Chapter 7 - The Floor Below.
Detective Alvarez did not allow anyone to rush to the sixth floor.
That frustrated Claire.
It also reassured her.
The detective wanted warrants, witnesses, and clean evidence.
No dramatic hallway confrontation would matter if Eleanor could later claim the documents had been planted.
So they waited.
Waiting became its own kind of battle.
Emma changed into sweatpants and a Navy sweatshirt Claire had brought from her car.
The hospital had confirmed that she was medically stable.
Yet she still had not left.
Not because she was being held now.
Because the evidence was inside the building.
And because Emma had made a decision.
"I want to see this through."
Claire wanted to take her home.
Instead, she nodded.
At 5:18 p.m., Alvarez returned with hospital counsel and two investigators.
Pike accompanied them.
The brass key opened the office.
Inside were three filing boxes, a printer, a locked drawer, and a conference table.
The original proxy packet sat inside a leather portfolio.
Emma had signed none of it.
Beside it was another copy.
That version carried her signature on every required page.
Claire compared them.
The forgery was careful.
The same wrong angle.
The same overly neat loops.
Reyes photographed both.
Then an investigator opened the printer queue history.
Twenty-seven pages had been printed at 12:14 a.m.
The user account belonged to Lauren Price.
Eleanor's charity coordinator.
Pike leaned against the wall.
"Lauren was never authorized to use this office."
Alvarez asked, "Who gave her access?"
No one answered.
Then Claire noticed a small red light under the conference table.
A power strip.
A charger.
And a phone.
It was Emma's.
Her missing phone had been plugged in all night.
Emma stared at it through the doorway.
"That's mine."
Alvarez bagged it as evidence.
The lock screen showed seventeen missed calls from Claire.
Emma covered her mouth.
Claire remembered every one.
At first, she had been annoyed.
Then worried.
Then frightened.
Eleanor had texted from Emma's number shortly after midnight.
I'm exhausted, Mom.
Staying with Adrian tonight.
Please don't call.
Claire had believed it for six hours.
That knowledge hurt more than she expected.
A second phone was found in the locked drawer.
It belonged to Lauren Price.
Messages on its lock screen were visible without opening it.
One preview was from E.V.
BOARD VOTE MOVED TO 8 PM.
Another read:
MAKE SURE THE GIRL REMAINS UNAVAILABLE.
Emma stepped away from the office.
Claire followed her.
"I was a problem to schedule around."
"Emma."
"That's what I was."
Claire took both of her shoulders.
"No."
Emma's eyes burned.
"I trusted Adrian."
"I know."
"I trusted the hospital."
Claire did not answer.
Emma looked down the hall.
"And I almost trusted them when they told me I was confused."
That sentence frightened Claire more than anything else.
Because it explained why the scheme had nearly worked.
Not through force.
Through repetition.
Through white walls.
Through professional titles.
Through people saying the same lie until resistance began to feel unreasonable.
Alvarez came out of the office.
"We have enough to stop the board from relying on the proxy."
Reyes nodded.
"And enough to challenge the hold."
Claire looked at her.
"Is that all?"
Alvarez's face said no.
She held up a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was a printed email.
"There's one more problem."
Emma read the heading.
PROPOSED TRANSFER ORDER.
It authorized moving her to a private behavioral facility outside the city.
The transfer time was 7:30 p.m.
May you like
Less than two hours away.
And the receiving facility was owned by another Vale-controlled company.
