CHAPTER 9 — THE WOMAN IN THE HALLWAY
My father doubled security around the estate.
No visitors entered without being searched.
Every employee underwent a background check.
The hospital provided a list of everyone who had access to my floor.
Doctors.
Nurses.
Cleaning staff.
Food service workers.
One temporary employee appeared under two different names.
She had entered my room at 3:14 a.m., claiming she needed to check the oxygen system.
There was no oxygen system in my room.
Security footage showed her leaving four minutes later.
She had taken the photograph.
Investigators identified her as Dana Pike, a private caregiver who had once worked for Gillian’s sister.
Evelyn turned the information over to the police.
By evening, Dana’s photograph had been circulated to local hospitals and transportation agencies.
At seven the following morning, the estate gate received a call.
A woman claimed she was a lactation consultant sent by Toby’s pediatrician.
The appointment did not exist.
Security asked her to remain outside while they verified her identity.
She drove away.
The license plate belonged to a stolen vehicle.
Two officers followed.
The car was abandoned three miles away.
Inside, they found infant formula, blankets, a portable bassinet, and a signed authorization claiming Jasper had permission to take Toby for a medical evaluation.
His signature was genuine.
I stared at the document.
“He was going to take him.”
Evelyn chose her words carefully.
“We know Jasper signed an authorization. We do not yet know what he believed he was authorizing.”
“He filed for custody. He planted recordings. He threatened me.”
“The threat has not been directly connected to him.”
“Everything is connected to him.”
My father placed a hand on my shoulder.
“We’ll prove it.”
Jasper was questioned that afternoon.
He claimed Gillian had told him Toby needed an independent medical examination.
He said he had signed the authorization without understanding how it would be used.
It was the same defense he always used.
He hadn’t known.
He hadn’t understood.
He had trusted the wrong person.
But Jasper never extended that excuse to anyone else.
Priscilla contacted Evelyn before the questioning ended.
She wanted immunity.
“She isn’t receiving full immunity,” Evelyn said. “But prosecutors may consider cooperation.”
Priscilla arrived at the district attorney’s office with two phones and a laptop.
She confessed to impersonating me at the notary office.
She admitted Gillian had provided my identification.
She admitted Jasper had planned the forged guarantee.
Then she explained why Jasper had refused to take me home from the hospital.
The lunch wasn’t simply a family celebration.
Jasper intended to meet Malcolm afterward.
They believed I would be alone, exhausted, medicated, and frightened.
Jasper planned to return that evening with transfer documents.
He intended to tell me the company would collapse unless I signed them.
Priscilla handed the prosecutor a video recorded during lunch.
In it, Jasper raised a glass and smiled.
“By tonight, Hailey will either sign everything—or learn what happens when she stops being useful.”
Then Gillian asked the question no one expected.
“And if she refuses?”
May you like
Jasper looked directly toward the camera.
“Then we use the baby.”
