Chapter 3 - Unit 317
By the time Detective Cole reached the parking lot, the black car was gone.
Claire spent the next hour fighting every instinct telling her to leave the hospital herself.
Rebecca refused to allow it.
Daniel threatened to personally restrain her.
Cole contacted traffic control and began tracing the vehicle.
Adrian returned after hearing Chloe had been taken.
His reaction told Claire something uncomfortable.
He was genuinely terrified.
"Who knew about the pregnancy?" Cole asked.
Claire shook her head.
"No one."
Adrian looked at her.
"Not even Rebecca?"
"No."
"Your mother?"
"No."
Claire had planned the announcement as a surprise.
Only her obstetrician knew.
Cole wrote something.
"What about the ultrasound?"
"It was in my purse."
Adrian frowned.
"Your purse was at home."
Claire looked at him.
"After the incident?"
"Yes."
Cole's eyes narrowed.
"Who had access to the house?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Claire understood.
"Chloe."
"She stayed until the ambulance came," Adrian said.
"Then where did she go?"
"I don't know."
Cole looked unimpressed.
Rebecca interrupted.
"Unit 317."
Cole nodded.
"We found the facility."
Claire sat straighter.
"Where?"
"Downtown. Mercer Storage."
"Samuel Mercer's?"
"His family owned it twenty years ago."
Claire looked at Adrian.
He seemed shocked.
"You didn't know?"
"No."
Cole left two officers outside Claire's room before going to the storage facility.
Adrian stayed.
For nearly an hour, neither spoke.
Finally Claire asked, "Did you love her?"
Adrian looked toward her.
"Chloe?"
"You know who."
He took too long.
Claire nodded.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For finally answering."
"I loved who she used to be."
Claire looked at him.
"And me?"
His eyes filled.
"I love you."
She felt nothing she wanted to feel.
"You stabbed me."
"I know."
"You threatened me."
"I know."
"Our children are dead."
His face broke.
"I know."
Claire looked away.
"Love isn't enough after that."
Adrian didn't argue.
Perhaps that was the first decent thing he had done since she woke.
Hours later, Cole returned carrying a sealed plastic bag.
Inside was a flash drive.
"Unit 317 was empty except for this."
Claire frowned.
"Where was it?"
"In a safe."
"The key?"
"Opened it."
Adrian stood.
"What's on the drive?"
Cole looked at Claire.
"We don't know yet."
Rebecca arranged for a forensic technician.
The drive contained hundreds of financial documents.
Shell companies.
Transfers.
Invoices.
Names.
At the center was Charles Bennett.
Adrian's father.
But one folder was different.
CLAIRE.
Claire opened it.
Photographs appeared.
Her leaving work.
Her buying groceries.
Her sitting at a restaurant.
Her entering her obstetrician's office.
Adrian went pale.
Someone had been following her.
Then they found a spreadsheet.
Dates.
Times.
Medications.
Claire recognized her routine.
Morning vitamins.
Tea.
Dinner.
Every line documented what she consumed.
Rebecca whispered, "My God."
Cole immediately called for a warrant on Claire and Adrian's home.
Claire looked at Adrian.
"You gave me those vitamins."
His face drained.
"They came from our pharmacy."
"Did you open the bottles?"
"No."
"Who bought them?"
"My assistant usually ordered household supplies."
"Who is your assistant?"
Adrian hesitated.
"Melissa Grant."
Claire knew Melissa.
Efficient.
Quiet.
Loyal to the Bennett family for almost fifteen years.
She had worked for Charles before Adrian.
Cole wrote down the name.
Then another file opened.
A video.
Samuel Mercer appeared on screen.
He looked tired.
"If you're watching this, I'm probably dead."
Adrian stepped closer.
Samuel continued.
"Charles Bennett has been moving company funds for years, but money isn't the worst thing I've found."
Claire felt Rebecca's hand close around hers.
Samuel looked directly into the camera.
"Charles believes blood is ownership. He controls his family the same way he controls his company."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"There are medical records. Private investigators. Payments to clinics."
Claire stared.
Samuel continued.
"If Adrian ever has a child, Charles intends to control that child from the beginning."
Adrian whispered, "What?"
Samuel looked frightened.
"I tried to warn Chloe. She thought Adrian deserved to know. I told her to stay away."
The video distorted.
Then Samuel said something that changed everything.
"Claire Bennett is not the first woman Charles has monitored."
A photograph appeared.
A young woman.
Dark hair.
Pregnant.
Adrian grabbed the desk.
"Mom."
Claire looked at him.
Adrian's mother had died when he was six.
He had been told it was a car accident.
Samuel's voice continued.
"Elizabeth Bennett tried to leave Charles with Adrian."
Adrian stopped breathing.
"She never made it."
The video ended.
Silence swallowed the room.
Adrian backed away.
Claire had never seen him look so lost.
Cole closed the laptop.
"We need to speak with your father."
Adrian laughed bitterly.
"Good luck."
"Why?"
"He's in Switzerland."
Rebecca checked her phone.
"Not anymore."
Everyone looked at her.
She turned the screen around.
Charles Bennett's private jet had landed two hours earlier.
In their city.
Adrian stared.
"He came back."
Cole's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
"What hospital?"
Claire's pulse jumped.
Cole ended the call.
"They found Chloe."
Adrian stepped forward.
"Where?"
"Abandoned vehicle near Riverside."
"Is she alive?"
"Yes."
Claire exhaled.
Cole looked at her.
"She was carrying something."
"What?"
"Another flash drive."
Claire's phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
One sentence.
YOUR HUSBAND ISN'T THE MAN WHO KILLED YOUR CHILDREN.
Claire stared at it.
Then another message appeared.
BUT HE KNOWS THE MAN WHO DID.
She looked up at Adrian.
He had received a message too.
His face went white.
"What?" Claire demanded.
Adrian slowly turned his phone toward her.
A photograph filled the screen.
Charles Bennett stood outside Claire's hospital room.
The photograph had been taken less than a minute earlier.
Then came three knocks.
Slow.
May you like
Deliberate.
The door handle turned.
