Chapter 3 - The Father Comes Back.
Dr. Hale moved everyone into a private consultation room before the argument could spread through the hospital.
Emily sat in a chair near the wall with Grace asleep against her chest.
Luca stood beside the door.
Nathan sat across from her with the attorney at his side.
The woman in red introduced herself as Vanessa Pryce.
She claimed she was only Nathan's business consultant.
Emily almost laughed again.
"Do business consultants hold your hand in elevators now?"
Nathan avoided her eyes.
Vanessa did not.
"Your relationship ended months ago."
"He slept in my bed four nights ago."
Vanessa's jaw tightened.
The attorney interrupted before the argument became personal.
"The paternity report is preliminary."
Emily stared at the white envelope on the table.
"How did you get my baby's DNA before she was born?"
Nathan said nothing.
Luca looked toward Vanessa.
Her fingers stopped moving.
Dr. Hale leaned forward.
"That is an important question."
Vanessa adjusted the sleeve of her dress.
"Nathan had a prenatal sample from an earlier medical screening."
Emily's confusion turned into horror.
"I never authorized that."
Dr. Hale's expression changed.
"Our records will show whether any sample was released."
The attorney tried to take the envelope.
Luca placed two fingers on it first.
"Nobody touches it until the officer photographs it."
Nathan stood up.
"You don't run this hospital."
"Neither do you."
"You think tattoos and a famous last name make you untouchable?"
Luca looked almost bored.
"No."
He leaned closer.
"I think witnesses make liars uncomfortable."
Emily looked at the report again.
"What does it say?"
No one answered.
Finally, Dr. Hale opened the envelope in front of the police officer.
The report stated that Nathan Cole was almost certainly Grace's biological father.
Emily closed her eyes.
For one second, relief passed over her face.
Then she remembered he had abandoned them anyway.
"So you knew."
Nathan's voice was low.
"I found out this morning."
"Before or after you told me she wasn't yours?"
Nathan looked toward Vanessa.
That tiny movement told Luca more than Nathan intended.
"Why does the timing matter?"
Luca asked.
The attorney answered immediately.
"It doesn't."
"Then you won't mind telling us."
Nathan slammed his palm against the table.
Grace startled and began to cry.
Luca moved before anyone else did.
He stepped between Nathan and Emily without touching him.
His voice remained quiet.
"Do that again near the baby and you'll finish this conversation from the hallway."
Nathan stared at him.
For the first time, uncertainty entered his face.
Emily soothed Grace against her shoulder.
Dr. Hale studied the report more closely.
Then she frowned.
"This laboratory isn't one we contract with."
Vanessa stood abruptly.
"We're done here."
Dr. Hale kept reading.
"And this collection date is three weeks ago."
Emily looked up.
Three weeks earlier, she had been admitted overnight for dehydration.
A nurse had drawn blood from her and taken a swab for what Emily had been told was routine testing.
Luca remembered the nurse at the front desk paling at his surname.
"Who was assigned to Emily that night?"
Dr. Hale opened the electronic record on her tablet.
Her eyes moved across the screen.
Then she stopped.
"That's strange."
"What?"
"The nurse's name has been deleted from the chart."
The lights in the consultation room flickered once.
Vanessa's face went still.
Luca looked directly at her.
"Someone didn't just want to know who Grace's father was."
May you like
He glanced at the altered medical record.
"Someone wanted to know without leaving a trail."
