Chapter 8 - The Threat
Wade did not show Kayla the message.
He showed me.
Then security.
Then police.
Detective Lena Brooks arrived before sunrise.
She was compact, direct, and unimpressed by Wade's attempt to minimize things.
“You received a threat involving your daughter and grandson.”
“I've received worse.”
“Not from someone who knows your history.”
That silenced him.
Police traced the number.
Prepaid phone.
Purchased with cash.
Security reviewed footage.
Nothing obvious.
Travis denied everything.
Dean Cole had disappeared.
Detective Brooks advised Wade not to confront either brother.
“You think I need that advice?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She looked at his hands.
“Because I have eyes.”
For the first time in two days, Wade laughed.
The tension broke for approximately three seconds.
Then Samuel's doctor entered.
The baby's latest scans had revealed a problem.
A small but significant cardiac defect.
Kayla sat beside the incubator as Dr. Patel explained.
“Will he need surgery?”
“Possibly.”
“When?”
“We're consulting pediatric cardiology.”
Kayla reached for Wade.
She did not seem to realize she had done it.
He held her hand.
Later, after the doctors left, Wade remained beside Samuel.
Kayla whispered, “What if I can't do this?”
“You can.”
“You don't know that.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“But I know running doesn't make fear disappear.”
She knew what he meant.
“So you're telling me not to do what you did?”
“Exactly.”
“That's pretty hypocritical.”
“Absolutely.”
She smiled faintly.
Wade smiled too.
Their relationship was forming in pieces.
Not through dramatic declarations.
Through coffee.
Hospital chairs.
Shared fear.
And learning which silences meant stay.
That evening, I found Wade alone in the family lounge.
He was staring at Elizabeth's bracelet.
“You still blame yourself.”
He did not deny it.
“I was her father.”
“You were twenty-three.”
“Still her father.”
“You were grieving.”
“Still her father.”
There was no argument that could penetrate twenty-seven years of guilt.
So I tried another direction.
“What would Elizabeth say if she saw you now?”
He looked at me.
“I don't know.”
“I think she'd tell you you're late.”
His eyebrows rose.
“But you're here.”
Wade looked down.
After a long silence, he smiled.
“Sarah used to say things like that.”
We were interrupted by Detective Brooks.
She carried a file.
“We found Dean Cole.”
“Where?”
“Airport.”
Wade stood.
“He was attempting to leave the state.”
“Did he talk?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Brooks looked toward Kayla's room before answering.
“He says Travis paid him to photograph the hospital.”
Wade's face hardened.
“And the threat?”
“Dean denies sending it.”
“You believe him?”
“I believe he's scared.”
“Of Travis?”
“No.”
That surprised me.
“Then who?”
Brooks opened the file.
“Dean claims Travis isn't working alone.”
She removed a photograph.
Margaret Collins.
Wade stared.
“No.”
Brooks continued.
“Dean says someone from the Collins family contacted Travis months ago.”
“Margaret?”
“He doesn't know.”
Wade picked up the photograph.
“Why?”
“According to Dean, the trust isn't as simple as you've been told.”
“What does that mean?”
Brooks leaned closer.
“If Samuel dies before reaching a certain age, the thirty-eight million doesn't return to Kayla.”
Wade went completely still.
“Who gets it?”
Brooks looked him directly in the eye.
“The surviving Collins trustees.”
Wade's fingers tightened around the photograph.
“And who are they?”
“Margaret Collins.”
My stomach dropped.
Brooks continued.
“And one other person.”
She placed a second photograph on the table.
A man in his forties.
Expensive suit.
Cold eyes.
Wade stared at him.
“I don't know him.”
“His name is Richard Collins.”
“Who is he?”
Brooks answered.
“Sarah's younger brother.”
Wade shook his head.
“Sarah didn't have a brother.”
“Apparently she did.”
Then Brooks showed us the hospital surveillance photograph.
May you like
Richard Collins had been inside Pine Valley Children's Hospital three days earlier.
Standing outside the NICU.
