Chapter 8 - BEHIND THE LOCKED DOOR
The supply room smelled like disinfectant and clean linen.
Mae pulled Owen inside.
Then shut the door.
“Do not step into that hallway until I come back.”
Leah stared at her.
“Not even if your husband knocks.”
“What’s happening?”
Mae put one finger to her lips.
Footsteps approached outside.
Then Doreen’s voice came through the wall.
“Once the psychiatric hold is signed, the baby leaves with family.”
Leah stopped breathing.
“Leah doesn’t get a choice.”
Nathan answered.
“What if she refuses the evaluation?”
“Then refusal becomes evidence.”
Leah pressed one hand against her mouth.
Nathan spoke again.
“Adrian Wells is downstairs.”
Doreen’s voice sharpened.
“Keep him there.”
“He has the trust documents.”
“Then we move before he uses them.”
Leah looked toward Mae.
Mae’s face was white with anger.
The psychiatrist spoke next.
“I need an actual clinical basis.”
Dr. Rusk answered.
“She’s paranoid.”
“About what?”
Doreen said.
“She believes family members are conspiring to take the baby.”
Silence.
The psychiatrist responded.
“That belief is not delusional if you are, in fact, discussing custody.”
Leah almost laughed from shock.
Doreen’s voice cooled.
“You were paid to evaluate her.”
“I was paid by the hospital to evaluate a patient.”
The plan was cracking.
Then Nathan said.
“Mom, maybe we should stop.”
Leah closed her eyes.
Too late.
Doreen answered.
“Fourteen million dollars activates today.”
The hallway went silent.
There it was.
Not grief.
Not concern.
Money.
“You think Leah will let you control it once she learns about Simone?”
Nathan whispered.
“She already knows.”
Doreen said nothing.
Nathan continued.
“She knows everything.”
A sharp sound followed.
Maybe Doreen hitting the wall.
Then she hissed.
“You idiot.”
Mae quietly took out her phone.
The recorder was running.
Leah stared at her.
Mae nodded once.
The hallway conversation continued.
Doreen said.
“If Leah leaves with that baby, we lose the trust.”
Nathan’s voice cracked.
“He’s my son.”
“Exactly.”
“You are his father.”
“You become guardian.”
“You become trustee.”
Nathan whispered.
“She’ll never forgive me.”
Doreen answered.
“You don’t need forgiveness.”
“You need control.”
Leah felt something inside her marriage die completely.
Then Owen made a small sound.
Everyone outside went silent.
Footsteps approached the supply-room door.
Nathan knocked.
“Leah?”
Mae looked directly at her.
Do not answer.
Nathan knocked again.
“Leah, I know you’re in there.”
May you like
She closed her eyes.
And stayed silent.
