The Maid Who Knew His Dead Wife’s Secret

Adrian stared at the photograph until the edges of the room seemed to blur.

Victoria's face looked younger in the picture, her hair pulled back, her expression solemn. Beneath it sat a date that made his stomach tighten.

The day Nathan was born.

“What is this?”” Adrian demanded.

Dr. Helen Price closed the folder halfway.

“This photograph was included in a packet of documents transferred to our facility by the previous administrator. I discovered it during an internal review.””

“Why would a photograph of my fiancée be in my wife's medical file?””

“I don't know.””

“Then find someone who does.””

Dr. Price held his gaze.

“Mr. Cole, I understand your anger, but I need you to understand that this facility inherited records that may have been falsified. Some of the people who handled them are no longer available to question.””

Adrian pointed at the photograph.

“Was Victoria a patient here?””

“I cannot confirm that from this document alone.””

“Then what can you confirm?””

Dr. Price turned the page.

“There is a second file. It lists an unidentified woman admitted on the same day as your wife's initial assessment. The admission was authorized by a person using the name Adrian Cole.””

Adrian went rigid.

“I never brought anyone here.””

“I believe you.””

“You'd better.””

“I believe you because the signature on the authorization is different from the signature on your identification documents.””

Adrian took the page and examined it.

The signature looked convincing at first glance. His name was written in the familiar slant he used on contracts. But the final stroke of the C was too long, and the middle initial was missing.

Someone had copied his signature.

Someone who had access to his personal documents.

Someone close enough to know how he signed his name.

He looked toward Camille.

She sat beside the window with Evelyn's hand wrapped in hers. Her breathing had begun to slow, but she still watched Adrian as though he might suddenly become someone else.

“Camille,” he said gently, “do you remember anything about this?””

Her eyes dropped to the photograph.

The color drained from her face.

“No.””

“Sweetheart, you don't have to tell me everything now. I just need to know whether Victoria brought you here.””

Camille's fingers tightened around Evelyn's hand.

“Don't say her name.””

Adrian felt a chill move through him.

“Why?””

“She hears everything.””

Evelyn moved closer.

“Camille, we're alone.””

“No.”” Camille shook her head frantically.

“She has people. She always has people.””

Dr. Price crouched beside her chair.

“Camille, look at me. You're in the facility where you've been receiving care. No one is going to move you without the appropriate medical review.””

Camille stared at the doctor.

Then she whispered, “That's what they said last time.””

Adrian swallowed.

“What happened last time?””

Camille's eyes shifted toward the door.

“Someone came at night. They said my husband had signed the papers. They said I had to leave because he wanted me somewhere else.””

Adrian's throat tightened.

“I never signed anything.””

Camille looked at him, searching his face.

“They showed me your name.””

“Someone forged it.””

She shook her head as though she couldn't bear to consider the possibility.

“They said you didn't want me anymore.””

Adrian sank into the chair opposite her.

“Camille, I searched for you. I mourned you. I stood beside a grave with your name on it.””

She began to cry.

“I know.””

The words were so quiet that he almost missed them.

Adrian leaned forward.

“You know?””

Camille covered her mouth.

Evelyn looked at her in alarm.

“Camille, what do you mean?””

The woman stared at the floor.

For several seconds, she seemed to fight with a memory that was too painful to release.

Then she spoke.

“I heard him.””

Adrian's heart stopped.

“Heard me where?””

“Outside the room. The first night they brought me here.””

He rose so quickly that his chair scraped across the floor.

“Why didn't you call out?””

Camille flinched.

Dr. Price immediately stepped between them.

“Mr. Cole, please lower your voice.””

Adrian looked at Camille's frightened face and forced himself to sit again.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered.

“I'm sorry, sweetheart.””

Camille watched him carefully.

“I tried to call you. I couldn't speak properly. I was so tired. They gave me medicine, and I couldn't remember where I was.””

Adrian's eyes burned.

“And Victoria told you I had sent you here?””

Camille nodded.

“She said you were angry because of the money. She said you'd signed the papers because you didn't want a wife who couldn't take care of herself.””

Adrian shook his head.

“I never did that.””

Camille looked at him.

“Then why did you let them bury me?””

He had no answer.

Because the truth was uglier than he wanted to admit.

He had trusted Victoria to handle the details because he couldn't bear to look at them himself. He had accepted the documents placed before him, believing they were necessary. He had let grief make him passive while someone else controlled every piece of evidence.

He hadn't ordered Camille's disappearance.

But he had never questioned the story that made it possible.

And now he would have to live with that.

Evelyn gently brushed Camille's hair away from her face.

“Tell us about the papers, sweetheart. Only what you remember.””

Camille stared at the blue ribbon lying beside the overturned glass.

“They came when Nathan was born.””

Adrian's head snapped up.

“What?””

Camille's lips trembled.

“I was in the hospital. Victoria came to see me. She told me she had arranged everything so you could focus on the baby.””

“What did she arrange?””

“She said there was a problem with the birth records. She said I needed to sign some forms.””

Adrian felt cold.

“What forms?””

“I don't know. I was exhausted. They gave me something to calm me down, and she put papers in front of me.””

Evelyn looked horrified.

“Camille, did you sign them?””

“I think so.””

“Did you read them?””

Camille shook her head.

Adrian stood and began pacing.

Victoria had been in the hospital on the day Nathan was born. He remembered her arriving with coffee, telling him the nurses needed more information, and offering to handle the paperwork while he stayed beside Camille.

He remembered signing a few documents himself.

He remembered Victoria taking them away.

“Dr. Price,” he said, “I need copies of every document bearing my name. Every admission form, every transfer authorization, every visitor log.””

“I'll arrange it through our compliance officer.””

“And I need the original files preserved.””

“I understand.””

“No. I don't think you do. Someone has been using my identity to imprison my wife.””

Dr. Price's expression hardened.

“If that's true, we have an obligation to investigate.””

Adrian turned back to Camille.

“I want to take you home.””

Her expression immediately changed.

“No!””

He stopped.

“Camille—”

“No, no, no.”” She pushed herself back in the chair.

“You can't take me there.””

“I'm not going to force you.””

“You don't understand.””

“Then help me understand.””

Camille pressed both hands against her temples.

“The house. The stairs. The locked room.””

Adrian went still.

“What locked room?””

She looked at Evelyn.

Evelyn's face had gone pale.

“Camille, what locked room?””

“The one behind the library.””

Adrian stared at her.

There was no room behind the library.

At least, none that he knew about.

The Cole estate had been renovated shortly before Nathan's birth. The original floor plans showed a small storage space behind the bookcases, but the architect had told Adrian it had been sealed during construction.

He had never thought about it again.

Camille began to shake.

“She kept me there.””

Adrian felt the room tilt.

“Who?””

Camille looked at him as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Victoria.””

Before he could respond, the door opened.

A nurse hurried inside, holding a tablet.

“Dr. Price, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have a problem.””

The doctor turned.

“What is it?””

“The patient transfer request for Camille Brooks has just been reactivated.””

Adrian's blood ran cold.

“By whom?””

The nurse checked the screen.

“An authorized family representative.””

“Name?””

She swallowed.

“Victoria Hale.””

Adrian snatched the tablet from her hand.

A transfer had been scheduled for that afternoon. The destination was a private care facility outside the city. The request carried the same copied signature as the earlier documents.

At the bottom, beneath the authorization, was a short message.

*Patient is no longer safe at Willow Creek. Immediate relocation required.*

Adrian looked at the time.

The request had been submitted twelve minutes earlier.