Chapter 10 - THE EMPTY BED
Nathan reached the pediatric floor in less than three minutes.
Lily’s hospital bed was empty.
Her blanket lay on the floor.
A security guard had been found unconscious near the stairwell.
Hospital footage showed a woman wearing a nurse’s uniform entering Lily’s room.
The woman’s face was partly hidden behind a mask.
She wheeled Lily out beneath a blanket.
Rosa had stepped into the twins’ room for less than two minutes.
That was all the time the kidnapper needed.
Sarah attempted to leave her bed.
Nathan stopped her.
“You cannot follow us.”
“That is my daughter.”
“You have stitches, broken ribs, and a concussion.”
“I sent her into the snow.”
“And I will bring her back.”
Sarah grabbed his sleeve.
“Marcus will not hurt her immediately.”
“How do you know?”
“He needs something.”
“The ledger?”
“Or me.”
A message appeared on Nathan’s phone.
It came from Lily’s number.
A photograph showed Lily sitting in the back seat of a vehicle.
Her wrists were tied loosely in front of her.
She looked frightened but conscious.
The message beneath it contained an address.
Bring Sarah.
No police.
No ledger, no girl.
The location was an abandoned mountain lodge north of the hospital.
Mercer wanted to trace the phone before responding.
The signal moved continuously.
The address was a trap or a meeting point.
Nathan looked at Sarah.
“I am not bringing you.”
“You do not decide that.”
“He wants to kill you.”
“He wants control.”
Sarah lowered her voice.
“If he believes I am still afraid, he will talk.”
Nathan understood.
Marcus’s weakness was not anger.
It was certainty.
He needed his victims to believe resistance was impossible.
Sarah proposed wearing a tracking device and concealed microphone.
Mercer opposed it.
Agent Sinclair agreed only if officers controlled the site.
Sarah signed herself out of the hospital against medical advice.
She changed into warm clothes and covered the bandage near her temple with a hat.
Before leaving, she entered the twins’ room.
Owen slept inside his crib.
Ethan remained attached to a breathing machine.
Sarah touched both of them gently.
“Your sister brought you home.”
She turned toward Nathan.
“Now we bring her home.”
The mountain lodge stood at the end of a private road.
Police teams approached through the woods.
Nathan drove Sarah to the main entrance.
The front doors opened before they reached the steps.
Marcus stood inside.
Lily sat beside him.
A wire was looped around her ankle and attached to a metal support beam.
Marcus held a detonator.
Behind Lily were six barrels marked with explosive warnings.
May you like
“Come inside,” Marcus said.
“Both of you.”
