Chapter 5 - Someone in the Bathroom
Rebecca pulled me away from the bed.
Vanessa screamed.
Hope woke instantly.
Her cry cut through the dark.
I grabbed her bassinet with both hands and pulled it closer.
"Security!" Rebecca shouted.
No response.
The bathroom door remained closed.
Another knock came from inside.
Three slow taps.
Vanessa backed against the wall.
"Andrew."
"You think it's him?"
"I don't know."
Rebecca used her phone flashlight.
"Claire, stay behind me."
"No chance."
The bathroom handle moved.
Once.
Twice.
Then the door opened.
A hospital custodian stumbled out.
He looked terrified.
"Please don't scream."
Rebecca almost hit him with a metal water pitcher.
"What are you doing in there?"
"I'm sorry."
He held up both hands.
"I was fixing a leak when the lights went out. The door jammed."
I stared at him.
"Why didn't you answer?"
"I did."
None of us had heard.
Rebecca called security.
This time they answered.
The outage had affected only two rooms and one corridor.
Not an accident.
Someone had accessed a maintenance panel.
Security footage showed a man in hospital scrubs entering the area ten minutes earlier.
Face hidden behind a mask.
By the time the lights returned, he was gone.
The recording on Vanessa's phone suddenly felt much less theoretical.
Take Rebecca.
Grant arrived five minutes later with four private security guards.
I was furious when I saw him.
"How did you find us?"
He held up his phone.
"Rebecca called me."
I looked at her.
She shrugged.
"I prefer an unfaithful husband with bodyguards to a criminal cousin with hospital access."
Fair.
Grant saw Vanessa.
His face changed.
She looked away.
For several seconds they simply stared at each other.
Two people whose relationship had been built around a child and a lie.
Finally Grant said, "Is Mason Andrew's?"
Vanessa nodded.
Grant closed his eyes.
No yelling.
No rage.
That surprised me.
"What does Mason know?"
"Nothing."
"Good."
His voice broke on the word.
He had loved that boy.
Whatever else Grant was, that part had been real.
Vanessa started crying.
"I'm sorry."
Grant laughed bitterly.
"So am I."
"Grant—"
"Not here."
He turned away.
I understood something then that I hadn't expected.
Being deceived didn't automatically make Grant better.
But pain was forcing him to feel the weight of what he had done to me.
For once, he wasn't the person holding the secret.
He was the person discovering that the life he trusted had been manufactured.
And it hurt him exactly the way his betrayal had hurt me.
He looked toward Hope.
"Can I see her?"
"No."
He nodded.
No argument.
That was new.
Rebecca played him Andrew's recording.
When Grant heard the threat against her, his expression hardened.
"We go to the police."
Vanessa shook her head.
"Andrew owns people."
"Not all of them."
"He doesn't need all."
Rebecca said, "We need federal financial investigators."
Grant looked at her.
"Why federal?"
"Three hundred twelve million across shell entities and interstate transfers."
Vanessa added, "Some accounts are offshore."
Grant stared at her.
"How much evidence do you have?"
"A lot."
"Where?"
She hesitated.
"Not with me."
"Where?"
"My mother has it."
"Diane?"
"Yes."
Grant laughed once.
"Of course."
Vanessa flinched.
"She wanted to expose the Mercers for years."
"My father?"
"Your grandfather mostly."
"Then why involve me?"
"Because Andrew convinced us you were the same."
Grant looked toward me.
"I gave you plenty of evidence."
He deserved that.
Vanessa continued.
"When Claire married you, Andrew realized she would eventually receive voting rights."
"Eventually?"
"Your grandfather's trust has a marital clause. After two years of marriage, your spouse becomes a one-percent voting beneficiary."
Rebecca stared.
"Our anniversary was last month."
"Exactly."
I felt cold.
"So Andrew waited until my rights activated."
"Then pushed the sale."
"How did he plan to get my signature?"
Vanessa looked at Grant.
He went still.
"You," I whispered.
Vanessa nodded.
"Andrew knew about our relationship. He knew Grant believed Mason was his."
Grant looked sick.
"He told you to pressure me."
"He told me Grant would protect Mason only if the Mercer estate formally recognized him."
"So the last-name issue?"
"Andrew's idea."
I looked at Grant.
"You let another man tell you what name your daughter deserved?"
His face reddened with shame.
"I didn't know it came from Andrew."
"But Vanessa told you."
"Yes."
"Why did you listen?"
Grant swallowed.
"Because I thought Mason was mine."
"That doesn't answer the question."
He looked at Hope.
Then at me.
"Because I was trying to keep both lives."
There.
The ugliest truth.
Not love.
Not confusion.
Greed.
He wanted me.
He wanted Vanessa's child.
He wanted his family's approval.
He wanted his inheritance.
He wanted no consequences.
"And when those lives collided," I said, "you chose the one you thought gave you a son."
Grant nodded.
My anger softened into something worse.
Disappointment.
"I loved you."
"I know."
"No, you don't."
His eyes filled.
"I know now."
"Too late."
"Yes."
Again, no defense.
I wasn't ready to forgive him.
Maybe I never would.
But his honesty was finally arriving.
Rebecca interrupted.
"We can dissect Grant's moral failures after we keep Andrew from abducting me."
"Fair."
Vanessa unlocked her phone.
"My mother has the files at a safe-deposit facility."
"Where?"
"Downtown."
"Bank?"
"No. Private storage."
Rebecca frowned.
"That's convenient."
"It's also secure."
Grant looked at Vanessa.
"Does Andrew know?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
Vanessa didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
"We move tonight," Grant said.
I laughed.
"You aren't moving anywhere."
"Andrew threatened Rebecca."
"And your plan is what? Walk into a trap?"
"I know him."
"Apparently not."
That hit.
Grant looked down.
Rebecca said, "Claire is right."
"Thank you."
"But we still need the evidence."
"I can go," Vanessa said.
"No," Grant and I said together.
We looked at each other.
Vanessa almost smiled despite everything.
Then her expression fell.
"My mother won't trust anyone else."
"Then she comes here," Rebecca said.
"She won't."
"Why?"
"Because Harrison is here."
Grant frowned.
"At the hospital?"
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"My mother has been watching him for thirty years."
That family needed therapy more than it needed money.
Grant received an update.
Harrison was conscious.
Stable.
Demanding to leave.
Of course.
Bell wanted Grant upstairs.
Rebecca suggested he go.
Before Grant left, he looked at Hope again.
"Claire."
"No."
"I wasn't going to ask."
"What then?"
"I wanted to say..."
He struggled.
"I was wrong about her name."
I said nothing.
"Bennett suits her."
Then he left.
I hated that the sentence affected me.
Not enough to change anything.
But enough to hurt.
Vanessa sat quietly.
"Do you hate me?"
I looked at her.
"Yes."
She nodded.
"I understand."
"But I don't hate Mason."
Her eyes filled.
"Thank you."
"He didn't choose any of this."
"No."
"Neither did Hope."
Vanessa looked down.
"I know."
Rebecca stood.
"I'm going to contact federal counsel I trust."
I pointed at Andrew's recording.
"Not alone."
"I'm walking ten feet into the hallway."
"You were threatened."
She rolled her eyes.
"Fine."
One of Grant's guards accompanied her.
Vanessa and I were alone.
Hope slept.
For several minutes neither of us spoke.
Then Vanessa whispered, "Grant did love you."
I stared at her.
"Don't."
"I'm not defending him."
"Then don't tell me what he felt."
"You're right."
Silence.
She twisted her fingers.
"He talked about you."
"I said don't."
"Not romantically."
I almost laughed.
"What a relief."
"He was scared of disappointing you."
That made me look at her.
"Grant?"
"Yes."
"He doesn't fear disappointment. He creates it professionally."
She smiled weakly.
"He said you believed he was better than he actually was."
My throat tightened.
"He was right."
"I think that's why he lied so much."
"That's a coward's explanation."
"Yes."
At least she didn't argue.
"My mother used to say the Mercers were born believing love was something you negotiated."
"Maybe she's right."
"She was wrong about one thing."
"What?"
"She thought revenge would fix what happened to her family."
Vanessa looked at Hope.
"It didn't."
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
For the first time, I felt angry instead of afraid.
WHO ARE YOU?
A reply came.
SOMEONE WHO OWES YOUR DAUGHTER THE TRUTH.
I typed:
THEN STOP PLAYING GAMES.
Nothing.
I continued:
IF YOU KNOW ANDREW'S PLAN, TELL ME.
A minute passed.
Then:
ANDREW ISN'T THE ONE WHO STARTED THIS.
My skin prickled.
WHO DID?
The typing indicator appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Finally:
HARRISON.
I showed Vanessa.
Her face drained.
"What?"
"My mother said the same thing."
"Meaning what?"
Vanessa grabbed her phone.
"She told me Andrew didn't invent the sale."
"Who did?"
"Harrison."
"But Harrison warned us."
"Maybe because the plan changed."
I thought about Bell.
Harrison feeding us evidence.
Harrison blaming Andrew.
Harrison knowing Diane thirty years earlier.
"What if Andrew really stole the money," I said, "but Harrison planned to use the sale for something else?"
Vanessa nodded slowly.
"Or Harrison let him steal."
"Why would he?"
"To create a reason to sell Meridian."
"Then why care about my signature?"
"Because he needs it."
The anonymous sender messaged again.
ASK HARRISON WHAT HAPPENED TO DIANE'S FATHER.
Vanessa went completely still.
"Your grandfather?"
"My grandfather died in 1997."
"How?"
"Heart attack."
Her voice weakened.
"At least that's what my mother was told."
We stared at each other.
Another message.
HE DIDN'T HAVE A HEART ATTACK.
Vanessa stood so quickly her chair fell.
"No."
I typed:
WHAT HAPPENED?
The response came immediately.
HE WAS GOING TO EXPOSE HARRISON.
My pulse hammered.
Then one final message appeared.
IF YOU WANT THE PROOF, OPEN THE SUPPLEMENT BAG GRANT BROUGHT YOU.
Vanessa and I looked toward the counter.
The pharmacy bag was still there.
Untouched.
I slowly reached inside.
Beneath the vitamin bottles was a small black flash drive.
May you like
And taped to it was a handwritten note.
CLAIRE, IF HARRISON FINDS THIS FIRST, REBECCA DIES.
