Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN WHO DIED TWO YEARS AGO
The nurse stared at the monitor.
Daniel did not.
That was how I knew he had expected the name.
Priya immediately canceled the scan and told security it was a system error. While she worked, I watched Daniel’s right hand close around the transfer papers.
His thumb covered a small logo at the bottom.
Vale Behavioral Recovery Center.
Lauren owned it.
“Why does the system say I’m dead?” I asked.
Daniel gave a tired laugh. “Because technology fails.”
Priya met my eyes.
“No,” she said quietly. “Records don’t fail like this.”
Daniel’s face changed.
Only for a second.
But Priya saw it.
She told the security officer my blood pressure was unstable and refused to release me for transport. Daniel demanded a supervising physician.
While they argued in the hallway, Priya locked the door.
“You have five minutes,” she said.
She opened the hospital database and searched my Social Security number.
A death certificate appeared.
Emily Grace Carter.
Date of death: September 14, two years earlier.
Cause: accidental drowning.
Spouse: Daniel Carter.
I felt the room tilt.
Two years earlier, I had spent September 14 at a cabin in Vermont with Daniel. I remembered falling sick after dinner and waking the next afternoon with no phone.
Daniel said I had food poisoning.
According to the state, I had died that night.
“How am I using insurance?” I asked.
Priya pulled up another profile.
A second identity had been created after my supposed death.
Emily Grace Hale.
Different Social Security number.
Same photograph.
Same address.
Daniel had legally erased me and replaced me.
Priya printed both records.
“Someone inside the county clerk’s office helped him.”
A pounding struck the door.
“Open it,” Daniel shouted.
Priya folded the documents and slid them inside the lining of my maternity waistband.
Then she unlocked the door.
Lauren entered first.
She looked at the open database and stopped breathing.
“You accessed sealed records.”
Priya stood between her and me.
“I corrected an identification error.”
Lauren reached for the keyboard, but Priya blocked her hand.
Daniel turned toward the security officer.
“She’s interfering with a court-authorized transfer.”
The officer hesitated.
Then a man’s voice came from the hallway.
“She isn’t going anywhere.”
My brother Michael stepped into the room.
He looked older, thinner, with a scar beneath his left eye. I had not seen him since Daniel told me Michael had stolen money from us.
Michael stared at my bruises.
His hands curled into fists.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Daniel smiled. “For which betrayal?”
Michael pulled a small flash drive from his pocket.
“For keeping copies.”
Lauren’s face went white.
Michael raised the drive.
May you like
“This contains every video Daniel filmed in that garage.”
Then the lights in the hospital room went out.
