For five days, I slept beside Adrian knowing he may have taken my baby.
He noticed something was wrong.
“You’re quiet.”
“Work.”
“You always complain about work.”
“I’m expanding.”
He laughed.
I wanted to hit him.
Instead, I waited.
Law enforcement opened an investigation after reviewing the DNA evidence and medical records.
Then came the final piece.
A hospital security archive from eight years earlier still contained access logs, though no video remained.
Adrian’s visitor badge had been used repeatedly in neonatal care.
Not strange.
He was the father.
But on the fourth day after delivery, Adrian signed an infant release acknowledgement.
Not an adoption consent.
A release.
The document had been filed under Lucas’s temporary hospital identification number.
The destination organization no longer existed.
Signature:
Adrian Cole.
Dana sat beside me when I saw it.
“That’s his signature.”
“I know.”
“You’re certain?”
“I watched him sign mortgage documents for fifteen years.”
