Chapter 9 - The Fifth Person.
Harrison deleted the messages without replying.
Then he immediately regretted it.
Deleting evidence after a warrant had arrived was exactly the kind of act Adrian would use to make him look guilty.
He opened the recently deleted folder.
The messages were still there.
He took screenshots and sent them to Malcolm.
WHO IS THIS?
Malcolm responded one minute later.
STOP TEXTING ME ABOUT FACTS I DO NOT NEED TO KNOW.
Harrison nearly threw the phone.
For years, Malcolm Price had solved problems by translating Harrison's intentions into language respectable enough for courtrooms.
Now the lawyer was creating distance.
Distance meant fear.
Fear meant disloyalty.
Harrison walked into his private office and closed the door.
On the wall behind his desk hung a photograph of him and Khloe at their wedding.
He had intended to remove it months ago.
Instead, he had kept it because clients trusted married men with family photographs.
In the picture, Khloe looked twenty-three and certain of him.
Harrison stared at her face.
He hated the photograph because it reminded him that there had been a time when she possessed something he wanted more than money.
Trust.
He had learned later that trust was simply an asset without paperwork.
His phone rang.
The caller identification showed UNKNOWN.
Harrison answered.
"Who is this?"
A man's voice spoke quietly.
"The person who kept copies."
Harrison's spine tightened.
"Name."
"You know my name."
"Then say it."
The caller laughed once.
"You hired me because I was good at disappearing into paperwork."
Harrison recognized him.
Evan Shaw.
Former compliance director at Bellamy Reproductive Center.
The man who had processed the embryo transfer documents.
"Where are you?"
"Far enough away."
"What do you want?"
"Protection."
"From whom?"
"You."
Harrison's hand tightened around the phone.
"Careful."
"That's what I'm being."
Evan continued.
"I saw the courthouse story."
"That has nothing to do with you."
"It has everything to do with me."
"Why?"
"Because your entire plan depended on Khloe being declared unstable, and now her brother is digging."
Harrison looked toward the closed office door.
"You don't know what the plan depended on."
"I processed the transfer."
"You processed paperwork."
"I also recorded our meeting."
Harrison stopped moving.
"You're lying."
"Maybe."
"What do you want?"
"Two hundred thousand dollars and a written agreement that you will not pursue me for any role in the transfer."
Harrison laughed quietly.
"You think I'm going to put that in writing?"
"Then I suppose Adrian gets the recording."
The call ended.
At Saint Catherine, Khloe was preparing to leave the hospital without Noah.
That separation hurt more than the surgery.
A nurse helped her into a soft black dress because her courthouse clothes had been preserved as evidence.
Khloe moved slowly.
Each step reminded her of the fall.
Adrian waited outside with a wheelchair.
"I can walk."
"Doctor said wheelchair to the entrance."
"You enjoy rules now?"
"Only when they benefit me."
She sat reluctantly.
Before leaving, they returned to the NICU.
Noah slept beneath warm light.
Khloe rested her palm against the incubator.
"Mommy is going home for one night."
Her voice cracked.
"But I will be back before you notice."
Adrian looked away to give her privacy.
His phone buzzed.
Mara had sent a name.
EVAN SHAW.
Adrian stepped into the corridor and called her.
"Who is he?"
"Former Bellamy compliance director."
"Connection?"
"His credentials authorized Khloe's embryo transfer."
"Find him."
"Already did."
Adrian paused.
"That was fast."
"He contacted us."
"Why?"
"Because Harrison just tried to buy his silence."
Adrian's expression sharpened.
"Did he record it?"
"Better."
Mara sounded almost satisfied.
"He recorded the original planning meeting six months ago."
Adrian looked through the NICU glass at Khloe.
"Have you heard it?"
"Not yet."
"Where is Shaw?"
"Baltimore."
"Bring him somewhere secure."
"He's already on his way to our office with counsel."
Adrian ended the call.
Khloe came out moments later.
"What?"
He had learned not to hide his face from her.
"A witness surfaced."
"Who?"
"The man who processed the embryo transfer."
Khloe's expression changed.
"Did Harrison pay him?"
"Yes."
"To forge my signature?"
"We don't know yet."
She nodded.
"Then let's find out."
"You are going home."
"No."
"Khloe."
"I have spent six months being told to rest while Harrison moved my money and built a case that I was unstable."
She looked at the surgical bandage beneath her dress.
"I rested all the way down those courthouse steps."
Adrian's face softened despite himself.
"That sentence made no medical sense."
"Good."
"You're still going home."
"Then bring the witness to the house."
Adrian stared at her.
"You always were the difficult sibling."
"You raised me."
"Our parents raised you."
"You cross-examined my first boyfriend when I was sixteen."
"He deserved it."
Two hours later, Evan Shaw sat in the library of Adrian's home with his attorney beside him.
Khloe rested on a sofa with a blanket over her knees.
Mara placed a digital recorder on the table.
"Mr. Shaw has agreed to provide information voluntarily in exchange for our support of a cooperation arrangement with prosecutors."
Adrian looked at Evan.
"Start with the embryo transfer."
Evan appeared older than his personnel photograph.
"Harrison approached me through Malcolm Price."
Malcolm's attorney looked irrelevant because Malcolm was not present, but his name changed the temperature in the room.
Adrian said nothing.
Evan continued.
"Harrison said Khloe had approved moving the embryos to Red Canyon but wanted discretion because of the divorce."
Khloe's eyes remained on him.
"Did you believe him?"
Evan looked ashamed.
"At first."
"And later?"
"Later he asked me to bypass a verification call."
"To me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"He said you were emotionally unstable and would panic if contacted."
Khloe laughed bitterly.
"Convenient."
Evan nodded.
"I knew something was wrong."
Adrian's voice hardened.
"But you did it anyway."
"Yes."
"For how much?"
"Fifty thousand."
Khloe stared at him.
Evan looked down.
"I'm not proud of it."
"Pride is not the issue."
Adrian leaned forward.
"What was the purpose of the transfer?"
Evan hesitated.
"Harrison said he needed a second viable pregnancy."
Khloe went still.
"Second?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Evan looked toward his attorney.
The attorney nodded.
"Because he said the first child might not remain available to him after the divorce."
Khloe's face drained of color.
"Noah."
Evan swallowed.
"He did not use the name."
Adrian spoke very softly.
"Play the recording."
Evan placed a small encrypted drive on the table.
Mara connected it to an isolated laptop.
Static filled the speakers.
Then Harrison's unmistakable voice.
"I need certainty, Evan."
Another voice, Evan's.
"You already have a baby coming."
Harrison answered.
"I have a baby she can use against me."
Khloe's fingers tightened around the blanket.
The recording continued.
"Bianca is willing to carry."
"Does Khloe know?"
A pause.
Then Harrison laughed.
"By the time Khloe understands, she won't be in a position to stop anything."
No one in the library moved.
Evan's recorded voice asked one final question.
"What position will she be in?"
May you like
Harrison's answer came through clear enough that no one needed it repeated.
"Unfit, gone, or both."
