Chapter 3 - The Kidnapping Warrant
Nathan opened the front door but did not step aside.
Detective Warren stood with two uniformed officers.
He held a folder.
“We need Grace Bennett.”
Nathan looked past them.
Another unmarked vehicle waited near the gate.
“On whose complaint?”
Warren opened the folder.
“The legal guardian of Lily Bennett.”
Grace appeared behind Nathan.
“I am her legal guardian.”
Warren looked at her.
“According to the complaint, no.”
Nathan felt the air leave his lungs.
“Who filed it?”
The detective hesitated.
Then turned the page.
“Charles Whitmore.”
Victoria whispered from behind them.
“What?”
Nathan looked at her.
For once, her shock appeared genuine.
Grace shook her head rapidly.
“He has no legal relationship to my daughter.”
Warren held up another document.
“He claims the child’s identity documents are fraudulent.”
Grace’s mouth opened.
No sound came out.
Nathan reached for the paperwork.
Warren pulled it back.
“I cannot hand over the original.”
“Then read it.”
The detective studied him.
Nathan stared back.
Finally Warren spoke.
“The allegation says Ms. Bennett abducted the child from a private maternity clinic four years ago.”
Nathan almost laughed.
“That child is hers.”
Warren’s expression did not change.
“The complainant says otherwise.”
Grace grabbed the wall for balance.
Nathan turned toward her.
“What clinic?”
“St. Matthew’s.”
Nathan knew the name.
The private hospital had been owned by Whitmore Medical Holdings until three years earlier.
He looked at Victoria.
She seemed to understand the connection at the same time.
“My father owned that hospital.”
Grace’s voice became hollow.
“Yes.”
Nathan looked at Warren.
“Did you verify the records independently?”
“We have a birth certificate.”
“So does Grace.”
“We have hospital records.”
“Produced by a hospital controlled by the complainant.”
Warren’s face tightened.
“That is an argument for your attorney.”
Nathan’s expression became colder.
“You’re standing inside my house.”
“It’s my argument right now.”
Warren lowered his voice.
“Mr. Cole, do not make this harder.”
Grace stepped forward.
“I’ll go.”
Nathan turned sharply.
“No.”
“If I resist, they’ll take Lily too.”
Nathan glanced toward the sunroom.
Lily was watching through the glass.
Mrs. Alvarez held her against her skirt.
Nathan crouched beside Grace.
“You told me they prepared for this.”
“Yes.”
“Then we don’t play by their script.”
Grace’s eyes filled.
“You don’t understand who these people are.”
Nathan looked at her.
“I’m beginning to.”
He stood and called his attorney.
Elliot Crane answered on the first ring.
“Nathan?”
“I need an emergency injunction.”
“For what?”
“Custody.”
Nathan looked directly at Grace.
“And I need a paternity test recognized by the court.”
There was a pause.
Elliot’s voice changed.
“Nathan, where are you?”
“At home.”
“Do not say anything else on the phone.”
Nathan frowned.
“Why?”
“Because someone accessed your father’s sealed legal archive twenty minutes ago.”
Nathan felt cold.
“What was taken?”
“Nothing.”
Elliot paused.
“But one file was flagged for automatic release.”
Nathan lowered the phone.
Grace watched him.
“To whom?”
Elliot answered.
“You.”
Nathan glanced at the officers.
“Can you get here?”
“I’m seven minutes away.”
Detective Warren stepped forward.
“We’re done waiting.”
Nathan blocked him.
“No.”
Warren’s eyes hardened.
“Move.”
Nathan did not.
“I will cooperate with a valid warrant.”
“But before you take the mother of a four-year-old child from my house based on records produced by her accuser’s former hospital, you are going to document every injury on Grace’s body.”
Warren looked at Victoria.
Nathan continued.
“You will also secure the hockey stick.”
“You will retrieve the kitchen security footage from the cloud backup.”
“And you will record that my security system was remotely disabled moments before your arrival.”
Victoria whispered.
“Nathan.”
He turned.
“If you are innocent, you should want that too.”
She stopped speaking.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Dr. Patel arrived at the gate with a nurse.
Behind him, another car pulled in.
Elliot Crane stepped out carrying a black leather case.
He entered the foyer without greeting anyone.
Then he pulled Nathan aside.
“I received something from your father’s estate.”
Nathan stared at him.
“What?”
Elliot glanced toward Grace.
Then toward Victoria.
“Your father left instructions.”
“What instructions?”
Elliot’s face was pale.
“If Grace Bennett ever appeared in your life again, I was to give you this.”
He removed a sealed envelope.
Nathan recognized his father’s handwriting.
His name was written across the front.
Nathan tore it open.
Inside was a single page.
May you like
Four words had been written across the top.
VICTORIA KNOWS ABOUT LILY.
