Chapter 6 - THE HUSBAND WITH TWO PHONES
Officers entered Preston’s room.
He stood beside the wall with his hands raised.
His first phone lay on the table.
A second phone had been hidden inside his shoe.
The deletion program was running through it.
Police seized the device.
Most files had been preserved by the hospital’s backup system.
Preston was arrested for obstruction and unauthorized access to medical records.
He stared at Raymond as the handcuffs closed.
“You cannot do this.”
Raymond’s voice was calm.
“I should have done it years ago.”
Preston looked toward the maternity room.
“Emily needs me.”
“No.”
Raymond stepped closer.
“She needed you when Vanessa kicked her.”
“You chose not to move.”
Preston’s anger finally broke through.
“You think she is innocent?”
Raymond said nothing.
Preston continued.
“She knew her blood was valuable.”
“She knew the baby could save the company.”
Emily heard every word through the open security channel.
Her stomach tightened.
The contractions had become stronger.
A nurse increased the monitor.
Raymond entered her room moments later.
“Do not listen to him.”
“Was my baby part of the research?”
“We do not know.”
“He said the baby could save the company.”
Raymond looked toward the doctor.
The doctor opened the genetic report.
Emily’s son carried a rare combination of markers that could help researchers develop a treatment.
The data could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Only if they gained access to the baby’s cord blood, placenta, and long-term medical information.
Emily remembered documents Preston asked her to sign weeks earlier.
He called them routine hospital forms.
She refused because several pages were missing.
One form granted Whitmore Biotech permanent rights to biological samples from her delivery.
Another authorized emergency delivery at a private facility controlled by Malcolm.
Emily’s hands began trembling.
“He planned to take my child’s tissue.”
Raymond answered carefully.
“Yes.”
“Would they have taken the baby too?”
No one answered.
A nurse entered with news from Natalie.
She was conscious.
She wanted to speak with Emily.
The conversation took place through video.
Natalie’s face was bruised.
Her voice remained weak.
“Preston asked me to change your appointment.”
“I refused.”
“He said your delivery had to happen on the lower floor.”
“Why?”
“Malcolm wanted complete control.”
“Control of what?”
“The birth.”
Natalie swallowed.
“They planned to tell you the baby needed emergency surgery.”
“They were going to separate him from you immediately.”
Emily pressed one hand against her stomach.
“What would happen after that?”
“I found transfer documents.”
“Your baby was going to be moved to a Whitmore research facility in Switzerland.”
The room became still.
May you like
Preston had not been planning only to exploit their child.
He had been planning to remove him from the country.
