Chapter 7 - The Search Warrant
Two days after Christmas, police returned to the Mercer residence.
David had already moved several boxes.
That became a problem.
Detective Ortiz had obtained security footage from a neighbor showing David carrying documents to his car at 2:13 a.m. on Christmas morning.
The footage had a timestamp.
David claimed they were work files.
Investigators were not convinced.
A search warrant followed.
Inside David’s office, they found financial records.
Copies of Anna’s medical documents.
Life insurance policies.
Property transfer forms.
And a folder labeled FAMILY CONTINGENCY.
The phrase looked harmless.
The contents were not.
Anna learned about the folder while sitting beside Grace’s incubator.
Her attorney, Rachel Kim, arrived with Detective Ortiz’s permission to discuss certain civil matters.
Rachel had known Anna since law school.
She had never liked David.
Unlike Anna’s father, she had said so openly.
“There is a policy.”
Rachel spoke carefully.
“On you.”
Anna stared at Grace through the glass.
“How much?”
“Three million dollars.”
Anna turned.
“I never agreed to that.”
“Your signature appears on the application.”
“I didn’t sign a three-million-dollar policy.”
Rachel’s expression hardened.
“There are also documents transferring your interest in the house into a trust controlled by David.”
Anna felt cold.
“That can’t be legal.”
“It may not be.”
“Did I sign those too?”
“Your signature appears.”
Anna stood too quickly.
Pain shot through her abdomen.
Rachel helped her sit.
“Anna.”
“He forged them.”
“We don’t know that yet.”
“I know my signature.”
Rachel nodded.
“That is why a document examiner has been requested.”
Anna stared toward the NICU.
Grace moved one tiny hand beneath the blanket.
A darker thought entered Anna’s mind.
“Rachel.”
“Yes?”
“If I had died.”
Rachel did not answer.
“If I had died during childbirth, David would have received three million dollars?”
“Possibly.”
“And controlled the house?”
“Possibly.”
Anna pressed one hand over her mouth.
For the first time, Sylvia’s shove felt connected to something larger.
Not planned murder.
Anna refused to jump that far.
But David’s refusal to call an ambulance suddenly looked different.
He had claimed he was protecting his promotion.
Maybe that had been true.
Maybe it had not been the entire truth.
Rachel watched Anna carefully.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking my husband stood over me while I was bleeding.”
May you like
Anna’s voice became very quiet.
“And instead of calling for help, he told me to clean the floor.”
