Chapter 5 - The Racine Clinic
The drive to Racine, Wisconsin, took forty-five minutes through blinding blizzard conditions that forced semi-trucks to crawl along I-94. Miles drove while Adrian stared blankly out the frosted window, the tiny gold bracelet clutched in his palm so tightly the engraved rose dug into his skin.
When they reached the St. Jude Community Health Clinic—a modest brick building tucked behind a row of pine trees—the parking lot was empty except for an old red pickup truck and a snowplow.
Adrian burst through the front doors, startling a nurse at the reception desk.
“I’m looking for Ariana Vale,” he demanded, panting. “She was here. She had a baby here.”
The nurse, an older woman with kind eyes and a sharp tongue, took one look at his frantic expression and stood up, blocking the hallway. “Mr. Vale, I presume? We’ve been expecting someone from your security detail to track her down eventually. But you’re too late.”
Adrian froze. A cold terror worse than anything he had ever known gripped his chest. “What do you mean... too late? Is she... is my daughter...?”
“They’re gone,” a calm, deep voice echoed from down the hallway.
A tall man in a heavy flannel shirt and work boots stepped out of a back office. He had weather-beaten skin, calloused hands, and eyes that mirrored the protective fury of a mountain wolf.
“Who are you?” Adrian snarled, stepping toward him.
“I’m Julian Vance,” the man said steadily, refusing to back down an inch. “I run the timber lodge up north, and I’m the man who found Ariana collapsed in the snow outside this clinic eight months ago when she went into preterm labor. I’m also the man who gave her a home, a safe name, and a family while you were busy planning high-society galas with Vanessa Harrington.”
Adrian’s fist flew before he could stop himself, his knuckles connecting with Julian’s jaw with a sickening crunch. Julian staggered back against the wall, wiped a drop of blood from his lip, and let out a harsh, humorless laugh.
“Go ahead,” Julian spat, wiping his mouth. “Punch me again. Does it make you feel like a big man? Does it erase the fact that your wife bled on a cold tile floor while you were drinking champagne with your mistress?”
May you like
Adrian stood frozen, his hand still raised, his chest heaving. The violence drained out of him, leaving behind an hollow, echoing emptiness.
“Where is she?” Adrian whispered, his voice cracking. “Please... just tell me where my daughter is.”
