Chapter 5 - The Child No One Was Supposed to Find
Matthew ended the call with his mother and sat alone for nearly a minute without moving.
Forty-seven letters.
Forty-seven chances for the truth to reach him.
Forty-seven times someone had decided he did not deserve to know he had a child on the way.
Nina entered the consultation room quietly.
"Are you all right?"
Matthew looked at her.
"No."
She waited.
"My mother knew Anne was pregnant."
Nina's expression did not change at first.
Then the meaning reached her.
"Sarah?"
"Anne told them the baby was mine."
Nina pulled out the chair across from him and sat.
"Did your mother believe her?"
"Enough to hide forty-seven letters."
Nina closed her eyes.
"Matthew, I am sorry."
He shook his head.
"Save that for later."
He stood.
"Right now I need facts."
They returned to the ICU corridor.
Sarah had fallen asleep against Maya's side with Luna tucked under her chin.
The cardboard box sat at her feet.
Matthew stopped several yards away.
The sight of her sleeping hurt more than the photograph had.
She was small enough that both feet barely reached the edge of the chair.
If Anne had told the truth, Matthew had missed Sarah's first breath, first word, first step, first day of school, every fever, every nightmare, and every birthday.
He had missed them because people who claimed to love him had decided control mattered more than truth.
Maya looked up.
"You found something."
Matthew kept his voice low.
"Anne told my family she was pregnant before she disappeared."
Maya's eyes sharpened.
"Does that make you Sarah's father?"
"It makes it possible."
"Possible is not enough for me to change how I handle her care."
"I am not asking you to."
Maya studied him.
"Good."
Matthew sat in the chair across from Sarah.
Her hand was still wrapped around one of Luna's cloth arms.
He noticed a crooked row of stitches along the doll's chest.
The thread was newer than the faded floral fabric around it.
He remembered Sarah saying Anne hid important things close to the heart.
He looked away before curiosity became intrusion.
Detective Bell returned with a paper cup of coffee and a new expression.
"Traffic cameras are a problem."
Matthew stood.
"Why?"
"Three city cameras cover the intersection where Anne was hit."
"And?"
"All three lost video for the same fourteen-minute period."
Nina frowned.
"Equipment failure?"
Bell looked at her.
"On three separate systems at exactly the same time?"
"No."
"The city network shows a remote maintenance login seven minutes before the collision."
Matthew felt the hairs rise on his arms.
"From where?"
"We are tracing it."
Bell took a sip of coffee.
"There may be a bus camera that caught part of the intersection."
"May be?"
"The transit authority is pulling the data now."
Matthew nodded.
Bell lowered his voice.
"There is another issue."
"What?"
"Someone called the precinct asking whether Anne Miller survived."
"Who?"
"The caller claimed to represent your legal department."
Nina's face hardened.
"Our legal department would never call a precinct for medical status."
"I know."
Bell looked at Matthew.
"They used the name Gavin Cole."
Matthew swore under his breath.
Gavin was Sullivan Holdings' general counsel.
"Did Gavin make the call?"
"We do not know."
"I can ask him."
"Do not."
Bell's voice became flat.
"Every time you warn someone that we are looking, you make my job harder."
Matthew nodded.
"Understood."
Nina's laptop chimed.
She glanced at the screen.
"I found the badge request."
Matthew moved beside her.
"The temporary badge used by the man in gray was created at 6:12 this morning."
"Who authorized it?"
Nina stopped scrolling.
"Evan Price."
Matthew felt something inside him turn to ice.
Evan had told him he did not know Matthew was at Mercy General until the driver log supposedly showed it.
Now records showed Evan had authorized a security badge hours earlier.
"Call him," Bell said.
Matthew looked at him.
"You just told me not to warn people."
"I want to hear what he says when you ask something harmless."
Matthew understood.
He called Evan and put the phone on speaker in the consultation room.
"Mr. Sullivan."
Evan sounded calm.
"I need the badge access list for temporary contractors today."
"Any particular reason?"
"Hospital security asked us to verify an identity."
A pause.
"I can send it."
"Did you personally approve any temporary badges this morning?"
Another pause.
"No."
Matthew looked at Bell.
Bell wrote one word on his notebook.
Lie.
"You are sure?"
"Positive."
"Send me the log."
"Within the hour."
Matthew ended the call.
Nina turned the laptop toward Bell.
"His credentials approved it."
Bell photographed the screen.
"Credentials can be stolen."
Matthew nodded.
"But he just said positive without checking."
"That interests me more."
A soft cry came from the hallway.
Matthew opened the door.
Sarah was awake and calling for her mother.
Maya had one arm around her.
"She had a nightmare."
Sarah wiped her face angrily.
"I was not crying."
Matthew crouched a few feet away.
"Of course not."
Sarah glared at him.
"Do not lie to me."
He almost smiled.
"Then yes, you were crying."
"I hate this place."
"That seems fair."
"I want Mommy."
"I know."
She looked at him with sudden suspicion.
"Are you going to take me somewhere?"
Matthew's stomach tightened.
"No."
"A lady said I might have to go with another family if Mommy stays asleep."
Maya sighed.
"That is not exactly what I said."
Sarah ignored her.
"I am not going."
Matthew sat in the chair beside her.
"Nobody is taking you anywhere right now."
Maya gave him a warning look.
"We do need a temporary care plan if Anne cannot make decisions for an extended period."
Sarah's face crumpled.
"I can make my own decisions."
"Some of them," Maya said gently.
"Not all of them."
Sarah turned to Matthew.
"Can I stay with you?"
The question hit him so hard that for a second he could not answer.
Maya intervened.
"Sarah, we do not know whether Mr. Sullivan is family."
Sarah folded her arms.
"He is in Mommy's picture."
"That is not the same thing."
Sarah looked at Matthew.
"Would you let me?"
Matthew chose each word carefully.
"If your mom wanted that, and if the hospital and the people responsible for keeping you safe agreed, yes."
Sarah nodded as if filing the answer away.
"You did not say yes."
"I said I would not make that decision without your mom."
She considered him for a long moment.
"That is better."
Maya looked almost relieved.
A nurse approached Sarah with a small tray of food.
Sarah stared at the sandwich.
"Mommy has not eaten."
"Your mom is getting what she needs through her IV," the nurse said.
Sarah still did not touch the food.
Matthew sat across from her and opened the second sandwich from the tray.
"Then I will eat too."
"Are you hungry?"
"No."
"Then why?"
"Because sometimes people need someone else to do the first hard thing."
Sarah looked at the sandwich.
Then she took one bite.
Matthew did the same.
For several minutes, they ate in silence.
Nina stepped away to answer a call.
When she returned, her face had changed.
"Matthew."
He stood.
"What?"
"Your mother just arrived downstairs."
His jaw tightened.
"I told her not to come."
"She is not alone."
"Richard?"
Nina shook her head.
"Two private security officers."
Matthew glanced at Sarah.
"Keep her here."
Maya immediately objected.
"You do not instruct me."
Matthew looked at her.
"Then I am asking you."
"That I can work with."
He went to the elevator lobby.
Victoria Sullivan stepped out wearing a camel coat and dark glasses despite the gray day.
Two broad-shouldered men followed her.
Matthew did not greet her.
"Leave the security downstairs."
Victoria removed her glasses.
Her eyes were swollen.
"I came to see you."
"Then leave them downstairs."
She nodded to the men.
They returned to the elevator.
Matthew led her into the empty consultation room.
"Where are the letters?"
"At my house."
"Why did you come without them?"
"Because there is something you need to know before you read them."
"I am done receiving edited versions of my life."
Victoria flinched.
"Richard did not only threaten Anne with her father's debt."
Matthew waited.
"He threatened to accuse her of stealing from the Sullivan Foundation."
"Did she steal?"
"No."
"Then why would that work?"
Victoria looked at him.
"Because he had already moved money through accounts under her employee credentials."
Matthew felt anger rise slowly.
"He framed her."
"Yes."
"And you helped him."
Victoria lowered her eyes.
"Yes."
Matthew turned away before he said something he could not take back.
Victoria continued.
"Anne agreed to leave because Richard said he would send her to prison before the baby was born."
Matthew faced her again.
"She was protecting Sarah."
"She was protecting both of you."
"Do not make this sound noble on your part."
"I am not."
Victoria wiped her face.
"I am telling you because Richard learned something three weeks ago."
"What?"
"Anne contacted the probate attorney who drafted your grandfather's descendant trust."
Matthew's pulse changed.
"Why?"
"She asked what proof would be required for a child to claim rights under it."
"How did Richard find out?"
"The attorney's office called Sullivan legal to verify an old document."
Matthew understood immediately.
"That call reached Gavin."
Victoria nodded.
"Then Gavin told Richard."
"How do you know?"
"Because Richard came to my house that night."
"What did he say?"
Victoria looked toward the hallway as if the walls themselves might be listening.
"He said the girl should never have been allowed to exist on paper."
Matthew's blood went cold.
"Exact words?"
"Exact words."
"Why did you not call me?"
Victoria began to cry again.
"Because I was a coward."
Matthew stared at her.
For once, he believed every word.
A knock struck the door.
Detective Bell entered without waiting.
"Mr. Sullivan, I need you in the hall."
Matthew saw his face and knew something was wrong.
"What happened?"
"Someone used a Sullivan legal credential to request Sarah's temporary custody file from hospital social services."
Maya appeared behind him holding a printed access log.
"The request was made twelve minutes ago."
Victoria went pale.
Matthew looked at the name attached to the request.
Richard Sullivan.
Before anyone could speak, Sarah screamed from the ICU corridor.
Matthew ran.
He reached her room to find a nurse holding Sarah behind her while a man in an expensive suit stood at the doorway.
The stranger carried a leather folder stamped with a family court seal.
"I have an emergency placement order," he said.
Matthew stopped between him and Sarah.
"For whom?"
The man's eyes moved past him to the child.
May you like
"Sarah Miller."
