworn."
"Then she lied."
"Yes."
I looked at Dominic.
"Is this enough to stop them?"
"It is enough to make them explain themselves."
"That is not what I asked."
Amelia answered instead.
"The hospital will not release your children to Bradley while these documents are under challenge and while you are medically capable of expressing your wishes."
"What if I get worse?"
Nobody answered immediately.
That silence was an answer.
"Then we get a court order today."
Amelia gathered her papers.
"I am filing for emergency injunctive relief, exclusive temporary medical decision-making authority for you, and a protective order preventing either Bradley or Britney from removing the children."
"Can a judge do that this fast?"
"A judge can do many things quickly when premature infants are involved and somebody appears to have forged their mother's signature."
Dominic moved toward the door.
"I will have a car ready."
Amelia turned on him.
"You are not going to the courthouse."
"Why not?"
"Because every camera in Boston will follow you into the building, and Bradley's argument will become that Adriana has been captured by a dangerous man with a reputation."
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"Captured?"
"You know exactly what his lawyers will say."
I looked between them.
"What reputation?"
Neither answered fast enough.
I closed my eyes.
"Fantastic."
"Adriana."
"No."
I looked at Dominic.
"You do not get to step into my life during an emergency, tell me you are my father, and then expect me to ignore the part where hospital staff go quiet when you walk into a room."
Dominic pulled the chair closer again.
"What do you want to know?"
"Why people are afraid of you."
"Because I spent a long time making sure they had reasons to be."
The bluntness surprised me.
"That is not comforting."
"It was not meant to be."
"Did you hurt people?"
Amelia looked toward the door.
Dominic kept his eyes on me.
"Yes."
The word landed heavily.
"Did you kill people?"
He was silent.
I felt my stomach tighten.
"That silence is also an answer."
"There are things I will not discuss in a hospital room where every word could become part of a legal case."
"Convenient."
"Necessary."
I looked away.
"Then Bradley is right about one thing."
Dominic's face did not move.
"You are dangerous."
"Yes."
I turned back sharply.
"You admit it?"
"I would rather you know the truth about me than trust another man because he knows how to smile while he lies."
Bradley's face flashed through my mind.
I hated that Dominic had chosen exactly the right words.
"Then here is my rule."
"Name it."
"You do not threaten Bradley for me."
Dominic's eyebrows moved slightly.
"You do not touch him."
"Adriana."
"You do not send anyone to touch him."
"He tried to take your children."
"Then we beat him in court."
"Court is not always enough."
"It has to be enough for me."
He studied me for several seconds.
"All right."
"Say it."
"I will not harm Bradley or order anyone to harm him."
"Or Britney."
His mouth tightened.
"Or Britney."
"Thank you."
"Do not thank me yet."
"Why?"
"Because I did not promise not to investigate them."
Before I could answer, my nurse entered with a wheelchair.
"You have been cleared for a short NICU visit if you feel strong enough."
Nothing else mattered.
"Now?"
"Now."
The trip down the hall took less than five minutes and felt longer than the entire night.
Every movement pulled at my incision.
Every beep from another room made me look up.
Then the NICU doors opened.
I washed my hands exactly as instructed.
The nurse rolled me between two incubators.
Eli was first.
He looked impossibly small beneath the warm light.
His chest rose quickly.
I placed one finger through the opening.
His hand closed around the tip.
I stopped breathing.
"He knows you."
The NICU nurse smiled.
"Or he has a very strong grip."
I laughed quietly.
"He gets that from me."
I turned toward Rose.
She looked more fragile.
The sight of the equipment around her made my throat tighten.
"Can I touch her?"
"Yes."
I placed my hand carefully against her back.
She was warm.
Real.
Alive.
"Hi, Rose."
My voice cracked.
"You scared me."
Her tiny shoulder moved beneath my palm.
"You are allowed to scare me later."
I leaned closer.
"When you are sixteen and trying to sneak out."
The nurse smiled.
"Not now."
"Not now."
I stayed until the pain medication and exhaustion forced me back upstairs.
For those few minutes, Bradley disappeared from my mind.
Dominic disappeared too.
There were only two babies and the sound of machines keeping time around them.
When I returned to intensive care, Amelia was waiting.
"We have a hearing at two."
I looked at the clock.
It was 11:26.
"I am not leaving the hospital."
"You do not have to."
"The judge authorized video appearance."
"Bradley?"
"He will appear with counsel."
"Britney?"
Amelia's mouth tightened.
"We cannot locate her."
Dominic spoke from the window.
"She landed at Logan forty-three minutes ago."
Amelia turned slowly.
"How do you know that?"
"Public flight information."
"Do not lie to a lawyer before lunch."
Dominic almost smiled.
"Fine."
"A friend saw her."
I stared at him.
"She came back from Cabo?"
"Yes."
"With Bradley?"
"No."
"Where is he?"
"Boston."
That made no sense.
"His message said he was getting married in Cabo."
Amelia looked at Dominic.
"Was he ever there?"
Dominic answered carefully.
"We are checking."
My skin prickled.
The message had not said he was going to Cabo.
It had said he was getting married in Cabo.
I had filled in the rest because I was terrified and in pain.
"What if the wedding was a lie?"
Amelia's eyes narrowed.
"Then we ask why he wanted you to believe it."
At 1:58, a hospital technician set up the court video conference.
I wore a robe over my gown and tried to sit upright without showing how much it hurt.
Amelia sat beside me.
Dominic stayed out of camera range.
The judge appeared on screen.
Bradley appeared in another window with Graham Pike.
He had changed clothes.
He wore a charcoal suit and a pale blue tie I had bought him for our anniversary.
He looked rested.
That alone made me furious.
The judge began with formalities.
Then Graham spoke.
"Your Honor, my client is deeply concerned about his wife's sudden association with Mr. Dominic Russo, a man with a well-documented criminal history and a known capacity for intimidation."
There it was.
Exactly what Amelia had predicted.
Graham continued.
"Mr. Mercer believes his wife is medically vulnerable and being influenced at a moment when she cannot make informed decisions."
I leaned toward the microphone.
"I am sitting right here."
The judge raised one hand.
"Mrs. Mercer, your attorney will have a chance to respond."
I bit down on my anger.
Graham displayed the power of attorney.
He displayed the guardianship declaration.
He displayed the psychiatric affidavit.
Then he said something I was not prepared for.
"We also have text messages from Mrs. Mercer indicating paranoia, distrust of her husband, and an intention to disappear with the children."
Amelia looked at me.
"What messages?"
Graham shared the screen.
My name appeared above a series of texts.
I read the first one.
I cannot let Bradley find out where I am going.
The second said I am taking the babies somewhere no one can reach us.
The third said Dominic will protect me.
My blood ran cold.
I had never written any of them.
The judge asked when the messages were sent.
Graham answered.
"Between 3:15 and 4:02 yesterday afternoon."
I had been home alone then.
Or I had thought I was.
Amelia leaned toward the camera.
"We dispute authenticity and request immediate forensic preservation of all devices and carrier records."
Bradley's eyes met mine through the screen.
He looked almost sorry for me.
That expression made me want to tear the monitor from the wall.
The judge scheduled an evidentiary hearing for forty-eight hours later.
Until then, neither child could be removed from the hospital without a court order.
Bradley was denied unsupervised access.
The forged proxy would not control my care unless validated.
It was not everything Amelia wanted.
It was enough for that day.
The screen went dark.
I sagged against the pillow.
"He fabricated messages."
Amelia nodded.
"That is what it looks like."
"How?"
"We will find out."
My phone, sealed on the counter, began vibrating inside the evidence bag.
The nurse looked toward it.
Amelia put on gloves and checked the screen without opening the bag.
"Unknown number."
"Read it."
Her expression changed.
"Adriana."
"Read it."
She turned the screen toward me.
The message contained only one sentence.
Ask Dominic what really happened to your mother.
A second message arrived beneath it.
This one included a photograph.
It showed my mother standing beside a car on a rainy road the night she died.
Dominic was standing ten feet behind her.
May you like
At the bottom were two words.
Love, Britney.
