Chapter 5 - The True Cost of Silence
"Call 911!" I screamed, tearing the fetal monitor belt off my stomach. "Call the police right now!"
Megan was already dialing, her fingers shaking as she pressed the phone to her ear. "Yes, emergency! There's an armed intruder at 442 Elm Street. My father is inside. He's a senior citizen. Please, you have to hurry!"
Dana dropped her briefcase, her composure completely shattering. "They're looking for the watch. They think Julian gave it to Eric, and Eric hid it at your house."
"Who are 'they'?" I demanded, swinging my swollen legs over the side of the hospital bed. A sharp, unmistakable cramp seized my lower back, radiating through my pelvis. I gasped, gripping the metal bedrail.
"Private lenders," Dana whispered, terrified. "The kind of people who don't use banks. Eric borrowed their money to cover the fraudulent loans he took out on your house. When Julian found out, he tried to pay them off, but the money was gone."
The pain in my stomach wasn't fading this time. It was wrapping around me like a tightening vice. My water broke, a warm rush of fluid soaking the hospital sheets.
"Claire!" Megan dropped the phone, rushing to my side. "Press the call button. The baby is coming."
"No, I have to call Dad," I cried, fumbling for my cracked phone. I hit speed dial. It rang once. Twice. Three times.
"Hello?" a voice answered.
But it wasn't my father's gravelly voice.
It was Eric.
"Eric," I breathed, the contraction peaking so hard black spots danced in my vision. "Where is my dad?"
"Your dad is currently having a very productive conversation with some associates of mine in the living room," Eric said. His voice was eerily calm, the charming, reasonable tone he used when he was negotiating a deal. "I told him we just needed the pocket watch I accidentally dropped in your purse. But he says he doesn't have it."
"I have it," I gritted out through my teeth. "Don't touch him, Eric. I swear to God, if you hurt him..."
"I don't want to hurt anyone, Claire," Eric sighed, sounding genuinely burdened. "I just wanted to fix the financial mess we were in. I did this for us. For our future. But you always had to be so dramatic. If you had just stayed in the car today, none of this would be happening."
"You dragged me out onto the concrete!" I screamed.
"And now you're in a safe hospital," Eric reasoned twistedly. "Listen to me closely. You are going to give the watch to the nurse at the front desk in a sealed envelope. You're going to tell her a courier is coming to pick it up. If my associates don't have it in twenty minutes, they're going to burn the house down with your father inside."
The line clicked dead.
I looked at Megan, tears streaming down my face. "He has Dad."
The hospital room door swung open, and three nurses rushed in, alerted by the sudden spike on the heart rate monitor.
"Her water broke," the lead nurse said, checking my vitals. "Contractions are two minutes apart. We can't stop it anymore. We have to get her to delivery."
"I can't!" I sobbed, gripping Megan's hand. "My father!"
Dana stepped forward, picking up the tarnished silver pocket watch from the tray table. Her hands were steady now. The fear in her eyes had hardened into something sharp and dangerous.
"Go have your baby, Claire," Dana said quietly. "I'll take the watch to the house."
May you like
"They'll kill you," Megan said.
"No," Dana said, popping the back of the watch open. She reached her fingernail inside and peeled back the paper pawn receipt. Underneath it was a tiny, hidden SD card. "They don't want the watch. They want Julian's insurance policy. And I'm going to give it to them."
