Chapter 11 – Eight Minutes
For one terrifying second, no one moved.
Richard Bennett stood frozen in the doorway of the children's activity room, staring at the open window.
The stuffed rabbit lay on the floor.
Emma never went anywhere without it.
His heart sank.
"Lock down the hospital!" Michael Grant shouted.
Every exit alarm began blaring.
Security doors slammed shut throughout the building.
Nurses rushed patients into nearby rooms while armed deputies spread through every hallway.
Richard picked up the rabbit with trembling hands.
Its fur was damp from the rain blowing through the broken window.
Then he noticed something.
The window screen had been cut from the outside.
Professional.
Fast.
Planned.
"This wasn't spontaneous," Michael said, kneeling beside the window.
"They knew exactly where to come."
Hospital surveillance footage began appearing on monitors in the security office.
At 2:14 p.m., Emma was seen coloring alone.
At 2:17, a woman dressed as a pediatric nurse entered.
She smiled warmly.
She handed Emma a small stuffed puppy.
Emma shook her head.
The woman spoke again.
Emma hesitated.
Then she stood.
Richard leaned closer.
"Can you enhance the audio?"
The technician isolated the microphone from the hallway camera.
The recording crackled before becoming clear.
The woman smiled.
"Sweetheart, your grandpa sent me."
Emma looked uncertain.
"He did?"
"Yes."
"Your mommy asked me to bring you downstairs."
Emma took one step forward...
...then stopped.
She hugged her rabbit tighter.
"My mommy says I have to hear Grandpa's special word."
Michael looked at Richard.
"Special word?"
Richard frowned.
"I've never heard of one."
On the screen, the fake nurse hesitated.
"What special word?"
Emma slowly backed away.
"You don't know it."
She turned to run.
The woman grabbed her arm.
Emma screamed.
The attacker covered her mouth.
At that exact moment, a hospital volunteer rounded the corner.
The fake nurse immediately released Emma and fled through the emergency stairwell.
Emma ran in the opposite direction.
The cameras lost sight of both of them.
Michael paused the video.
"She wasn't taken."
Richard looked up.
"Then where is she?"
Search teams swept every floor.
Storage rooms.
Operating suites.
Laundry facilities.
Mechanical areas.
Nothing.
Eight agonizing minutes passed.
Then Richard's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered immediately.
"This is Richard Bennett."
A small voice whispered through the speaker.
"Grandpa..."
Richard nearly collapsed with relief.
"Emma!"
"I'm hiding."
"Where are you?"
"I don't know."
She sniffled.
"It's dark."
"I remembered Mommy's game."
Richard forced himself to remain calm.
"You did exactly right."
"I took Bunny."
"Good girl."
"I heard scary footsteps."
Michael quickly signaled a technician to trace the call.
Richard kept talking.
"Can you tell me what you see?"
Emma looked around.
"There are..."
She counted quietly.
"...three big silver pipes."
"And a red door."
Michael's eyes lit up.
"The boiler level."
He grabbed a hospital blueprint.
"There's only one maintenance room with three steam pipes and a red emergency door."
Sheriff Hayes was already running.
Less than two minutes later, deputies reached the basement mechanical corridor.
One maintenance closet door was locked from the outside.
"Emma!" Richard shouted.
A tiny voice answered.
"I'm here!"
Deputies forced the door open.
Emma burst into Richard's arms, crying uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry..."
Richard hugged her tightly.
"You have nothing to be sorry about."
Michael examined the lock.
Someone had deliberately trapped her inside.
Not kidnapped her.
Delayed her.
Distracted everyone.
His phone buzzed.
Another federal alert.
He read it once...
Then a second time.
His expression turned pale.
Richard immediately noticed.
"What happened?"
Michael slowly lowered the phone.
"While every officer in the building was searching for Emma..."
He looked directly at Richard.
"...someone broke into Laura's hospital room."
Richard's blood ran cold.
"And Laura?"
Michael swallowed.
May you like
"The room was empty."
Laura Bennett had disappeared.
