CHAPTER 9: The Man in the Black Car

Martin West did not step out of the car.
Power often preferred a lowered window.
"Grant," he called, as if the morning had been a misunderstanding between gentlemen. "We should talk before this becomes uglier."
Hannah moved Noah behind her.
Grant stood between them and the curb. "You can speak through my attorney."
Martin's smile cooled. "Attorneys are expensive. So are clinics. So are custody wars. Miss Reed should understand the price of refusing reasonable help."
"Reasonable help?" Hannah asked.
Martin lifted one hand. His driver passed an envelope through the window. "A home. Medical coverage. Education for the boy. In exchange for privacy and a cooperative paternity statement. Grant remains involved as appropriate. Everyone avoids scandal."
Noah peeked around Hannah's coat. "What is cooperative?"
"A word adults use before lying," Hannah said.
Grant almost smiled despite the rage burning through him.
Martin's eyes hardened. "You should be careful what you teach him. Courts dislike bitter mothers."
Grant stepped to the car and placed one hand on the roof. "Threaten her again, and I will make sure every guest at last night's wedding testifies that you admitted knowing about her before the ceremony."
"You have no proof."
"I have Caroline."
For the first time, Martin's expression shifted.
Grant had guessed. The shift told him he was right.
The car pulled away.
That evening, Caroline called from a hotel under a false name. Her father had frozen her accounts and sent two aides to bring her home. She had escaped through a kitchen exit wearing sneakers under her wedding gown.
"I found something," she told Grant. "My father kept a file on Hannah. He had hospital records, old photographs, even school enrollment forms for Noah. He knew the child was alive."
"Where is the file?"
"I took pictures before I ran. But there is one paper I don't understand. It is a court petition drafted but never filed. It asks to transfer temporary guardianship of Noah Reed to Helena Whitmore if Hannah becomes medically incapacitated."
Grant felt ice move through his blood.
Hannah had been right.
They were not only protecting the old lie.
They were preparing to steal the child if she went under anesthesia.
Noah was asleep beside Hannah on the motel bed when Grant told her.
She listened without crying.
Then she said, "I want the surgery moved up.