Chapter 5 — The Woman in the Security Footage
The next morning, I arrived at St. Mary's fifteen minutes early.
I didn't tell Daniel.
I didn't tell Chloe.
I didn't tell anyone except my attorney.
But when I walked through the hospital entrance, I already knew someone had been expecting me.
Laura was standing near the elevators.
She looked smaller than she had the day before.
Her hair was pulled back.
Her hands were trembling.
She saw me and immediately looked behind me.
“Are you alone?”
“My attorney is upstairs.”
She nodded.
“Good.”
“What did you find?”
She glanced toward the reception desk.
“Not here.”
We followed her down a quiet corridor.
At the end was a small conference room with frosted glass doors.
My attorney was already waiting.
Laura closed the door behind us.
Then she locked it.
I stared at her.
“What is this?”
“Insurance.”
“For what?”
“For the truth.”
She placed a thick brown envelope on the table.
I didn't touch it.
“What is inside?”
“Something I should have given you three months ago.”
“Then why didn't you?”
Laura looked down.
“Because Daniel asked me not to.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why would you listen to him?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of him?”
She nodded.
“Why?”
“Because he knew something about me.”
“What?”
She didn't answer.
My attorney sat down.
“Laura, we need facts.”
Laura swallowed.
“I know.”
She opened the envelope.
The first thing she pulled out was a printed photograph.
A hallway.
Hospital lights.
A clock in the corner.
2:47 a.m.
A man stood near the nursery entrance.
I recognized him immediately.
Daniel.
My husband.
I stared at the photograph.
He wasn't wearing the expression of a worried husband.
He was looking around.
Waiting.
Watching.
And he wasn't alone.
A woman stood beside him.
Short blonde hair.
White hospital uniform.
Laura.
I looked at her.
“That is you.”
“Yes.”
“Why were you with him?”
“I was working.”
“Then why were you standing with my husband?”
“I didn't know who he was at first.”
“You knew his name.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He told me.”
I looked back at the photograph.
“What were you doing?”
Laura's voice dropped.
“He asked me to take him to the nursery.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“He said his wife had delivered.”
“That was me.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he go to my room?”
Laura closed her eyes.
“He said he needed to check something first.”
“What?”
“I didn't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“You've already admitted you were afraid of him.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
Laura looked at my attorney.
Then at me.
“He asked whether the babies had been moved.”
My blood ran cold.
“Moved where?”
“From the nursery to the mothers' rooms.”
“Why?”
“He said he wanted to know whether his wife's baby was still in the nursery.”
I stared at her.
“Why would a father care about that?”
She didn't answer.
“Laura.”
“He wasn't asking like a father.”
“What do you mean?”
“He was asking like someone who needed to locate a specific baby.”
My stomach twisted.
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him I couldn't give him that information.”
“Then what?”
“He got angry.”
“Daniel?”
She nodded.
“He said he had the right to know.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“What happened next?”
“He walked into the nursery.”
My attorney looked at the photograph.
“Is there more footage?”
“Yes.”
Laura opened another envelope.
This one contained a USB drive.
She placed it on the table.
“I copied it before I left.”
My heart began pounding.
“You have the security footage?”
“Some of it.”
“Why only some?”
“Because the hospital erased the rest.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
My attorney looked at her.
“You said you copied it.”
“I copied what I could before the system was wiped.”
“When?”
“Three weeks after the deliveries.”
“Why did you copy it?”
Laura looked at me.
“Because by then I knew something was wrong.”
I stared at the USB drive.
“What was wrong?”
She didn't answer.
My attorney connected it to her laptop.
The screen filled with a grainy black-and-white image.
A timestamp appeared.
02:47:18
The hallway outside the nursery.
Daniel stood there.
Laura beside him.
We watched.
Daniel said something.
Laura shook her head.
He pointed toward the nursery.
Laura stepped forward.
They disappeared through the doors.
My chest tightened.
The footage jumped.
02:51:04
Daniel emerged.
Alone.
He was carrying something.
A folded white blanket.
I stared at the screen.
“Pause.”
My attorney froze the image.
I leaned closer.
There was something beneath the blanket.
A small shape.
My heart stopped.
“Is that a baby?”
Laura shook her head quickly.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I was there.”
I looked at her.
“What was it?”
She swallowed.
“A file.”
I stared at her.
“A file?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of file?”
“A patient file.”
My heart sank.
“Whose?”
Laura looked away.
“Chloe's.”
Silence.
My attorney looked at me.
I couldn't move.
“Why was Daniel carrying Chloe's file?”
Laura said nothing.
“Why?”
“He told me he needed it.”
“For what?”
“He said there was an error.”
“What error?”
“The mother's name.”
I stared at her.
“Chloe wasn't registered under her own name.”
“No.”
“Because?”
Laura hesitated.
“She was afraid her ex-husband would find her.”
I frowned.
“What does that have to do with Daniel?”
“I don't know.”
“You do.”
She looked at me.
“I know what he told me.”
“Then tell me.”
“He said he was helping her.”
“By taking her medical file?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
I felt frustration rising.
“You keep saying you don't know.”
“Because Daniel didn't tell me everything.”
“But you helped him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Laura looked down.
“Because he told me he was trying to protect a child.”
I froze.
“What child?”
She looked at me.
“His.”
My breath caught.
“Lily?”
“No.”
“Chloe's?”
Laura nodded.
I sat back.
“So Daniel admitted Chloe's baby was his?”
“No.”
“You just said—”
“He said the baby was his responsibility.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
“No.”
“Then what exactly did he say?”
Laura closed her eyes.
“He said, ‘If the wrong person sees this record, the baby will be taken away.’”
My skin prickled.
“Who was the wrong person?”
“I asked him.”
“What did he say?”
“He said, ‘Jennifer.’”
The room went silent.
My own name sounded strange in that room.
Like a threat.
I looked at the screen again.
Daniel walking down the hallway.
Carrying Chloe's file.
At 2:51 a.m.
Three hours before Lily was born.
“Why would he say I would take the baby?”
“I don't know.”
“Did Chloe know?”
Laura hesitated.
“I don't know.”
“Did you meet her?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“That night.”
My heart pounded.
“Where?”
“In the maternity wing.”
“What was she doing?”
“She was crying.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel told her something.”
“What?”
Laura looked at me.
“He told her she couldn't leave the hospital with her baby.”
My blood ran cold.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“What happened to the baby?”
“She left with her.”
“So what did he mean?”
“I think he was trying to scare her.”
“Why?”
Laura shook her head.
“I don't know.”
I stood.
“This is insane.”
My attorney reached for my arm.
“Jennifer.”
I pulled away.
“No.”
I looked at Laura.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“You saw Daniel.”