Chapter 9 - CAROLINE
Khloe's daughter weighed four pounds and three ounces.
Harrison stood beside the incubator in borrowed scrubs.
The baby had dark hair.
Khloe's hair.
Tiny fingers.
Tiny ears.
A chest that rose with mechanical help.
The nurse asked if the baby had a name.
Harrison looked through the glass toward the intensive care wing.
"Caroline."
The nurse smiled.
"After someone?"
"Our mother."
Harrison placed one finger through the incubator opening.
Caroline's hand closed around it.
Something inside him cracked.
For years, Harrison had made a career out of remaining detached.
Facts mattered.
Documents mattered.
Timelines mattered.
Emotion was something opposing counsel exploited.
But now he stood beside a premature baby whose mother might never wake up.
And every legal instinct inside him had become personal.
Detective Ruiz joined him later in the family waiting room.
"We found who accessed the surveillance system."
"Who?"
"A courthouse maintenance contractor."
"Name?"
"Samuel Pike."
"Connection to Richard?"
"None that we can prove."
"Connection to Vanessa?"
"Not directly."
Harrison heard the hesitation.
"But?"
"Pike received seventy-five thousand dollars two months ago from a consulting company."
"Which company?"
Ruiz slid a document across the table.
Davenport Urban Partners.
Harrison recognized it immediately.
One of the shell companies connected to Richard.
He looked up.
"Where is Pike?"
"Missing."
Harrison leaned back.
Ruiz continued.
"His apartment is empty."
"Family?"
"No wife."
"No children."
"Phone?"
"Off."
Harrison looked at the payment again.
"This was planned."
Ruiz nodded slowly.
"Maybe not the fall."
"But the ability to erase something."
"That's what I'm thinking."
Harrison's phone rang.
The hospital.
He answered immediately.
A doctor spoke quickly.
Khloe's intracranial pressure had increased.
They needed emergency surgery.
Harrison signed the authorization.
Then he stood alone outside another operating room.
Hours passed.
At 3:17 a.m., Richard appeared.
He looked exhausted.
Harrison blocked the hallway.
"You cannot see her."
Richard's eyes moved toward the operating room.
"I'm her husband."
"You gave that privilege away."
"I didn't push her."
"You protected the woman who did."
Richard's face tightened.
"You don't know what happened."
Harrison stepped closer.
"No."
"But I know what happens next."
Richard held his stare.
Harrison's voice dropped.
"I'm going to find every account."
"Every signature."
"Every payment."
"Every person you bought."
"And when I'm finished, you will pray the only thing waiting for you is prison."
Richard looked afraid.
Only for a second.
Then the operating room light turned green.
Harrison turned away.
May you like
And Richard quietly sent a text message.
Move the board vote forward.
