Chapter 9 - Patricia’s Bargain
Madison did not get into Patricia’s car.“Where is Ethan?” she demanded.“Not with me.”“Then why are you here?”“Because I can keep you alive.”Lila stepped in front of Madison. “You sent him.”Patricia’s eyes shifted to the bruise on Lila’s face. “I sent no one.”“He said you knew about Owen.”Patricia’s mouth tightened. “Owen was reckless.”“He was murdered,” Madison said.Patricia looked toward the alley entrance. “We don’t have time for accusations.”“You threatened me at my door.”“I was trying to frighten you into leaving.”“Why?”“Because Ethan has access to the house, the hospital, your financial accounts, and the court process. If you remain predictable, he will use that against you.”Madison heard sirens in the distance. Reyes had sent officers, but the sound was too far away.“What did you put in my drink?” Madison asked.Patricia’s face changed.“You gave me a bottle of iron and magnesium.”“I gave you a sleep aid.”Lila stared at her. “Mom.”“A mild one.”“I was pregnant.”“You were exhausted.”“You knew I was bleeding.”Patricia opened the passenger door. “Get in.”“No.”“Then listen. Ethan planned to use the lock incident to establish that you were unstable. The medical emergency was not supposed to happen when it did.”Madison’s skin prickled. “What was supposed to happen?”“He wanted you to lose the baby.”Lila made a strangled sound.Patricia looked at Madison. “He told me the child would never be safe with you. He said if the pregnancy ended, you would break down and sign whatever he put in front of you.”“And you helped him?”“I helped him obtain the medication.”Madison’s grief arrived as rage. “You helped him hurt my daughter.”“I did not know he would inject you.”“You knew he was planning something.”“I knew he wanted leverage.”“You watched me.”“I watched the house.”“You watched me.”Patricia lowered her voice. “Ethan has a private facility outside the city. He keeps files there. Contracts, recordings, medical samples. If he has gone there, your evidence is in danger.”Reyes’s car turned into the alley.Patricia started the SUV. “Choose quickly.”Madison looked at Lila. Lila shook her head.“She’s telling the truth,” Lila said. “I saw Ethan take a case there last month.”“Why didn’t you tell me?”“Because I was afraid.”Patricia leaned across the passenger seat. “I can take you to the facility.”“And then what?”“You retrieve what you need.”“You expect me to trust you?”“No. I expect you to survive.”Reyes’s car stopped behind them. Officers stepped out.“Madison!” Reyes shouted. “Move away from the vehicle.”Patricia’s hand disappeared beneath the steering wheel.“She has a gun,” Lila whispered.Madison saw the dark shape near Patricia’s wrist. “Do you?”Patricia lifted her hand. It held a phone.“I have recordings,” she said. “If you arrest me, Ethan gets them.”Reyes approached with her weapon drawn. “Everyone out of the vehicle.”Patricia obeyed first. She raised both hands and stepped onto the pavement.“Detective,” she said, “your suspect is not me.”“You’re connected to an attempted assault and obstruction.”“I’m connected to a family that has been lying for years.”Reyes cuffed her.Madison gave the detective Owen’s phone and described the messages. Lila told the officers about Ethan’s attack.Patricia stood silently while they spoke. Then she looked at Madison.“The facility is in the old cannery district,” she said. “Unit fourteen.”“What’s inside?” Madison asked.“The original Nestor server.”“Why does Ethan keep it?”“Because it remembers what he has erased.”At the hospital, Rowan’s oxygen alarm began to sound.Madison ran toward the neonatal unit. A nurse blocked her at the door.“Her monitor dropped.”“Is she breathing?”“We’re assisting her.”Through the glass, Madison saw hands moving around her daughter’s tiny body.Her phone rang.Ethan.“Tell me,” he said, “did my mother offer you a ride?”Madison held the phone to her ear.“Where are you?”“You know where.”“Come home.”“I am home.”The incubator alarm stopped.The nurse lifted a thumb.Rowan was breathing again.Ethan’s voice turned soft. “You can keep chasing ghosts, Madison. But every time you leave, something happens to the baby.”The call ended.Reyes watched her face. “What did he say?”Madison looked through the glass at Rowan.“He knows about the facility,” she said.“Then we go there.”“No,” Madison replied. “We make him think we’re going.”
