Chapter 11 - The Betrayal in the Briefcase
Victoria ran through the hospital corridor with Samantha behind her.The neonatal unit doors were sealed. A nurse stood crying beside a security guard.“Where is my son?” Victoria demanded.Elena came through the doors. “Noah is safe.”Victoria gripped her shoulders. “What happened?”“Devon entered using a temporary badge. He said he was delivering legal papers.”“Did he reach Noah?”“No. I saw him near the medication cart and called security.”Bell arrived with two officers. “Devon is in custody.”“Was he carrying a syringe?” Victoria asked.“Empty. We’re testing it.”Samantha looked stricken. “He’s been with me for eleven years.”“People can hide for a long time,” Bell said.Devon sat in an interview room, his hands cuffed to the table. Victoria watched through the glass.“I want to speak to him,” she said.“Absolutely not,” Samantha replied.“He came for my baby.”“Exactly.”Victoria turned to the detective. “Did he admit it?”“He says he was trying to protect you.”“From what?”Bell opened the door.Devon looked at Victoria with red-rimmed eyes. “Charles told me he’d kill my daughter.”“Everyone says Charles threatened someone.”“Because he does.”“You stole a legal document.”“I stole the forged agreement so Charles couldn’t use it.”“You took the evidence drive.”“I replaced it with a copy.”Samantha’s face hardened. “You lied to me.”“I was trying to keep you alive.”“You were working for Charles.”“At first.”Victoria sat across from him. “And the syringe?”Devon looked at the floor. “It was saline.”Bell said, “The lab will confirm.”“Why enter the NICU?”“To access the security camera system. Charles wanted to know who was guarding you.”Victoria’s voice went cold. “You were mapping the hospital.”“I was trying to stop him.”“You don’t get to call that protection.”Devon swallowed. “He has someone inside the district attorney’s office.”Bell leaned forward. “Who?”“I don’t know the name.”“Then why should we believe you?”“Because Charles told me the second key was in Samantha’s briefcase.”Samantha went still.Victoria looked at her. “Is it?”Samantha opened her briefcase and removed a false-bottom panel.Under it lay a brass key.“Lucas gave this to me the night before he died,” she said.Victoria felt betrayed all over again. “You had it.”“He told me to hold it until you were ready.”“Ready for what?”“To open the original trust vault.”“There is a vault?”“At the company headquarters.”Devon laughed bitterly. “Charles knew about it. He was going to use Victoria’s forged signature to claim the contents.”Bell said, “What’s in the vault?”Samantha met Victoria’s eyes. “The original share certificates. Your mother’s freight-company records. And a recording Lucas made with an outside auditor.”“Why didn’t you tell me?”“Because I suspected my office was compromised.”“You suspected Devon.”“I suspected everyone.”Victoria stood. “You don’t get to decide what I can handle.”Samantha’s expression cracked. “You’re right.”The lab report arrived before midnight. The syringe contained saline.Devon was charged with trespassing and evidence tampering, but Bell arranged protective custody for his daughter.“He may still testify,” Bell said.Victoria watched through the NICU glass. Noah slept, his fist curled beside his cheek.“I need the vault,” she said.Samantha nodded. “We’ll open it tomorrow.”Courtney stood at the end of the hall.“You shouldn’t be here,” Victoria said.Courtney held up a piece of paper. “I found this in Charles’s office.”It was a typed list of names.Samantha read it and stiffened.“These are jurors,” she said.“For what case?” Victoria asked.“No case has been filed.”Bell took the page.At the bottom, beside Victoria’s name, Charles had written a single instruction.MAKE HER LOOK CRAZY BEFORE THE VAULT OPENS.
