Chapter 5 - The Nanny Becomes the Suspect
By noon, Serena Montigue was no longer inside the mansion.
By one o’clock, every television station in New York knew Ethan Blackwood had been hospitalized.
By one fifteen, they knew something else.
A headline appeared on Victor’s phone.
BLACKWOOD NANNY QUESTIONED AFTER CHILD HOSPITALIZED WITH UNEXPLAINED INJURIES.
Lily read it twice.
Her mouth went dry.
“That’s not true.”
Victor looked at Marco.
“Who leaked it?”
“We’re tracing it.”
A second article appeared.
FORMER NURSE DISMISSED AFTER MEDICATION SCANDAL NOW EMPLOYED BY BLACKWOOD FAMILY.
Lily’s stomach dropped.
“They found St. Matthew’s.”
Victor took the phone.
The article included an old photograph of Lily leaving the hospital three years earlier.
The caption described her as a “disgraced pediatric employee.”
Her former accusation against Dr. Ames was mentioned only briefly.
The fact that no charges had ever been filed against Lily was buried near the end.
The implication was obvious.
She had access to medication.
She had a disciplinary history.
She had been alone with Ethan.
She was responsible.
Catherine swore.
“This is Serena.”
Victor shook his head.
“Serena isn’t this fast.”
“Thomas?”
“Maybe.”
Marco entered with another phone.
“It gets worse.”
Victor looked at him.
“The police just received an anonymous tip.”
“About Lily.”
Lily closed her eyes.
Marco nodded.
“The caller claims she saw Lily shaking Ethan yesterday.”
“Who?”
“Anonymous.”
Victor’s voice turned cold.
“So not a witness.”
“Not yet.”
Marco looked toward Lily.
“But detectives are downstairs.”
Lily’s face went pale.
Victor stood.
“They don’t speak to her alone.”
“Victor.”
Lily looked at him.
“I should answer their questions.”
“You will.”
“But my attorney will be present.”
“I don’t have an attorney.”
“You do now.”
The detectives entered twenty minutes later.
Detective Marcus Hale did most of the talking.
He was polite.
Too polite.
Lily knew the tone.
It was the tone people used before they decided whether you were a witness or a suspect.
“You were with Ethan when the alleged injury occurred?”
“Yes.”
“Who else was there?”
“Serena Montigue.”
“Where is Ms. Montigue?”
“I don’t know.”
Detective Hale looked at Victor.
Victor said nothing.
The detective continued.
“You worked at St. Matthew’s Hospital?”
“Yes.”
“You were dismissed?”
“Yes.”
“For medication theft?”
“No.”
Lily held his gaze.
“I was accused after reporting medication theft.”
“Was your access card used?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever admit giving your card to another employee?”
“No.”
“Did the hospital find drugs in your locker?”
Lily froze.
Victor looked at her.
The detective noticed.
“They did, didn’t they?”
“Yes.”
“What drugs?”
“Clonazepam.”
Victor’s eyes hardened.
The exact medication found in Ethan.
Lily continued quickly.
“They were planted.”
Detective Hale leaned back.
“By whom?”
“I believed Dr. Jonathan Ames.”
“And where is Dr. Ames now?”
Lily said nothing.
Victor’s attorney answered.
“My client cannot speculate.”
Detective Hale looked at Lily again.
“Were you aware clonazepam was found in Ethan’s system?”
“Yes.”
“You understand how this looks.”
Lily’s voice shook.
“I understand how someone wants it to look.”
The detective studied her.
“Do you still have access to prescription medication?”
“No.”
“Did you administer anything to Ethan?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
“Only children’s acetaminophen when authorized.”
“Who authorized it?”
“Serena.”
Detective Hale wrote something down.
“What about digoxin?”
“No.”
“Have you ever handled it?”
“When I was a nurse.”
“So you know dosage.”
“Yes.”
“Potential toxicity?”
“Yes.”
Victor spoke.
“That’s enough.”
Detective Hale looked at him.
“Mr. Blackwood, we’re investigating possible child abuse.”
“So am I.”
“That isn’t your job.”
Victor’s expression became almost amused.
“No.”
“It’s personal.”
The detective did not smile.
“We would like Ms. Harper to come to the station voluntarily.”
Victor’s attorney objected.
Lily interrupted.
“I’ll go.”
Victor looked at her.
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes.”
She looked toward Ethan’s room.
“If I refuse, every headline tomorrow says I ran.”
Victor understood.
He nodded.
“You go with counsel.”
Lily stood.
Before leaving, she went to Ethan.
He was awake.
She kissed his forehead.
“I’ll be back.”
Ethan held her finger.
For a moment Lily nearly cried.
Then she saw something under his blanket.
A tiny folded piece of paper.
She frowned.
It had not been there earlier.
She opened it.
Three typed words.
STOP TALKING OR DIE.
Lily stared.
Victor saw her face.
“What?”
She handed him the note.
Everything changed.
Victor looked toward the hospital hallway.
“Seal this floor.”
Detective Hale read the note.
“Who has been inside?”
“Nurses.”
“Doctors.”
“Security.”
“Family.”
Victor looked at Marco.
“Review every camera.”
Marco nodded.
Lily’s hands began trembling.
They had reached Ethan even inside a guarded hospital.
They had placed a threat inches from him.
Victor looked at Lily.
“You are not going anywhere.”
Detective Hale frowned.
“We still need—”
“Someone just threatened a witness inside my son’s bed.”
Victor’s voice became deadly quiet.
“She stays.”
The detective did not argue.
Marco returned ten minutes later.
“No useful footage.”
Victor stared.
“What does that mean?”
“Camera outside Ethan’s room looped for seven minutes.”
Victor’s expression changed.
“Again?”
“Yes.”
“Someone inside the hospital system.”
Lily looked around.
The conspiracy was no longer outside.
It was here.
Victor called the hospital administrator.
Then Marco’s phone buzzed.
He read a message.
“Charles gave us another name.”
“Who?”
Marco looked at Lily.
“A nurse.”
Lily’s stomach tightened.
“At this hospital?”
“Yes.”
“Name?”
“Rachel Mercer.”
Lily froze.
She knew Rachel.
They had worked together at St. Matthew’s.
Rachel had testified against Lily during the medication investigation.
And Rachel had been one of the people who claimed to find clonazepam in Lily’s locker.
Victor noticed Lily’s reaction.
“You know her.”
“She helped get me fired.”
Marco checked hospital staffing.
Then slowly looked up.
“She’s on this floor.”
Victor turned toward Ethan’s room.
The bed was visible through the glass.
Ethan slept beneath his blanket.
A woman in blue scrubs entered from the opposite door.
Lily’s heart stopped.
“Rachel.”
Victor ran.
Rachel saw him.
She reached toward Ethan’s IV line.
Lily screamed.
“Don’t touch that.”
Rachel moved faster.
Victor hit the door hard enough to send it into the wall.
Rachel spun.
A syringe was in her hand.
Victor grabbed her wrist.
The syringe fell.
Marco rushed in.
Rachel fought wildly.
“Let me go.”
Victor pinned her arm against the wall.
“What was in that syringe?”
“Saline.”
Lily picked it up using a cloth.
“No.”
She stared at the cloudy liquid.
“That’s not saline.”
Rachel looked at her.
For one terrible second their eyes met.
And Lily understood.
Three years ago.
The medication theft.
The planted drugs.
The ruined career.
It had never been about Lily.
It had been preparation.
Someone had been building a believable villain long before she ever entered the Blackwood mansion.
Lily whispered.
“You knew I would work for him.”
Rachel’s face changed.
Victor heard.
“What?”
Lily looked at him.
“They didn’t choose me after I became Ethan’s nanny.”
“They arranged for me to become Ethan’s nanny.”
The room went silent.
Victor remembered Lily’s glowing recommendation letter.
The agency that had placed her.
The consultant who insisted Lily was perfect for Ethan after Isabella’s death.
Victor looked at Marco.
“Who recommended her?”
Marco searched his phone.
Then his expression hardened.
“Thomas Reed.”
Lily stared.
Victor slowly turned toward Rachel.
“How long has this been planned?”
Rachel said nothing.
Victor stepped closer.
“How long?”
Rachel smiled.
“You really don’t know?”
Victor’s eyes became cold.
Rachel laughed softly.
“This didn’t start when you met Serena.”
“It didn’t start when Ethan was born.”
Victor stared at her.
Rachel leaned closer.
“It started before Isabella died.”
Lily’s breath caught.
Victor did not move.
For the first time since Lily had known him, his control cracked.
“What did you say?”
Rachel’s smile vanished.
She suddenly looked afraid of what she had revealed.
Victor grabbed the front of her uniform.
“What happened to my wife?”
Rachel said nothing.
Victor’s voice dropped.
“What happened to Isabella?”
Rachel looked toward the door.
Then at Lily.
Then back at Victor.
Finally she whispered.
“Ask Thomas why the brakes failed.”
Victor went completely still.
Isabella Blackwood had died two years earlier when her car went through a barrier on the West Side Highway.
The investigation had blamed a mechanical defect.
Victor had accepted the report.
Thomas Reed had handled the insurance settlement.
Thomas Reed had recommended the private investigator.
Thomas Reed had personally delivered the final accident report.
Victor released Rachel slowly.
He looked at Marco.
“Get me Isabella’s accident file.”
“All of it.”
Rachel started laughing again.
Victor turned.
“What is funny?”
She shook her head.
“You’re still behind.”
“Behind what?”
Rachel’s smile became strange.
“You think Isabella was the first Blackwood they killed.”
Victor stared.
Rachel whispered.
“She wasn’t.”
And Victor suddenly remembered his father.
A heart attack fifteen years earlier.
A death that had handed Victor control of the family empire.
May you like
A death Thomas Reed had also helped manage.
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