PART 19
Claire’s letter confirmed much of his story.
She wrote that Adrian had tried to stay.
She wrote that Thomas threatened them.
She wrote that Evelyn helped them communicate after Thomas began
intercepting calls.
PART 20
Then the letter became stranger.
Claire said someone from Mercer Atlantic approached her two weeks before
delivery.
He offered money.
Not to give up Noah.
To sign a confidentiality agreement.
PART 21
Claire refused.
Three days later, she gave Evelyn the sealed envelope.
She apparently believed Thomas might try to separate the baby from us if
something happened to her.
PART 22
The infant transfer authorization suggested she had been right to worry.
It appeared to authorize Noah’s transfer to a private neonatal facility.
The signature was not Claire’s.
PART 23
But Noah had never been transferred.
He remained at the hospital until he was stable enough to come home with
me.
So what was the document for?
PART 24
Hospital archives provided the first answer.
The transfer request had been entered.
Then canceled.
The cancellation occurred twenty-seven minutes after Claire died.
The person who canceled it was a nurse named Rachel Sloane.
PART 25
I remembered Rachel.
Barely.
A nurse had placed Noah in my arms the night Claire died.
She had said:
“Don’t let anyone take him without asking for identification.”
At the time, I thought she was giving ordinary hospital advice.
PART 26
She had been warning me.
PART 27
Rachel Sloane had left the hospital three months later.
She was now living in Oregon.
Through attorneys and investigators, she agreed to speak.
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