Chapter 5

The hospital entered lockdown.

Security guards stood at every stairwell and elevator.

My name disappeared from the public patient system.

Two police officers were placed outside my room.

Still, I could not stop looking at the door.

Ethan had found me inside locked rooms before.

He always said locks were only promises made by weak people.

My father pulled the blinds.

"He's not getting near you."

"You don't know that."

"No. But I know he will try."

Detective Ortiz placed photographs on the table beside my bed.

The transport cruiser had been struck by a delivery truck.

The driver abandoned the vehicle and escaped on foot.

The collision occurred less than four minutes after Ethan left the mansion.

Too fast to be an accident.

Someone had been waiting.

"Was Ethan injured?" I asked.

"There was blood in the back seat. We don't know whose."

"His hand was cuffed."

"The cuffs were found open."

My father studied the image.

"No damage to the chain."

Detective Ortiz nodded.

"A key was used."

Someone inside the department might have helped him.

The thought settled heavily over the room.

The younger officer who had recognized Ethan at the mansion.

Officer Mason.

He had been driving the cruiser.

He was now unconscious.

A victim.

Or part of the escape.

Detective Ortiz did not know which.

My phone rang.

Everyone froze.

The screen showed my own number.

Detective Ortiz took it.

"Don't answer," my father said.

"We may be able to trace it."

She activated the call and placed it on speaker.

At first, there was only breathing.

Then Ethan's voice.

"Hello, Claire."

My stomach tightened.

Detective Ortiz signaled for the technical team.

I forced myself to speak calmly.

"Where are you?"

"That isn't how this works."

"What do you want?"

"My property."

"The house isn't yours."

"I'm not talking about the house."

My eyes moved toward my belly.

He laughed softly.

"The flash drive, Claire."

"The police have it."

"I know."

"Then why call me?"

"Because you are going to help me get it back."

My father leaned toward the phone.

"Listen carefully, Ethan."

"I wasn't speaking to you."

"You will never touch my daughter again."

Ethan laughed.

"You still think this is about family."

My father said nothing.

Ethan continued.

"Ask Detective Ortiz why her former partner's name appears on that spreadsheet."

Detective Ortiz went still.

My father looked at her.

"What is he talking about?"

She reached for the phone.

"Who helped you escape?"

"Read the list, Lena."

"Where is Dr. Hawthorne?"

The line became silent.

Then Ethan said, "Closer than you think."

The call ended.

Detective Ortiz checked the trace.

It came from a disposable phone near the hospital.

My pulse rose.

"He is here."

"We don't know that."

"He said Hawthorne was close."

My monitor began beeping.

Dr. Patel rushed in.

"Claire, breathe slowly."

"I can't."

My baby's heart rate dipped.

My father took my face gently between his hands.

"Look at me. Not the door. Me."

I focused on his eyes.

"That's it," he said. "You are here. I am here. Your daughter is fighting."

My breathing slowed.

The heartbeat stabilized.

Detective Ortiz stepped into the hallway.

My father followed her.

I could hear their voices through the partly open door.

"Who was your partner?" he asked.

"Daniel Reeve."

"Where is he now?"

"Internal affairs."

My father became silent.

Detective Ortiz continued.

"Two years ago, I reported him for evidence tampering. The investigation disappeared. He was promoted."

"And his name is connected to Ethan?"

"According to Ethan."

"Do you believe him?"

"I believe he knew exactly what would frighten me."

A nurse entered my room with an IV bag.

She wore a surgical mask and kept her head lowered.

I watched her connect the tubing.

Something felt wrong.

Her name badge said JULIA PARKER.

The nurse who had protected me from Dr. Hawthorne was named Julia Parker.

But the woman in front of me was not her.

I had seen Julia's eyes.

Brown.

This woman's eyes were blue.

"What are you giving me?"

"Fluids."

Her voice was too low.

I reached for the call button.

She grabbed my wrist.

"Don't."

My father heard me gasp.

He burst through the door.

The woman pulled a syringe from her pocket.

My father seized her arm.

The syringe fell onto the floor.

Detective Ortiz dragged the woman away from the bed and tore off her mask.

I recognized her.

She had attended my baby shower.

She was Margaret's personal assistant, Nicole.

Detective Ortiz handcuffed her.

"What was in the syringe?"

Nicole smiled at me.

"Something that would make everyone believe you lost the baby naturally."

My father nearly moved toward her.

Detective Ortiz blocked him.

"Don't give her what she wants."

Nicole laughed.

"You think arresting me changes anything? Captain Cole has people everywhere."

Dr. Patel picked up the syringe with a protective bag.

She examined the label.

Her face turned pale.

"What is it?" I asked.

"A medication that could trigger severe uterine contractions."

My monitor sounded again.

This time the baby's heartbeat did not recover.

Dr. Patel looked at the screen.

"Prepare the operating room."

My father grabbed my hand.

"No."

Dr. Patel moved quickly.

"We have to deliver now."

The ceiling lights blurred as they pushed my bed through the hallway.

My father's hand slipped from mine at the operating room doors.

"Bring her back to me," he said.

Dr. Patel looked at him.

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"We're bringing both of them back."

Then the doors closed.