The date on the first page was the night Lucas had been in Milwaukee closing the purchase of a hotel.
Richard knew that.
He had attended the closing by video conference.
Yet beneath a paragraph authorizing emergency control over Emma’s medical decisions was Lucas Bennett’s signature.
It looked convincing from a distance.
The long downward stroke in the B was almost right.
The final line beneath his surname had the same impatient angle Lucas used when signing stacks of contracts.
Almost.
Lucas took the folder from Richard’s hands.
Margaret’s expression tightened.
“This is neither the time nor the place.”
“You came to my building carrying papers about my wife and unborn child,” Lucas said.
“You chose the time and place.”
Behind him, a paramedic warned that Emma needed immediate hospital treatment.
Richard lowered his voice.
“The documents are protective.
Emma has shown signs of instability, and your mother agreed to serve as temporary guardian if her condition worsened.”
Emma made a small sound from the stretcher.
Lucas turned.
She was staring at the folder as if it were a weapon.
Margaret approached her with a practiced expression of concern.
“Emma, this would have been easier if you had followed the nurse’s instructions.”
Lucas stepped between them.
“What instructions?”
Margaret stopped.
Richard answered for her.
“Bed rest.
Privacy.
Reduced stress.”
“Then why are her ankles bruised?”
Neither of them spoke.
Lucas looked down at the document again.
It stated that if Emma became medically incapacitated, Margaret would receive temporary authority over decisions concerning the pregnancy and newborn.
Another page authorized Richard to petition for emergency guardianship.
A third claimed Lucas had requested that Emma’s access to certain shared accounts be restricted for her own protection.
His forged signature appeared on each page.
The final sheet was worse.
It was an unsigned draft of a custody petition describing Emma as irrational, financially dependent, and potentially dangerous to the baby.
The petition had been prepared before Emma stopped walking.
Lucas closed the folder.
“Get her to the hospital,” he told the paramedics.
Richard reached for the papers.
“Those are confidential legal documents.”
Lucas pulled them out of reach.
“They concern my wife, my child, and signatures made in my name.
They are staying with me.”
Margaret’s composure cracked for the first time.
“Do not make accusations you will regret.”
Lucas held her gaze.
“My wife cannot walk.
Regret began before I reached this lobby.”
He climbed into the ambulance beside Emma, still holding the folder.
The doors closed on Margaret’s furious face.
During the ride, Emma kept one hand over her stomach and the other wrapped around Lucas’s fingers.
Her skin felt cold despite the heated ambulance.
A paramedic cut away the compression bandages beneath her nightgown.
