Chapter 17 - Back to St. Catherine'sMichael Grant had entered St. Catherine's through the emergency department.
He used another patient's name.
Security identified him only after a camera captured his face near the maternity floor.
By then, he had disappeared.
Emma refused to return to the hospital.
Luca agreed.
Detective Hayes went with officers.
For two hours, there was no news.
Then Hayes called.
"We found what he came for."
Luca put the phone on speaker.
"What?"
"Hospital security archives."
Emma frowned.
"Why?"
"Marco visited this hospital the week before he died."
Luca stared at the phone.
"For what?"
"We're trying to determine that."
Hayes continued.
"Michael accessed an old security file."
"He deleted it."
"But IT recovered part of it."
Emma's heartbeat quickened.
"What does it show?"
"A meeting."
"Marco and Michael."
"Inside the hospital cafeteria."
Luca asked the obvious question.
"Why here?"
Hayes hesitated.
"Because Marco wasn't here for himself."
Emma suddenly knew.
"He was here because of me."
Silence.
Hayes answered quietly.
"Yes."
The recovered footage showed Emma at a prenatal appointment.
Marco waited downstairs.
Michael met him unexpectedly.
The cameras had no audio.
But Marco's body language told the story.
He became angry.
Michael remained calm.
Then Michael handed Marco a folder.
Marco opened it.
Whatever he saw changed his expression.
The meeting lasted nine minutes.
Michael left.
Marco sat alone for another twenty.
Emma remembered that day.
Marco had been quiet afterward.
She had asked if something was wrong.
He kissed her forehead and said he was tired.
"What was in the folder?"
Luca asked.
Hayes replied.
"We don't know."
Emma thought back.
That evening, Marco had asked a strange question.
"What happens if someone signs paperwork using your name without permission?"
Emma had laughed.
She thought he was talking about office problems.
Now the memory felt sinister.
"Michael was forging documents."
Luca looked at her.
"What?"
"Marco asked me about forged signatures."
Hayes heard.
"That's useful."
Emma continued.
"He asked whether electronic records could be changed after the fact."
Luca's eyes narrowed.
"The hospital records."
Emma nodded.
"Michael knew how to manipulate systems long before Grace was born."
Hayes spoke.
"We found something else."
"What?"
"Michael used a hospital terminal this morning."
"He searched Grace Carter."
Emma's arms tightened.
"Why?"
"We don't know."
Luca's voice went cold.
"Find him."
"We're trying."
The call ended.
Emma walked toward the window.
"This started before Grace was even born."
Luca stood beside her.
"No."
"It started before you met Marco."
Emma looked at him.
"With the company."
"With money."
"With Michael."
"Then Marco found it."
Luca nodded.
"And Michael couldn't let him expose it."
Emma swallowed.
"Do you think Michael caused Marco's crash?"
"I think he may have arranged the situation that led to it."
"And Connor?"
"Connor was the visible threat."
"Adrian was the convenient suspect."
"Michael stayed behind everyone."
Emma thought about his calm face at Vincent's house.
A trusted family attorney.
A man no one questioned.
"Why go after me?"
"Because Marco left you the key."
"But Michael didn't know I had it."
"He knew Marco planned to leave you something."
Emma looked down at Grace.
"And once I gave birth..."
"He knew Marco's instructions would activate."
Emma suddenly understood.
"That's why he called you."
Luca nodded.
"He needed to know where I went."
"So he sent you to me."
"And Connor followed."
Emma shook her head.
"Why risk that?"
"Because if Connor took the key first, Michael stayed invisible."
Before Emma could respond, Luca's phone displayed Detective Hayes again.
He answered instantly.
"Tell me you found him."
Hayes's voice was tense.
"No."
"But we found the folder Michael gave Marco."
"Where?"
"In an old hospital records storage room."
"What was inside?"
Hayes paused.
"Copies of paternity documents."
Emma froze.
"What paternity documents?"
"Forms listing Connor Blake as Grace's father."
Emma felt dizzy.
"That's impossible."
"They were prepared months before Grace was born."
Luca's face hardened.
Emma whispered.
"Why?"
Hayes answered.
"Because if Connor could establish himself as the legal father, he'd have leverage over you."
"And access to anything Marco left for his child."
Emma stared at Grace.
The hospital corridor.
Connor reaching toward the baby.
The fake discharge.
The forged paperwork.
It had never been random.
It had been planned.
May you like
Then Hayes added one final detail.
"The forms were prepared by Michael Grant."
