Chapter 8: Midnight
Alexander looked at the hospital clock.
10:38 p.m.
My date was tonight.
Alexander’s and Noah’s were tomorrow.
“We’re moving rooms,” he said.
Laura nodded.
“I’ll contact hospital security.””
Alexander shook his head.
“No electronic requests. No public desk. Nobody outside this room gets the new location unless we tell them personally.””
Detective Ruiz remained on speaker.
“That’s smart. I’m sending two officers.””
“What about Marcus?””
“We’re searching.””
“He may be the victim in that video.””
“He may also be part of whatever started this.””
Alexander looked at me.
“We don’t know who we can trust.””
A nurse entered.
“Mr. Whitmore, Noah’s repeat bloodwork—”
She stopped when she saw our faces.
“What happened?””
Alexander walked toward her.
“What’s your name?””
“Kelly.””
“Were you assigned to Noah?””
“Yes.””
“Has anyone asked about him?””
The nurse hesitated.
“Actually…”
Everyone became still.
“A man called the nurses’ station about twenty minutes ago. He said he was Noah’s uncle.””
Alexander’s face tightened.
“What did he ask?””
“Whether Noah had been discharged.””
“Did you tell him?””
“No. I said I couldn’t release information.””
“What else?””
“He asked which floor Noah was on.””
Laura immediately stepped into the hallway.
Alexander asked, “Did he give a name?””
“No.””
“Voice? Age?””
“Older than thirty, maybe. That’s all I could tell.””
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then the room went dark.
Noah screamed.
“Rachel!””
“I’ve got him!””
Emergency lights came on.
I reached the crib first and lifted Noah.
Alexander moved between us and the door.
Someone shouted in the hallway.
Then came the sound of running feet.
A security alarm began beeping.
Laura rushed back inside.
“The west corridor lost power.””
“Coincidence?”” I asked.
“No.””
Alexander locked the door.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Who is this?””
A man’s voice whispered, “You should have stayed in New York.””
Alexander’s face changed.
“Where’s Marcus?””
A laugh.
“You still think your brother is the problem?””
“Who are you?””
“Ask your father.””
“My father is dead.””
“Yes.””
The caller hung up.
Then someone tried the door handle.
I held Noah tighter.
Alexander moved toward it.
“Who is it?””
No answer.
The handle moved again.
“Police!”” a voice finally called.
“Name?””
“Officer Daniels.””
Laura checked through the narrow glass panel.
“It’s him.””
Alexander opened the door.
Officer Daniels entered with another officer.
“We’re relocating you now.””
They moved us through a service corridor.
Noah buried his face against my neck.
At the end of the hall, an elevator waited.
Officer Daniels pressed the button.
Nothing.
“Stairs.””
We entered the stairwell.
Two floors down, Laura’s phone buzzed.
She stopped.
“What?””
“It’s Detective Ruiz.””
She answered.
Ruiz spoke quickly.
Laura’s face changed.
“You’re sure?””
She looked at Alexander.
“Vanessa is gone.””
“What do you mean gone?””
“She was being held for questioning at the station. Her attorney arrived. Police didn’t yet have sufficient grounds to hold her on the older allegations, and the iron incident was still being reviewed.””
Alexander stared at her.
“They released her?””
“Temporarily.””
Ruiz came through the speaker.
“She never made it home.””
“Where is she?””
“We don’t know.””
The stairwell door above us slammed.
Everyone looked up.
Footsteps.
Fast.
Coming down.
Officer Daniels drew his weapon.
“Move.””
We rushed down another flight.
The footsteps followed.
Then stopped.
Silence.
Daniels motioned for us to continue.
At the next landing, the door suddenly opened.
A man stepped through.
I screamed.
Officer Daniels raised his weapon.
“Hands!””
The man lifted both arms.
“Don’t shoot!””
Alexander stared.
“Evan?””
It was the security technician.
Sweating.
Terrified.
“What are you doing here?”” Alexander demanded.
Evan looked behind him.
“Someone broke into the security server.””
“What?””
“They’re deleting the recovered archives.””
Alexander grabbed his shoulder.
“Can you stop it?””
“I already copied most of them offline.””
“Most?””
Evan swallowed.
“One file was deleted before I could save it.””
“What file?””
“It was labeled E.W.—Accident.””
Emily Whitmore.
Alexander’s face went pale.
“But,” Evan said, “I saw the first thirty seconds.””
“What was on it?””
“Garage footage from the morning Emily died.””
“We already saw Marcus enter.””
“No.””
Evan shook his head.
“Different camera.””
He looked directly at Alexander.
“This one was inside the garage.””
“What did it show?””
“Someone opening the hood of Emily’s car.””
Alexander barely breathed.
“Marcus?””
“No.””
“Vanessa?””
Evan shook his head again.
“Then who?””
Before he could answer, a gunshot cracked somewhere above us.
Everyone ducked.
Noah screamed.
Officer Daniels pushed us toward the lower door.
“Move!””
We burst into another corridor.
Hospital security rushed toward us.
Alexander grabbed Evan.
“Who was under the hood?””
May you like
Evan stared at him.
“Your father.””
