Chapter 6: The Woman Who Remembered
Rachel snatched the document.
“It’s a clerical mistake.”
Mrs.
Bell took it back.
“The same mistake appears four times.”
Ms.
Alvarez opened her laptop.
“Rachel, sit down.”
“I don’t answer to a receptionist.”
Mrs.
Bell straightened her name badge.
“I’m the clinical director.”
Rachel’s lips parted.
Mrs.
Bell turned to me.
“Abigail, would you like to wait in my office with some hot chocolate?”
“Can Dad come?”
“He’s on his way.”
Rachel stepped between us.
“The order says I make that decision.”
“The order lists false information,” Mrs.
Bell replied.
“Until I verify it, you make no decisions here.”
Dad arrived with Claire and Evan ten minutes later.
He hurried toward me, then stopped beside my chair.
“May I hug you?”
I nodded.
He wrapped his arms around me.
I cried against his coat while he rubbed my back.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“Did you really miss my appointments?”
“Yes.”
“Because of Rachel?”
“Because I trusted her instead of checking.
That part belongs to me.”
Rachel laughed from across the room.
“Beautiful speech.
It doesn’t change the order.”
Mrs.
Bell placed three forms on the desk.
“These might.”
Rachel’s smile vanished.
“I remembered your name,” Mrs.
Bell said.
“You toured this center last year.”
“So?”
“You asked whether trust payments could continue after a child returned home.”
“That was a general question.”
“You used another child’s file number to arrange the tour.”
Dad looked at her.
“Whose child?”
Mrs.
Bell turned her monitor.
“There was no child.
The number belonged to a closed file.”
Rachel reached for the keyboard.
Mrs.
Bell moved it away.
Ms.
Alvarez entered the room with her phone pressed to her ear.
“The emergency judge has suspended the order pending tomorrow’s hearing,” she said.
“Abigail goes home with Daniel tonight.”
Rachel stood.
“You can’t do that.”
“The judge can.”
“She is not safe with him.”
Ms.
Alvarez looked at the packed bag.
“You listed medication Abigail has never taken.”
Dad opened it.
“These aren’t hers.”
Rachel moved toward the bag.
“The pharmacy made a mistake.”
Mrs.
Bell held up the bottle.
“It was filled under your name.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Evan tugged Dad’s sleeve.
“Uncle Daniel, my watch recorded dinner.”
Claire stared at him.
“What?”
“I pressed the button when Rachel yelled.
You told me to do that if a grown-up scared me.”
Rachel rushed toward him.
“Give me the watch.”
Claire stepped in front of her son.
“Come one inch closer.”
Evan played the recording.
Rachel’s voice filled the office.
“Once Daniel signs, Hawthorne takes Abigail on Monday.
After that, the trust pays R&E automatically.”
Eric’s voice answered, “And if Daniel reads the first pages?”
“He won’t.
He signs whatever I put under his pen.”
Dad looked at Rachel.
“You planned to use my special pen.”
Rachel picked up her handbag.
“That recording is illegal.”
Ms.
Alvarez blocked the doorway.
“You may leave after I copy the file information.”
“I’m calling my lawyer.”
“Call anyone you like.”
Rachel pointed at Dad.
“If you take Abigail home, I’ll expose every mistake you’ve ever made.”
Dad placed one hand on my shoulder.
“Start with the mistake of marrying you.”
Rachel flinched, then recovered.
“You still have no proof I moved the money.”
Claire’s phone rang.
She answered and put it on speaker.
It was Eric.
“I have the bank records,” he said.
“Rachel just told me to destroy them.”
Rachel whispered, “Eric, don’t.”
“I’m done protecting you,” he replied.
A notification sounded on Dad’s phone.
He opened the file Eric had sent.
Then he stared at the final transaction.
May you like
The money had not gone to Hawthorne House.
It had paid the deposit on a house in Rachel’s name.
