Chapter 4 - THE ELEVATOR DOORS CLOSED
Damon reached the elevator just as the doors began to close.
Through the narrowing gap, he saw Victor.
A bundled infant carrier was strapped against his chest.
For one second, the two men stared at each other.
Then Victor smiled.
Not warmly.
Not nervously.
Victor smiled like a man who finally understood the game was no longer hidden.
Damon lunged.
His hand caught the edge of the elevator doors.
They reopened.
Victor moved instantly.
He slammed his shoulder into Damon and tried to shove him backward.
Damon grabbed the carrier strap.
“Don't!”
Victor's voice exploded.
“Get your hands off my daughter!”
Two visitors turned in shock.
Damon froze.
The baby.
Whatever Victor deserved, Damon couldn't risk hurting her.
That hesitation was enough.
Victor drove his fist into Damon's jaw.
Damon fell against the elevator wall.
Victor hit the lobby button repeatedly.
“Security!” someone shouted.
The doors closed.
Damon staggered upright and ran for the stairwell.
Seven floors.
He took them two steps at a time.
On the fourth-floor landing he nearly collided with Detective Vega.
“Victor has the baby!”
“We know.”
They kept running.
“Why was he allowed inside?”
“He has parental rights. No charges yet.”
“Then charge him!”
“Give me five minutes.”
They burst into the lobby.
The elevator opened across the atrium.
Victor stepped out.
Hospital security blocked the main entrance.
Victor stopped.
“Mr. Carter,” a guard said, “please return the infant to neonatal care.”
“This is my daughter.”
“She requires medical supervision.”
Victor looked around.
Then his eyes found Damon.
The mask slipped.
Damon walked closer.
“Put her down.”
Victor laughed softly.
“You really think you're the hero now?”
“This has nothing to do with me.”
“Oh, it always had something to do with you.”
Damon stopped.
Vega approached from the side.
“Victor, the baby needs to go back upstairs.”
Victor's grip tightened around the carrier.
“You're treating me like a criminal because my hysterical wife had an accident.”
Damon felt rage rise.
“Your wife nearly froze to death.”
“She went there alone.”
“She heard your voice.”
Victor's gaze snapped toward him.
“That proves nothing.”
Damon realized immediately.
Victor had made a mistake.
Nobody had publicly mentioned the intercom.
Detective Vega noticed too.
She became very still.
“What proves nothing?” she asked.
Victor looked at her.
“The things she claims she heard.”
Vega tilted her head.
“Mr. Carter, how did you know Lena claimed to hear someone's voice?”
Victor's confidence faltered.
Bernard Shaw appeared through the revolving doors.
“Victor, don't say another word.”
Too late.
Vega stepped forward.
“Return the child.”
Victor's eyes moved from the detective to Damon.
Then toward the exit.
He had nowhere to go.
Finally, he handed the carrier to a nurse.
The moment the baby was safely away, Vega reached for Victor's wrist.
“Victor Carter, you're under arrest on suspicion of attempted homicide.”
Bernard protested loudly.
Victor didn't.
He stared at Damon while the handcuffs closed.
“This isn't over.”
Damon wiped blood from his lip.
“No.”
He looked toward the elevators.
“It's barely started.”
Lena woke thirty-one hours later.
Her first sensation was warmth.
Her second was pain.
The third was panic.
She opened her eyes and tried to sit up.
Machines alarmed around her.
A nurse rushed to the bed.
“Mrs. Carter, don't move.”
“My babies.”
“They're alive.”
“Where?”
“The NICU.”
Lena looked around.
“Victor?”
The nurse hesitated.
“He's not here.”
Memories returned violently.
The freezer.
Victor's voice.
The cold.
Labor.
And Damon.
“Damon Cross.”
The nurse blinked.
“He's outside.”
Lena stared at her.
“He stayed?”
“For almost two days.”
She didn't understand why that hurt.
“Tell him to come in.”
Damon entered slowly.
He had changed clothes, but his jaw was bruised.
Their eyes met.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Five years stood between them.
Five years of bitterness.
Then Lena whispered, “You look terrible.”
Damon gave a short laugh.
“You always knew how to say thank you.”
Her eyes filled.
“I thought I was going to die.”
His smile disappeared.
“I know.”
“The babies?”
“One's doing pretty well. The smaller twin needs more respiratory support.”
“Can I see them?”
“As soon as the doctors approve it.”
She noticed his bruised jaw.
“What happened?”
Damon pulled up a chair.
“Victor tried to leave the hospital with one of them.”
Lena went white.
“What?”
“He didn't get far.”
“Why would he take her?”
“We don't know.”
She looked toward the window.
“No.”
“What?”
“I know Victor.”
Her voice shook.
“He wouldn't take a newborn because he suddenly became sentimental.”
Damon waited.
Lena closed her eyes.
“He needed something.”
“Like what?”
Her eyes opened.
“Proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“I found documents three weeks ago.”
Damon leaned forward.
“What documents?”
“Victor owes money.”
“How much?”
“I don't know exactly. Millions.”
“To banks?”
“No.”
Something in her expression told Damon the answer was worse.
“I found transfers to shell companies. Cash withdrawals. Payments labeled consulting fees to people who don't exist.”
“Then why didn't you confront him?”
“I did.”
Damon stared.
“When?”
“Three days ago.”
“What did he say?”
“That I was confused.”
“Lena.”
“I know.”
The old shame appeared in her eyes.
Damon understood it immediately.
Because it was the same thing Victor had told her five years earlier when Damon's company money disappeared.
Confused.
Misled.
Emotional.
Someone else must have done it.
Damon stood and walked toward the window.
“I need to tell you something.”
Lena watched him.
“About five years ago.”
Her heart began beating faster.
Damon didn't turn around.
“I never stole that money.”
She looked away.
“We've had this argument.”
“No. We had accusations. We never had the truth.”
“What truth?”
Damon faced her.
“Two months after you married Victor, I hired a forensic accountant.”
Lena's face hardened.
“You investigated me?”
“I investigated the theft.”
“And?”
“The money passed through an account opened using my authorization credentials.”
“I know.”
“But the transfer request originated from an IP address inside Carter Financial.”
Victor's old investment office.
Lena stopped breathing.
Damon continued.
“I tried contacting you.”
“You sent one email telling me I'd regret marrying him.”
“Because every other message was blocked.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
She shook her head.
“Victor told me you became obsessed.”
“I wasn't allowed near you.”
“You threatened him.”
“I told him if he hurt you, I'd destroy him.”
“That sounds like a threat.”
“It was.”
Despite everything, a tiny laugh escaped her.
Then she winced.
Damon stepped closer.
“There's more.”
He pulled out his phone.
“I kept the forensic report.”
Lena stared at the screen he placed in her hands.
Account numbers.
Dates.
Transfers.
Victor Carter's office.
Five years earlier.
Her eyes moved slowly across the document.
“No.”
“I didn't steal from you.”
Her breathing changed.
“Victor did.”
“I believe so.”
Tears gathered.
“He let me hate you.”
Damon said nothing.
“He watched me destroy our company.”
Silence.
“He watched me marry him.”
Damon looked away.
That part still hurt.
Lena pressed one hand to her mouth.
“I said terrible things to you.”
“You believed the evidence.”
“I believed him.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you keep trying?”
He looked back.
“Because you told me never to come near you again.”
“And you listened?”
“You were married.”
Lena almost smiled through her tears.
“You never listened to anybody.”
“I listened to you.”
A knock interrupted them.
Detective Vega entered.
“Mrs. Carter, I'm glad you're awake.”
Lena wiped her face.
“Is Victor still in custody?”
“For now.”
“For now?”
“His attorney is seeking bail.”
“He tried to kill me.”
“I believe you.”
“Then why is this difficult?”
“Because there's something you need to see.”
Vega placed a clear evidence bag on the bedside table.
Inside was a small prepaid phone.
“We found this in Victor's car.”
Lena frowned.
“Is it his?”
“We believe so.”
“There are messages between Victor and an unidentified number.”
Vega showed her a photograph.
Lena read the final exchange.
UNKNOWN: IS SHE INSIDE?
VICTOR: YES.
UNKNOWN: HOW LONG?
VICTOR: LONG ENOUGH.
UNKNOWN: WHAT ABOUT THE BABIES?
VICTOR: IF THEY SURVIVE, PLAN B.
Lena's hands began trembling.
“What is Plan B?”
Vega looked toward Damon.
“We don't know.”
Then Lena noticed another message.
One sent several days earlier.
UNKNOWN: ONCE SHE'S GONE, CROSS WILL BE EASY TO FRAME.
Lena slowly lifted her eyes.
Damon had gone completely still.
Victor hadn't merely planned to murder his wife.
He intended to make Lena's sworn enemy take the fall.
May you like
And somewhere outside the hospital, Victor had a partner who hadn't been arrested.
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