Chapter 6 - Tomorrow's AppointmentThe ultrasound clinic confirmed that Chloe had no appointment scheduled for tomorrow. The image was real but old, copied from a previous visit. Somebody had added a fresh stamp to make it look as though plans had already been made for her child.
“It's intimidation,” Lisa said. “The people sending it want you confused and frightened.”
“They've achieved frightened,” I replied. “Confused, not so much.”
Nora kept the forged document for investigators. She also made me sit down and eat a sandwich. I realized I hadn't tasted food all day.
“I'm going to tell you something you won't like,” she said. “Having worked investigations doesn't make you immune to doing something reckless. You nearly destroyed your own chance to help Chloe.”
“I thought she was dying.”
“I know. Your job now is to make certain her story survives, whether she wakes up tomorrow or next year.”
I told her about the match. Every word. She didn't interrupt. Then she arranged for me to give a formal statement to Ortiz, because the truth about my actions mattered too.
That evening we learned the bell's recording had been preserved for examination. An audio specialist found several hours of sound, but investigators needed to establish authenticity and context before relying on it.
A short excerpt was clear enough to make us all silent.
Chloe: “Please let me call my mother.”
Garrett: “You're signing the papers tonight.”
Evelyn: “You will not leave this family carrying our name into court.”
Then a crash, a scream, and another voice: a woman saying, “Stop. She's pregnant.”
“Rosa,” Theo whispered when Ortiz played the segment for him.
They had a witness inside the house. But when officers arrived to speak with Rosa, the staff told them she had resigned and left before dawn.
May you like
A few minutes later, a message reached Nora from an unknown number.
If you want Rosa alive, stop looking for her at the mansion.
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