Chapter 2 - NINE HOURS
The paramedics arrived four minutes later.
Richard refused to let Ethan go until one of them gently explained that they needed to examine him.
The little boy clung to Richard's collar.
“Don't leave me.”
“I won't.”
Richard climbed into the ambulance beside him.
Mark tried to follow.
Ethan immediately pulled away.
“No.”
That single word stopped everyone.
The paramedic looked at Mark.
Richard looked at his son.
And Mark stayed on the sidewalk.
At St. Matthew's Hospital, doctors treated Ethan for dehydration, exposure, and several small cuts on his feet.
Nothing was life-threatening.
Richard should have felt relieved.
He didn't.
A pediatric nurse named Jennifer sat beside Ethan and asked simple questions while Richard remained across the room.
“Were you outside because you were playing?”
Ethan shook his head.
“Were you supposed to come inside before dark?”
Another shake.
“Did someone tell you that you couldn't come inside?”
Ethan stared at his hands.
“Claudia.”
Richard's fingers curled around the arms of his chair.
Jennifer continued softly.
“Why?”
“I spilled juice.”
Richard closed his eyes.
Nine hours for spilled juice.
A county child-protection investigator arrived shortly before midnight.
Her name was Dana Mercer.
She asked Richard to step into the hallway.
“Mr. Whitaker, I need you to understand something.”
Richard nodded.
“This cannot be handled as a family disagreement.”
“I know.”
“We've contacted law enforcement.”
“Good.”
Dana studied him.
“Your son says the punishment was mild.”
Richard's expression hardened.
“My son is wrong.”
“He also says Claudia normally handles discipline.”
Richard looked through the small window in the hospital door.
Ethan had fallen asleep beneath two warm blankets.
“What does normally mean?”
Dana didn't answer immediately.
“That is what we intend to determine.”
Richard's phone rang.
Arthur Bell, the Whitaker family's attorney, was calling from the mansion.
Richard answered.
“Tell me.”
Arthur's voice was tense.
“You need to come back here as soon as Ethan is safe.”
“What happened?”
“I found the blue room.”
Richard's stomach tightened.
“And?”
Arthur lowered his voice.
“Sarah's boxes are inside.”
Sarah.
Ethan's mother.
Mark's first wife.
Dead for almost two years.
Richard gripped the phone.
“Why were they locked away?”
“That isn't the worst part.”
Richard went silent.
Arthur continued.
“There is a desk in here.”
“There are financial records.”
“And Richard…”
Arthur hesitated.
“There are documents carrying your signature.”
Richard stared through the hospital glass at his sleeping grandson.
“I haven't signed anything concerning that house in eighteen months.”
“I know.”
That was when Richard understood.
May you like
Someone had not merely mistreated Ethan.
Someone had been using his name.
