The name on the document belonged to Claire.
The same hospital coordinator who had called me in Miami weeks earlier.
The same woman who had given me Elena's envelope.
The same woman who had known exactly when Elena was admitted, when she became unstable, and when the guardianship petition needed to be filed.
I stared at the signature.
Claire Morgan.
My first reaction was disbelief.
My second was anger.
My third was something worse.
Fear.
“Are you certain?” I asked the prosecutor.
She nodded.
“We verified the signature against several documents in the hospital's records.”
Claire was standing outside the room.
She had gone completely still.
Elena looked from her to me.
“Claire?”
The woman stepped inside.
“I can explain.”
Marcus moved between her and Elena.
“Then start.”
Claire looked at me.
“I didn't create the petition.”
“You signed it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Her face tightened.
“Because I was instructed to.”
“By whom?”
She didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“Claire.”
She finally looked at me.
“By the counselor.”
The room became silent.
“You know who that is?”
“No.”
“You just said the counselor instructed you.”
“I received instructions through an encrypted system.”
“From whom?”
“I never saw a name.”
Marcus shook his head.
“That isn't good enough.”
Claire looked exhausted.
“You think I don't know that?”
The prosecutor took the document.
“Claire, you are going to come with us.”
Claire didn't resist.
Before leaving, she looked at Elena.
“I am sorry.”
Elena's eyes narrowed.
“You told me everything was secure.”
“It was.”
“You told me nobody outside the hospital could access my records.”
“I believed that.”
“But they did.”
Claire looked at me.
“Someone had administrator access.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Then she left with the prosecutor.
I stood beside the bed.
Sophia was asleep against my shoulder.
The room suddenly felt too small for everything we had discovered.
Elena whispered, “Carlos.”
I looked at her.
“Do you remember the first night you came to Miami?”
“Yes.”
“You asked me why I was afraid.”
“I remember.”
“I should have told you.”
“You should have.”
“I was afraid because someone had already contacted the hospital.”
“When?”
“Before I was admitted.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did they say?”
“They asked about my medical condition.”
“Who?”
“They called themselves the office of the counselor.”
I stared at her.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought it was connected to the trust.”
“And now?”
“Now I think the trust was only part of it.”
I looked down at Sophia.
“What else could there be?”
Elena shook her head.
“I don't know.”
That answer frightened me more than certainty would have.
The prosecutor returned forty minutes later.
“Claire is cooperating.”
“What did she tell you?”
“She received instructions through an internal hospital system.”
“From the counselor?”
“Yes.”
“Can you trace it?”
“We're trying.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“Did she say anything about Arthur?”
“She said Arthur had visited the hospital twice before Elena's admission.”
I looked at Elena.
Her face went pale.
“He was here?”
“Apparently.”
“Why?”
The prosecutor opened a folder.
“According to Claire, Arthur asked for Elena's medical records.”
“He had no authorization.”
“No.”
“Did she give them to him?”
“She says she refused.”
“Do you believe her?”
“We're investigating.”
The prosecutor paused.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“Arthur wasn't the person who accessed the records.”
“Then who was?”
She looked at me.
“Someone using your credentials.”
My pulse jumped.
“My credentials?”
“Your old company login.”
I felt a strange pressure in my chest.
“That account has been inactive for years.”
“Apparently not.”
Marcus immediately asked for the access logs.
The prosecutor handed them over.
There were several entries.
All made from Miami.
All within the last month.
One had been made the night Elena and I slept together.
I stared at the timestamp.
2:17 a.m.
The exact hour when Elena had left the bathroom and returned to bed.
The thought made my skin crawl.
“Someone was inside the hospital system while we were together.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To obtain Elena's medical information.”
“And Sophia?”
The prosecutor nodded.
“Her records were accessed too.”
I looked at my daughter.
She slept peacefully, unaware of any of it.
My anger became almost impossible to contain.
“Who has access to my old credentials?”
“That's what we're determining.”
Marcus took a photograph of the access log.
Then he froze.
“What?”
He pointed to one line.
“Look at the IP address.”
The prosecutor leaned closer.
I recognized the number.
It belonged to the corporate office where Daniel Voss had once worked.
Daniel.
Again.
But Daniel had already been under investigation.
Could he still be controlling the system?
“Where is Daniel now?” I asked.
The prosecutor checked her phone.
“Under surveillance.”
“Can he access this?”
“We don't know.”
“Then ask him.”
They contacted him.
He answered.
The prosecutor put the call on speaker.
“Daniel, did you access Miami General's medical system?”
“No.”
“Your old corporate credentials were used.”
“I know.”
The room went silent.
“You know?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because I received the same warning you did.”
“What warning?”
“That someone was preparing to blame me.”
I looked at Marcus.
Daniel continued.
“Carlos, listen carefully.”
I didn't respond.
“You're looking in the wrong direction.”
“Then tell me where to look.”
“At the person who knew your credentials before Daniel Voss existed.”
“What does that mean?”
“My father?”
“No.”
Daniel's voice became quieter.
“Your father wasn't the first.”
The call ended.
I stared at the phone.
Marcus immediately said, “Call him back.”
No answer.
The prosecutor's phone rang.
She listened.
Then her expression changed.
“Daniel is gone.”
“What?”
“He left the surveillance location.”
The room erupted into movement.
Officers left.
Phones rang.
The prosecutor ordered an alert.
I stayed beside Elena.
She was crying silently.
“Why?”
I asked.
She looked at me.
“Because I thought it was over.”
“It isn't.”
“No.”
She wiped her face.
“It started before you met me.”
I sat beside her.
“Then we'll finish it.”
She looked at me.
“You shouldn't have to.”
“I have a daughter.”
She nodded.
“You do.”
“And I have a wife.”
Her expression changed.
“We're divorced.”
“I know.”
I took her hand.
“But that doesn't erase what you are to me.”
She closed her eyes.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then Sophia woke.
She looked at me.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Mommy is crying.”
Elena smiled through tears.
“I'm okay.”
Sophia climbed onto the bed.
I watched them together.
For the first time, the three of us looked less like strangers forced into the same room.
We looked like a family trying to find its way back to itself.
Then the door opened.
A police officer entered.
He carried a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was a small black notebook.
“Where did you find that?”
“In Claire's office.”
Elena stared.
“That isn't Claire's.”
The officer looked confused.
“Whose is it?”
Elena whispered one word.
“Miriam's.”
I turned toward Miriam.
She was standing in the doorway.
Her face had gone white.
“I thought that was destroyed.”
“You knew about this?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
She looked at me.
“Everything I was too afraid to tell you.”
The officer opened the notebook.
The first page contained dates.
Names.
Locations.
Payments.
Then I saw mine.
Carlos Medina.
Beside it was a date.
The date Elena and I first met.
Underneath it was another name.
Arthur Hale.
Then another.
Daniel Voss.
Then a final entry.
Counselor activated upon birth of child.
The date beside it was Sophia's birthday.
I looked at Elena.
She was crying.
“Who wrote this?”
Miriam whispered.
“Your father.”
Click Here to continue read next: PART10: My Father Had Written Sophia Into the Trust Before Her Birth, but One Final Page Revealed Why Elena Had Been Chosen
The Morning After Our Second Chance Left One Terrifying Question Neither of Us Was Ready to Answer
Part 9 of 16
