Chapter 9 – The Longest Night
The maternity ward was unusually quiet after midnight.
Rain tapped softly against the windows while nurses moved through the hallways in hushed voices. Most of the patients were asleep.
Elena wasn't.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the rooftop.
Daniel's face.
The knife.
The sound of the rope snapping.
She instinctively rested a hand over her stomach.
Her daughter kicked gently.
"I'm here," Elena whispered. "I'm not leaving you."
Margaret, asleep in the reclining chair beside the bed, stirred but didn't wake.
Two floors below, a man wearing dark clothing entered through the hospital's employee entrance.
He carried a forged identification badge clipped neatly to his jacket.
Security glanced at it for less than a second before waving him through.
He walked with confidence, as though he belonged there.
Inside his backpack was a suppressed pistol.
He hoped he wouldn't need it.
His instructions were simple:
Make Elena disappear before trial.
Across town, Detective Sarah Collins couldn't shake an uneasy feeling.
She stared at the evidence board in her office.
Video.
Financial records.
Witness statements.
Everything pointed toward a successful prosecution.
Then she noticed something.
Daniel had received the anonymous note only hours earlier.
Someone with access to the jail wanted Elena silenced.
That meant there was still another player.
Sarah grabbed her coat.
"Marcus!"
Her partner looked up.
"What is it?"
"I'm putting protective custody around Elena."
Marcus checked his watch.
"It's almost one in the morning."
"I know."
"And if I'm wrong, she'll never know we came."
The disguised intruder stepped off the elevator onto the maternity floor.
He smiled politely at a passing nurse.
"Late inspection," he said.
She nodded without suspicion.
He continued walking until he reached Elena's room.
He quietly tested the door handle.
Unlocked.
He slipped inside.
The room was dark except for the glow of city lights beyond the window.
Margaret was sleeping.
Elena appeared to be asleep as well.
The man slowly reached into his backpack.
A gloved hand wrapped around the pistol.
He raised it.
Then—
"Police!"
The door burst open.
Detective Collins and Marcus Reed rushed inside with two uniformed officers.
The gunman spun toward them.
Instead of firing, he dove through the adjoining bathroom, smashing the small window with his elbow.
Glass exploded across the floor.
By the time officers reached the window, he had disappeared onto the maintenance scaffolding outside.
Elena sat upright in bed, trembling.
Sarah rushed to her side.
"Are you hurt?"
Elena shook her head.
"No."
Margaret clutched Elena's hand.
"I heard someone breathing," she whispered. "I thought I was dreaming."
Sarah picked up the backpack the intruder had dropped while escaping.
Inside were zip ties, latex gloves, a burner phone...
...and an envelope containing fifty thousand dollars in cash.
There was no name.
No fingerprints.
Only one typed instruction.
Payment upon confirmation of death.
Sarah's expression hardened.
"This wasn't a warning."
Marcus nodded grimly.
"It was a contract."
As officers secured the room, the burner phone suddenly vibrated.
An incoming text message appeared on the screen.
Status?
Sarah looked at Marcus.
"Don't answer yet."
A second message arrived almost immediately.
If she's still alive... finish it before sunrise.
Sarah stared at the screen for several seconds.
Then an idea formed.
She looked at Marcus and smiled for the first time that night.
May you like
"I think..."
"...we're about to catch the person giving the orders."
