Chapter 12 - THE EMPTY INCUBATOR
Federal agents surrounded the airport before Lorenzo’s plane could leave.
The incubator was empty.
That frightened Khloe more than finding her daughter inside it would have.
Lorenzo had prepared to transport a premature infant.
He possessed forged hospital-transfer papers bearing Nathaniel’s signature.
The documents authorized the removal of Khloe’s daughter for specialized treatment overseas.
Someone inside the hospital still worked for him.
Nathaniel ordered every employee credential suspended.
The neonatal floor sealed automatically.
Khloe reached the intensive-care unit and found her daughter sleeping beneath blue light.
Marcus arrived in a wheelchair against medical advice.
Security officers searched every room.
One incubator was missing.
It belonged to another premature infant whose family had been told the child was undergoing imaging.
The nurse responsible had vanished.
Lorenzo planned to exchange the babies.
Khloe’s daughter would leave under another child’s identity.
The second infant would remain in her place long enough to delay discovery.
Nathaniel located the missing nurse through a medication scanner near the basement.
Khloe, Marcus and federal agents watched the security feed.
The nurse pushed an incubator toward a service tunnel.
A man in hospital clothing waited beside the exit.
Owen Black.
He had escaped police custody during transport from the old hotel by bribing an ambulance driver.
His injuries slowed him, but greed kept him moving.
Agents rushed toward the basement.
Owen saw them through the corridor camera.
He locked himself inside the service tunnel with the incubator.
Khloe’s daughter remained in intensive care.
The stolen baby belonged to strangers.
Marcus gripped the arms of his wheelchair.
“He will use that child as leverage.”
Khloe looked at him.
“Then we save that child as though she were ours.”
Marcus contacted Owen through the tunnel emergency phone.
“What do you want?”
“The Swiss account released.”
“You cannot reach it.”
“Khloe can.”
The account opened under Khloe’s identity required a live biometric confirmation to reverse the freeze.
Owen had designed the security process.
“Bring her to the tunnel.”
Marcus looked toward Khloe.
“No.”
She took the phone.
“You have a baby who needs oxygen.”
“I have enough for twenty minutes.”
“If she dies, you lose everything.”
“If she dies, you lose a witness.”
Khloe closed her eyes.
The stolen infant had no role in their war.
Yet Owen considered her another tool.
Khloe agreed to enter the tunnel.
Marcus tried to stop her.
She turned toward him.
“You went into the hotel for Elaine.”
“That was different.”
“It always feels different when someone else is taking the risk.”
He had no answer.
Khloe entered wearing a hospital gown beneath a coat.
A federal camera was hidden near her collar.
Owen stood beside the incubator with one hand on the oxygen line.
“Release the money.”
Khloe approached the terminal.
Then she noticed the oxygen gauge.
It was nearly full.
Owen had lied about the twenty minutes.
He was afraid to harm the baby because murder would destroy his bargaining position.
Khloe entered the wrong biometric sequence three times.
The account locked permanently.
Owen stared at the screen.
“What did you do?”
“I ended your leverage.”
He lunged toward her.
Marcus drove his wheelchair through the emergency door and struck Owen’s injured leg.
Agents entered behind him.
Owen fell.
Khloe reached the incubator.
The baby was alive.
As officers dragged Owen away, Marcus looked at Khloe.
“You could have warned me.”
“You would have tried to stop me.”
“Yes.”
“That is why I did not.”
A reluctant smile touched his face.
“You are terrifying.”
“No.”
May you like
Khloe adjusted the baby’s blanket.
“I am finished being frightened.”
