Chapter 5 - The Missing Mother-5
Spencer felt as though the oxygen had been sucked entirely out of the room. He leaned over the bed, his voice trembling. "What do you mean, Jocelyn was carrying my child to protect him?"
Florence coughed weakly, her hand gripping Spencer’s sleeve tightly.
"Eighteen months ago," Florence explained, "Jocelyn found out that Julian was planning to declare you legally incapacitated. He knew about your experimental medical procedures and spent months trying to find a way to claim full control of Warren Global Enterprise. Jocelyn knew that if you had a direct biological heir, Julian’s legal claim to the trust would be completely destroyed."
"So Jocelyn went to Pamela Ortiz's clinic?" Spencer asked, his mind piecing the nightmare together.
"Yes," Florence nodded. "Jocelyn voluntarily volunteered to be a surrogate using your stored genetic samples. She kept the pregnancy a complete secret, hiding in an offshore residence in Vancouver. But three weeks ago, Julian’s private investigators discovered where she was hiding."
Spencer turned to his security chief, Marcus, who was standing by the door. "Marcus, run a trace on Jocelyn Cooper immediately. Contact our private flight team and search every property record linked to Julian in the Vancouver area."
"Right away, boss," Marcus nodded, pulling out his encrypted satellite phone and stepping into the hallway.
Spencer turned back to Florence. "Where is Jocelyn now, Florence? Is she alive?"
"Julian dragged her back to Portland two days ago," Florence whispered, her monitor beeping erratically. "He tricked her... told her he would let her raise baby Dexter in peace if she surrendered the legal guardianship papers. But when she gave birth, he took the baby, put him in that black bag, and told his men to dispose of him..."
Charlee squeezed her grandmother's hand. "The lady in the grey coat... she was crying, Grandma. She was shouting at the man in the shiny shoes!"
"That was Jocelyn," Florence said, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. "She tried to save Dexter. Julian’s guards grabbed her and threw her into the back of a black SUV. Spencer... you have to find her! She's being held somewhere against her will!"
At that exact moment, the heart monitor beside Florence’s bed let out a sharp, continuous, high-pitched alarm.
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP-BEEP-BEEP—
The lines on the screen flattened. Florence’s eyes rolled back, her hand going completely limp in Spencer’s grip.
"GRANDMA!" Charlee screamed, clinging to the bedside. "GRANDMA, WAKE UP!"
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Emergency alarms blared down the corridor. Two doctors and three nurses burst into the room with a crash cart, pushing Spencer and Charlee back.
"She's in cardiac arrest!" the lead doctor shouted. "Clear the room! We need to charge the defibrillator now!"
