Chapter 3 - The Woman Who Died Twice

Damon stared at the name until the letters stopped making sense.

He remembered Hannah dancing barefoot at their wedding, pulling his hands away from his pockets and telling him to stop looking like a man waiting for a fight. She had believed he could be tender long before he believed it himself. On the screen, that same woman looked terrified.

Hannah Vale had died in a highway collision seven months pregnant, or so the official story went. The baby had been delivered alive. Damon had buried an empty future and brought Noah home alone.

But his screen displayed a video file named FOR DAMON IF SOMETHING HAPPENS.

"Do not open that here," Grant said.

Damon raised his eyes. "How do you know what it is?"

Grant's jaw shifted. "I don't. Security risk."

"Then stop acting like you do."

He pressed play. Hannah appeared in a dim room, wearing the gray sweatshirt she had stolen from him years earlier. Her cheeks were hollow. Her voice trembled.

"Damon, if you're seeing this, someone finally released the file. I didn't trust anyone else with it."

Damon leaned forward until his forehead nearly touched the screen.

"I found records at Aster Medical," Hannah continued. "They were altering newborn test results. There are babies who disappeared from the paperwork. I asked too many questions."

Celeste made a soft noise. Damon did not look up.

"If something happens to me," Hannah said, "keep our child away from Nathan Cross. And don't trust the man who says he's protecting you."

The video cut off.

Grant was already walking forward. "That could be a fabrication."

"Who's Nathan Cross?" Maya asked.

No one answered.

Damon stood, his son safely in Maya's arms for the moment. "Grant. You told me the crash was random. You told me the investigator cleared everyone."

"He did."

"Why does my wife name a man I never heard of?"

"Grief makes people suspicious."

Damon stepped closer. "She was scared. Not confused."

An alarm chimed from the cockpit. The jet dipped slightly as it entered rough air, and Maya secured herself in the nearest seat with Noah.

The chief flight attendant hurried out with a sheet of paper. "Mr. Vale, the airport changed our landing clearance."

"To where?"

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Her hands shook as she showed him the diversion notice.

The destination had changed from Denver to a private airstrip owned by Aster Medical Holdings.