Then I remembered something.
“Samantha?”
“Yes?”
“You said Lucas left instructions.”
“I did.”
“What were they?”
“I can tell you now.”
My heart began racing.
“But there’s something you need to know first.”
“What?”
“Lucas didn’t think your father’s problem was really about money.”
I stared at the open doorway.
“Then what was it?”
Samantha paused.
“Control.”
The ambulance arrived.
Paramedics rushed toward me.
One wrapped a blanket around my shoulders while another checked my pulse.
“Ma’am, we’re taking you to the hospital.”
I nodded.
As they lifted me onto the stretcher, I looked back one final time.
My father stood beside the patrol car.
He wasn’t looking at me.
He was staring at the house.
More specifically, at Lucas’s study.
Then I saw Courtney lean toward him and whisper something.
My father’s expression suddenly changed.
He looked terrified.
Not angry.
Not humiliated.
Terrified.
I wanted to know what Courtney had told him.
But before I could ask, the ambulance doors closed.
And everything disappeared behind them.
At the Hospital
The hospital became a blur of bright lights, hurried footsteps, and questions.
“How far along are you?”
