Chapter 2 - THE MAN ACROSS THE STREET

I climbed into the ambulance beside Eli while another paramedic cared for Grace.

The baby’s temperature was elevated, but Eli’s body had absorbed most of the direct sunlight.

He had deliberately curled himself around her.

His arms, shoulders, and back had formed a shield between his sister and the scorching windows.

He had likely saved her life.

Eli was barely conscious when we reached St. Catherine’s Medical Center.

Doctors moved him into a trauma room and began cooling his body with damp sheets and intravenous fluids.

I stayed near Grace while the pediatric team examined her.

The baby appeared less than two months old.

Her lips were dry, and her skin was warm, but she was breathing normally.

When I unwrapped the purple blanket, something hard pressed against my fingers.

A small plastic object had been stitched into the hem.

I was about to examine it when Detective Grant Hale entered the room.

He was tall, silver-haired, and calm in the way experienced officers often were during emergencies.

“You’re the woman who broke the window?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“You probably saved both children.”

“Eli saved the baby.”

Grant looked toward the trauma room.

“Did he tell you anything else?”

I explained what Eli had said about Cole, his missing mother, and the remote-controlled locks.

Grant’s expression tightened.

“The device wasn’t a bomb,” he said.

“It was connected to the minivan’s electrical system.”

“Why?”

“It could control the doors, windows, and alarm.”

A cold feeling moved through me.

“Someone wanted to make sure they couldn’t escape.”

Grant nodded.

“The vehicle is registered to Mara Bennett.”

“Is that their mother?”

“We believe so.”

“Where is she?”

“That’s what we’re trying to determine.”

A nurse called me over.

Grace had begun crying softly.

As I lifted her, the purple blanket fell onto the examination table.

The stitched object slipped through a tear in the fabric.

It was a tiny memory card.

Grant picked it up with gloved fingers.

Before he could speak, Eli began shouting from the next room.

“No!”

His frightened voice echoed through the pediatric unit.

“He’s outside!”

Grant and I hurried to the window.

Across the street, a man stood beside a black pickup truck.

He wore sunglasses and a gray baseball cap.

Even from several floors above, I could tell he was staring directly at us.

May you like

"The vanilla buttercream hit the hardwood floor with a sickening, heavy...

"The vanilla buttercream hit the hardwood floor with a sickening, heavy thud. I didn’t even register the sound of the custom glass...

"The perfect wife was about to commit the unthinkable. Then the front do...

"""""""The perfect wife was about to commit the unthinkable. Then the front door opened.""""The heavy bronze candlestick was raise...

"When my husband shoved me into the freezing pool in front of his entire...

"When my husband shoved me into the freezing pool in front of his entire family, I thought the cold water would be the worst part....

The man raised one hand.

Then he slowly pointed at Grace.