Chapter 1 - The Lie Outside the Delivery Room
“Tell them I’m not the father. Make sure they believe it.”
Wren heard every word.
For eight months, she had imagined what Declan Rourke would say if he discovered their child.
She had imagined anger. Accusations. Perhaps the cold announcement that nobody took something belonging to him.
She had never imagined denial.
Another contraction tightened across her abdomen.
The nurse beside her caught her elbow.
“Look at me, honey. My name is Elena. We’re getting you somewhere safe.”
Wren barely heard her.
“You don’t have to lie,” she told Declan. “I wasn’t going to ask you for anything.”
Something moved through his face.
Then he removed the earpiece.
“That wasn’t for you.”
“Of course it wasn’t.”
Below them, something slammed hard enough to vibrate through the floor.
Elena turned toward the security officer arriving from the stairwell.
“Restricted access,” she said. “We have a patient in active labor.”
Declan stepped aside as they brought a wheelchair.
“Hospital command is handling the entrances,” the officer told him sharply. “Your people follow our directions.”
For the first time since Wren had known him, somebody gave Declan Rourke an order in front of strangers.
He nodded.
“Understood.”
That frightened her almost as much as the men downstairs.
Declan did not surrender control unless something worse required it.
Elena wheeled her into a delivery room. A physician followed, introduced herself as Dr. Chen, and began asking questions.
How many weeks?
Any bleeding?
When had the contractions started?
Wren answered as clearly as she could.
Thirty-six weeks and four days.
No bleeding.
Less than an hour ago, though her back had hurt all evening.
Declan remained beyond the doorway.
“Do you want him inside?” Elena asked.
Wren looked at him.
Snow melted from his shoulders onto the polished floor.
“No.”
Elena closed the door.
The simple click felt enormous.
For months, Wren had believed distance was her only protection.
Now a tired nurse with a badge and sensible shoes had created a boundary the most feared man in Seattle did not cross.
Dr. Chen examined her.
“You’re in active labor. We’re going to take good care of you.”
Wren nodded, but her eyes stayed on the door.
Outside, voices rose.
Not shouting.
Worse.
Men speaking urgently while trying not to sound afraid.
“Is someone attacking the hospital?” she asked.
Elena did not insult her by pretending not to understand.
“Security and law enforcement are responding. Our job is keeping you and your baby safe.”
“My baby didn’t do anything.”
The words escaped before she could stop them.
Elena’s expression softened.
“No,” she said. “She didn’t.”
A few minutes later, someone knocked.
The security officer entered with a woman wearing a dark coat over a federal badge.
“Wren Hadley?”
Wren’s entire body went cold.
She had not heard her real name spoken by a stranger in months.
“I’m Special Agent Naomi Ortiz. You aren’t under arrest.”
“That’s usually something people say before they arrest someone.”
“Fair point.”
Ortiz stayed near the door.
“We believe the men who entered the building came looking for you. Two are in custody. Officers are searching for another.”
“Declan’s men?”
“No.”
Wren looked away.
Of course there were others.
There were always others.
Ortiz continued carefully.
“Mr. Rourke contacted us when he learned someone had located you. He provided information that helped identify the immediate threat.”
“How did he locate me?”
“That’s a question he needs to answer.”
Another contraction interrupted.
Wren gripped the bedrail, bent forward, and breathed until the room became bearable again.
When she looked up, Ortiz had moved farther back, giving her space.
“What do they want?”
The agent hesitated.
Not long enough to hide it.
Wren’s stomach sank.
“They know I’m pregnant.”
“They suspect your child’s father is connected to information they’re trying to control.”
Connected.
A useful word when the truth was too ugly for a hospital room.
Outside the door, Declan said something Wren couldn’t hear.
Then Elena opened it a few inches.
“He wants you to know that the message you overheard was directed at the men looking for you. He told them you were a former acquaintance and the baby wasn’t his.”
Wren stared at her.
“He thought that would protect us?”
“That’s what he says.”
Wren closed her eyes.
Anger was easier than the terrible possibility that he had found out he was a father and immediately pretended otherwise to keep his daughter alive.
“Tell him,” she whispered, “that he doesn’t get to decide which lies I can survive.”
Elena nodded.
Before she could turn away, Wren caught her wrist.
“But don’t tell him the baby isn’t his.”
The nurse looked at her.
May you like
Wren’s voice broke.
“She is.”
