Margaret stared at him.
“What?”
Daniel looked at me again.
“Judge Olivia Carter?”
I touched the cut on my lip.
“Yes, Chief.”
One of the younger officers immediately straightened.
Margaret gave a strange laugh.
“Judge?”
Daniel’s gaze shifted toward the documents.
Then Noah.
Then Margaret.
His voice became cold.
“Nobody removes either child from this room.”
Margaret blinked.
“You’re confused. She doesn’t even work.”
Daniel stared at her.
“I’ve provided courthouse security for Judge Carter during three high-risk proceedings.”
Margaret’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
“She presides over criminal and family matters in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit,” he continued. “And unless something changed between this morning and now, she very much has a job.”
I almost laughed.
Instead I winced because laughing hurt my stitches.
Margaret looked at me as though I had personally rearranged gravity.
“You’re a judge?”
I didn’t answer.
Daniel moved closer.
“Ma’am, place the baby in the bassinet.”
“I am his grandmother.”
“Place the baby down.”
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand the patient’s emergency security alarm was activated while you were holding her infant.”
“I was helping.”
“Then you won’t mind putting him down.”
Margaret’s arms tightened.
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“Now.”
She hesitated.
That hesitation changed the officers’ expressions.
Daniel extended both hands.
Finally Margaret surrendered Noah.
A nurse rushed in behind security and took him from Daniel, checking him before placing him against my chest.
The moment his warm little body touched mine, my composure broke.
I buried my face against his blanket.
“You’re okay,” I whispered. “You’re okay.”
Whether I was speaking to him or myself, I didn’t know.
Another nurse lifted Nora and brought her beside us.
Both my babies pressed against me.
My entire world fit beneath my arms.
Daniel turned to Margaret.
“Step away from the bed.”
She obeyed.
Barely.
Then another officer appeared in the doorway holding a phone.
“Chief.”
Daniel looked over.
“The hallway camera caught the entrance.”
Margaret’s face changed.
The officer continued.
“Audio too.”
Daniel took the phone.
He watched.
I couldn’t see the screen.
I didn’t need to.
Margaret could.
Her eyes moved with the recording.
Then she looked toward the door.
As if considering whether she could run.
Daniel finished the video and lifted his gaze.
“Mrs. Whitmore, did you strike Judge Carter?”
“It was an accident.”
“You were holding the infant while moving toward the exit.”
“She gave me permission.”
“No, I did not.”
Margaret pointed at the papers.
“She agreed.”
Daniel picked them up.
I watched his eyes scan the first page.
His expression sharpened.
“These aren’t signed.”
“She was about to.”
“I told you no.”
Margaret turned toward me.
“You changed your mind.”
“I never agreed.”
Then a woman’s voice echoed from the hallway.
“Mother?”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“Mother, did she sign the transfer papers?”
A tall woman in a camel coat appeared in the doorway.
Karen Whitmore.
Evan’s older sister.
She was carrying a brand-new infant car seat.
Not an empty-handed visitor.
Not a woman expecting to discuss possibilities.
A car seat.
She had come prepared to leave with my son.
Karen saw security.
Then me.
Then Margaret.
“What happened?”
Nobody answered.
She lifted the car seat slightly.
“Is Noah ready?”
My blood went cold.
Daniel’s gaze moved to the seat.
Then to Karen.
“Ma’am, set that down.”
Karen frowned.
“Who are you?”
“Hospital security.”
