Chapter 9
Everyone moved at once.
Nurses pointed toward exits.
Families stood.
Chairs scraped across the floor.
The crowd became exactly what Marcus wanted.
Confusion.
Ethan grabbed Samantha’s arm.
“Stay with us.”
I held my purse against my body.
Inside was the brass key Samantha had slipped to me beneath the table.
Marcus didn’t know.
At least I hoped he didn’t.
The cafeteria doors opened.
People poured into the hallway.
I looked back.
Marcus was gone.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t see him,” Samantha said.
A security officer shouted, “Use the east stairwell!”
We moved with the crowd.
Then Ethan stopped.
“My phone.”
“What?”
He stared at the screen.
“Rachel called three times.”
My heart stopped.
I grabbed my phone.
No signal inside the stairwell.
“Move.”
I pushed past people.
We reached the ground floor and ran outside.
My phone immediately connected.
Seven missed calls.
Rachel.
Noah.
Rachel again.
I called.
She answered screaming.
“Emily!”
“Is Lily okay?”
“Yes.”
My legs nearly collapsed.
“What happened?”
“One of the officers left.”
“What?”
“He got a call and drove away.”
“And the other?”
“He went around back because someone triggered the motion light.”
My mouth went dry.
“Lock everything.”
“We did.”
“Where’s Noah?”
“Upstairs with Lily.”
“Do not open the door for anyone.”
“We won’t.”
Then Rachel said, “There’s someone outside.”
“What?”
“A car just stopped.”
“What kind?”
“Black sedan.”
I looked at Ethan.
“Call 911.”
“I already did.”
A loud bang sounded through the phone.
Rachel screamed.
“Rachel!”
“Someone hit the door.”
Ethan grabbed my phone.
“Get upstairs. Barricade yourselves.”
Another bang.
Then a man shouted from outside.
“Police! Open the door!”
Rachel whispered, “Should I?”
“No!” all three of us shouted.
The line went dead.
I stared at the screen.
“No.”
I called again.
Nothing.
We ran toward Noah’s car.
Samantha followed.
Ethan called 911.
While he talked, I noticed movement across the parking lot.
Marcus.
He stood beside a gray SUV.
Watching us.
“There!”
Ethan turned.
Marcus got into the vehicle.
Samantha grabbed my arm.
“Don’t follow him.”
“He knows where Lily is.”
“He wants you to follow him.”
She was right.
I hated her for being right.
Police vehicles entered the hospital driveway seconds later.
Detective Warren jumped from the first one.
“What happened?”
Ethan pointed.
“Marcus was here.”
“Where?”
“Gray SUV. He just left.”
Warren grabbed his radio.
Then he looked at Samantha.
“You’re Samantha Brooks?”
She stepped backward.
“Yes.”
“You need to come with us.”
“No.”
“Samantha, you’re in danger.”
“I know.”
“You were reported missing.”
“I wasn’t missing. I was hiding.”
“We need your statement.”
“I’ll give it later.”
Warren’s expression hardened.
“This isn’t optional.”
Ethan stepped between them.
“She said no.”
Warren looked at him.
“Don’t make this harder.”
My phone rang.
Rachel.
I answered immediately.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Lily?”
“She’s fine.”
I closed my eyes.
“What happened?”
“The police arrived. Real police.”
“What about the man at the door?”
“Gone.”
Noah came onto the line.
“Emily, listen to me.”
“What?”
“The officer who went behind the house is unconscious.”
My stomach turned.
“What?”
“They found him near the fence.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
Thank God.
Noah continued.
“And someone cut the camera wires.”
Marcus.
Or someone working for him.
Then Noah said something worse.
“There was a note taped to Lily’s window.”
My entire body went cold.
“What did it say?”
“Midnight. Carter Savings. Bring the key.”
Samantha whispered, “He knows.”
I looked at her.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Detective Warren heard.
“What key?”
Nobody answered.
His eyes narrowed.
“What key?”
Samantha took a step away.
“That’s what this is about.”
Warren looked at Ethan.
“What did she give you?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re lying.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“Maybe.”
Warren stared at him.
Then his expression softened.
“Ethan, Marcus is dangerous. If you have something he wants, give it to us.”
I wanted to trust him.
I almost did.
Then Samantha asked, “Where’s Officer Bennett?”
Warren’s face changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
“She’s off this case.”
“Why?”
“That’s internal.”
“She’s working with Marcus.”
Warren’s eyes narrowed.
“Who told you that?”
“Marcus.”
“And you believe him?”
“No.”
Samantha stepped closer.
“But I believe someone in law enforcement leaked my location.”
Warren said nothing.
A uniformed officer approached and whispered into his ear.
Warren’s face tightened.
He walked several feet away and answered his radio.
Samantha leaned toward us.
“We have to go.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
“Now.”
“We’re surrounded by police.”
“That’s why.”
Before I could ask, Samantha slipped something else into my hand.
A small piece of paper.
A bank address.
Carter Savings & Trust.
Downtown Dallas.
The same place Marcus had named.
But beneath it was a number.
Box 417.
Then a handwritten note.
Second key already inside.
I stared at her.
She whispered, “Daniel made it require two keys.”
“Where is the second?”
“In the bank manager’s vault.”
“So Marcus can’t open it with ours alone.”
“No.”
“Then why meet at midnight?”
“Because he doesn’t know that.”
Ethan heard.
His expression changed.
“We can trap him.”
Samantha shook her head.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because Patricia knows.”
Of course.
Patricia had been part of Daniel’s life.
Maybe she knew how the box worked.
“Then Marcus knows too.”
“Maybe.”
Detective Warren came back.
“We’re transporting all of you to a secure location.”
“No,” Samantha said.
“It’s not a request.”
She laughed nervously.
“You’re proving my point.”
Warren lowered his voice.
“Samantha, we just discovered Officer Bennett accessed your case file twice today without authorization.”
Nobody moved.
He continued.
“She has also stopped responding to department calls.”
My heart pounded.
“So Marcus was telling the truth?”
“Maybe.”
“Where is Bennett?”
“We don’t know.”
That was when a shot-like crack sounded from the parking structure.
People screamed.
Officers reached for their weapons.
“Down!”
Ethan pulled me behind a concrete planter.
Samantha dropped beside us.
Another crack.
Then a car windshield shattered twenty yards away.
Warren shouted into his radio.
Police rushed toward the garage.
Samantha grabbed Ethan.
“Now.”
“What?”
“That wasn’t Marcus shooting at us.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I know what he wants.”
She pointed toward the opposite service exit.
“He wants the police looking away.”
Then she ran.
We followed.
Maybe it was stupid.
Maybe fear had finally destroyed our judgment.
But thirty seconds later, from behind the hospital, I saw a familiar woman step out of a black sedan.
Silver-blond hair.
Cream jacket.
Patricia.
She looked directly at us.
Ethan stopped.
“Mom?”
Patricia’s face crumpled.
“Ethan, get in.”
“No.”
“Marcus is coming.”
“Where?”
“He knows about the second key.”
Samantha stared at her biological mother.
“You told him.”
Patricia’s eyes filled.
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice,” Samantha said.
Patricia flinched.
Then headlights swept across the alley.
A gray SUV turned the corner.
Marcus.
Patricia screamed.
“GET IN THE CAR!”
May you like
For the first time, none of us argued.
We ran toward her.
