Chapter 7: The Empty Hospital Room
“Where is my daughter?””
My voice echoed through the hospital corridor.
Detective Harris grabbed my shoulder.
“Michael, listen to me. We need to stay calm.””
“Calm? Someone just took my five-year-old daughter out of a hospital room!””
Two nurses hurried toward us.
One looked terrified.
“Mr. Carter, I was only gone for a moment. I went to get the medication the doctor requested.””
“Who was watching her?””
“A hospital security guard was stationed outside.””
“Then where is he?””
The nurse looked toward the end of the corridor.
“He was there when I left.””
Harris immediately radioed the hospital security team.
“Lock every exit. Nobody leaves until we've checked the cameras.””
I picked up Lily's stuffed rabbit.
Its little plastic eye was facing the ceiling.
The hidden camera.
I remembered Mason telling me that Vanessa had used it to monitor Lily.
I turned it over.
The memory card was missing.
Someone had taken it.
“Detective,” I said, “whoever took Lily knew exactly where she was.””
Harris nodded grimly.
“Which means this wasn't a random kidnapping.””
He called for additional officers.
I stared at the photograph on my phone.
Lily sleeping in her hospital bed.
The angle was unmistakable.
The picture had been taken from the doorway.
Someone had been watching her before the nurse disappeared.
A security officer approached.
“Detective, we've located the guard.””
“Where?””
“Stairwell B. He's unconscious.””
My stomach tightened.
“Is he alive?””
“Yes. He has a head injury.””
Harris turned to another officer.
“Get an ambulance. I want the security footage from every entrance and corridor.””
The officer nodded and hurried away.
I looked at the empty bed.
Lily's little pink blanket was folded at the foot.
She had been there.
She had been safe.
And now she was somewhere with people who had already proven they were willing to hurt her.
My phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
I answered immediately.
“Where is my daughter?””
A man's voice replied.
“She's safe.””
“Put her on the phone.””
“Not yet.””
“Who are you?””
“You have something that belongs to us.””
I gripped the phone.
“The necklace?””
“Bring it to the blue house. You know the address.””
“I don't.””
The man laughed.
“Your stepson does.””
My blood went cold.
“Mason?””
The call ended.
I spun toward Harris.
“They have Mason too.””
He immediately called the hospital's family waiting area.
Mason had been sitting there with a social worker after I returned to Lily's room.
Nobody had seen him leave.
A minute later, an officer returned.
“Detective, the boy is missing too.””
I felt my knees weaken.
Two children.
Both gone.
I wanted to run out of the building and search every street, every parking lot, every house.
But Harris caught my arm.
“Michael, if you rush into this alone, we could lose both of them.””
I looked at him.
“Then tell me what to do.””
“We follow the evidence.””
The security footage showed a woman entering the hospital at 6:42 a.m.
She wore a gray coat, a surgical mask, and a baseball cap.
She carried a bouquet of flowers.
The security guard had apparently allowed her through because she claimed to be Lily's grandmother.
The woman entered Lily's room.
Seven minutes later, she left carrying a large medical equipment bag.
A second camera showed Mason walking toward the stairwell twenty seconds afterward.
He appeared to be following someone.
“Pause it,” I said.
The image froze.
Mason was looking directly at the camera.
He held up one hand.
There was something between his fingers.
A small white piece of paper.
Harris enlarged the image.
The message was barely readable.
But I recognized the handwriting.
It was Mason's.
Dad, don't trust the woman in the gray coat.
I stared at the screen.
“He knew.””
Harris nodded.
“He may have gone willingly to protect Lily.””
I looked at the officer.
“Find him.””
At 8:17 a.m., another message arrived.
This time, it was a photograph.
Lily sat on a sofa beside Mason.
Both children looked frightened.
Behind them was a blue wall and a white fireplace.
The message read:
You have until noon.
I enlarged the photograph.
On the fireplace mantel stood a silver-framed picture.
Three people were visible.
Helen.
Vanessa.
And Sarah.
I stared at the photograph.
It had been taken before Sarah died.
But something about the image bothered me.
Sarah wasn't smiling.
She was looking directly at the camera with a terrified expression.
I zoomed in.
Her right hand was resting on the table.
Between her fingers was a small piece of paper.
A key.
I recognized the distinctive red tag attached to it.
It was the key to a safe deposit box at First National Bank.
I had seen it years ago in Sarah's jewelry drawer.
After her death, I thought it had disappeared.
I turned toward Harris.
“I know where they want me to go.””
“Where?””
“The bank.””
He shook his head.
“We're not going to let them dictate the operation.””
I looked at the children in the photograph.
“Then let's get them back before noon.””
Harris studied the picture again.
“Michael, look at the fireplace.””
I leaned closer.
Something was carved into the wooden frame.
A small number.
*214.*
Harris immediately called his team.
“Get me the address of every property registered to Helen with a blue exterior and a white fireplace.””
Then he turned to me.
“And find out who owns safe deposit box 214.””
I looked at my phone.
Another message had appeared.
One last chance, Michael.
I read the final line.
Your wife is waiting for you.
But Vanessa was in police custody.
So whoever had sent the message wasn't talking about Vanessa.
They meant Sarah.
And suddenly I understood why they wanted the necklace.
They weren't trying to recover money.
May you like
They were trying to recover something Sarah had hidden before she died.
Something that could finally explain everything.
