Chapter 3 - Daniel Wasn’t the Only Man With a ClaimThe ranch appeared three minutes later.
It looked abandoned.
One weathered barn.
A dirt access road.
A broad patch of flat land near the main house.
Jack made the decision.
“We’re landing.”
Margaret looked behind them.
The black SUV remained several miles away.
“Do it.”
The helicopter descended.
Emily cried below.
Margaret pressed herself toward the window.
“Almost there!”
Jack stabilized the aircraft.
Ground crew didn’t exist.
There was no time.
The moment Emily was safely lowered onto the ground, Margaret tore open the cabin door and ran toward her.
Emily lay curled on her side, still inside the rescue harness.
Her hair covered her face.
She was breathing.
Fast.
Shallow.
“Don’t touch me.”
Margaret stopped.
Emily looked up.
Tears streaked her cheeks.
“You did this.”
“I know.”
“You laughed.”
Margaret swallowed.
“I know.”
“You drank wine while I begged you.”
“I know.”
Emily held her stomach.
Another contraction hit.
Her face twisted.
Jack jumped down and rushed toward them.
“EMS is fifteen minutes.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
Margaret knelt.
“What?”
“They’re closer.”
Everyone turned.
Dust rose along the dirt road.
The black SUV.
Jack swore.
“How?”
A second SUV appeared behind it.
Margaret stood.
“We need to get back in the air.”
Emily stared.
“I can’t.”
“Emily—”
“I can’t do this again!”
Jack looked at the approaching vehicles.
Then the helicopter.
Then Emily.
“We don’t have many options.”
A pickup truck suddenly emerged from behind the barn.
An older rancher drove directly toward them.
A woman sat beside him.
He braked hard.
“What the hell happened?”
Jack flashed his aviation ID.
“Emergency.”
The woman jumped out.
“I’m a retired nurse.”
Emily almost laughed from relief.
The woman knelt beside her.
“My name is Sandra.”
“Emily.”
“I know you’re scared.”
“You have no idea.”
Sandra looked at Margaret.
“What happened?”
Margaret opened her mouth.
Emily answered.
“She hung me under a helicopter.”
Sandra slowly looked up.
Margaret didn’t defend herself.
The SUV was closer now.
Jack pointed.
“Do you know those people?”
The rancher shook his head.
“No.”
“Can we get inside?”
“Barn has a reinforced storm room.”
Margaret helped Emily stand.
Emily slapped her hand away.
“Don’t.”
Sandra supported her instead.
They moved toward the barn.
Jack remained outside with the rancher.
Margaret followed.
Inside, Emily nearly collapsed onto a bench.
Sandra checked her.
“The contractions are close, but that doesn’t mean delivery is immediate.”
Emily nodded.
“I’m thirty-six weeks.”
“You’re early, but not extremely.”
Emily looked toward Margaret.
“She knew.”
Margaret said quietly:
“I thought everything was controlled.”
Emily laughed.
“Controlled?”
“You put me beneath an aircraft!”
“I was told—”
“By who?”
Margaret stopped.
Emily stared.
“Who told you to do this?”
Sandra looked between them.
Margaret finally said:
“A man contacted me.”
“What man?”
“I don’t know.”
“You accepted money from someone you don’t know?”
Margaret’s shame turned briefly into defensiveness.
“He knew things.”
“What things?”
“About Daniel.”
Emily’s face changed.
“What about Daniel?”
“He said Daniel was planning to remove me from the company board after the baby was born.”
Emily looked confused.
“He is.”
Margaret froze.
Emily continued.
“Daniel told me last month.”
Margaret stared.
“He said you were becoming unstable.”
Margaret’s jaw tightened.
Emily almost laughed.
“He was right.”
A vehicle stopped outside.
Everyone went silent.
Jack entered the barn.
“Two men.”
“Armed?” Margaret asked.
“Can’t see.”
Emily grabbed Sandra’s hand.
Margaret’s phone rang.
She answered.
The same voice.
“Send Emily outside.”
Margaret whispered:
“No.”
“Then the ranch owners become part of this.”
Margaret looked at the elderly couple.
“You threaten them and I call every federal agency in the country.”
The man laughed.
“You already called police.”
He knew.
Everything.
Margaret stared at the phone.
“How?”
“You’re still thinking too small.”
Emily held out her hand.
“Give me the phone.”
Margaret shook her head.
“Emily.”
“Give it to me.”
Margaret handed it over.
Emily put the call on speaker.
“Who are you?”
Silence.
Then:
“You don’t recognize my voice?”
Emily frowned.
“No.”
“You should.”
The man’s tone changed.
Softer.
Almost intimate.
“Think about Boston.”
Emily’s face drained.
Margaret noticed instantly.
“Emily?”
Emily said nothing.
The voice continued.
“Think about the fertility clinic.”
Margaret stared.
Emily whispered:
“No.”
“Now you remember.”
Emily’s hands began trembling.
Sandra looked concerned.
“Who is he?”
Emily ended the call.
Margaret grabbed her wrist.
“Who?”
Emily looked at her.
“My ex-fiancé.”
Margaret’s mouth opened.
“What?”
“His name is Adrian Cross.”
“Why does he think the baby is his?”
Emily turned away.
Margaret’s fear changed into suspicion.
“Emily.”
“Don’t.”
“Is Daniel the father?”
Emily spun.
“Yes!”
“Then why—”
“Because Adrian worked at the clinic.”
Silence.
Margaret stared.
Emily’s breathing quickened.
“Years ago.”
“He was a genetic researcher.”
“He became obsessed after we broke up.”
“I got a restraining order.”
Margaret felt cold.
“You never told Daniel?”
“I told him Adrian stalked me.”
“Not the clinic?”
“I didn’t know he was still there.”
Jack stepped closer.
“What exactly are you saying?”
Emily looked toward the barn door.
The men outside.
The approaching danger.
Then whispered:
“I think Adrian believes he changed something during my IVF treatment.”
Margaret felt the world shift.
“What?”
Emily looked at her stomach.
“He thinks this baby belongs to him.”
A loud knock struck the barn door.
Everyone froze.
Then Adrian’s voice came from outside.
“Emily.”
She covered her mouth.
He was here.
“Come out.”
Margaret stepped in front of Emily.
Adrian laughed from the other side of the door.
“Margaret, you’ve already done your part.”
Margaret’s eyes hardened.
“No.”
“You wanted Emily gone.”
“I wanted her frightened.”
“You wanted Daniel back under your control.”
Margaret said nothing.
Adrian continued:
“So don’t pretend you’re protecting her now.”
Margaret looked at Emily.
Emily’s eyes were filled with hatred.
But behind it was something else.
Fear.
Not of Margaret anymore.
Of Adrian.
Margaret turned back toward the door.
“You’re not taking her.”
A pause.
Then Adrian said:
“I don’t need Emily.”
May you like
His voice lowered.
“I only need the baby alive.”
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