Chapter 7: The Empty Hospital Room
The hospital room was empty when we arrived.
Ellie's coloring book lay open on the bed. A box of crayons had spilled across the floor, and a half-finished drawing showed a little girl holding hands with a large man whose cheek was marked with a red heart.
The window was locked.
The bathroom was empty.
And the security camera above the door had been disconnected.
Special Agent Naomi Carter moved through the room with her weapon drawn while two federal officers checked the adjoining rooms.
“Clear!”” one shouted.
“Clear here!””
I stood beside the bed, staring at the drawing.
Ellie had colored my jacket black and given me a yellow motorcycle helmet. In the corner, she'd drawn a woman with long hair standing beneath a red umbrella.
Underneath the woman, she'd written one word.
*MOMMY.*
My throat tightened.
“Ray, don't touch anything,” Carter warned.
I pulled my hands away from the paper.
“Where's the nurse who was watching her?””
“According to the shift report, a nurse named Melissa Grant was assigned to this room.””
“Then where is she?””
Carter turned toward the doorway.
“Find Grant. Now.””
One of the officers hurried away.
I crouched beside the bed. Something glinted beneath the frame.
A silver charm bracelet.
I recognized the crescent-shaped charm immediately.
Samantha's.
But when I reached toward it, Carter caught my wrist.
“Let the forensic team handle it.””
I straightened.
“That bracelet was on the woman in the warehouse.””
“Then it could be evidence.””
“Or it could be a message.””
Carter studied me.
“What makes you say that?””
I pointed toward the drawing.
“Someone wanted us to find this room exactly as it is. They left the picture, disconnected the camera, and made sure the bracelet was visible.””
“Why?””
“Because they want us to think Ellie was taken by someone connected to Samantha.””
Carter's expression hardened.
“Or because she was.””
Before I could respond, an officer returned with a young nurse in blue scrubs.
Melissa Grant looked terrified.
“I didn't leave her alone,” she insisted.
“I swear I didn't.””
Carter guided her into the room.
“Tell me exactly what happened.””
“Ellie was coloring. I stepped into the hallway to speak with the attending physician. It couldn't have been more than thirty seconds.””
“Did anyone enter the room?””
“A woman.””
“What woman?””
“I thought she was a hospital administrator. She had a badge and a clipboard.””
“Describe her.””
Melissa squeezed her hands together.
“Gray hair. Maybe sixty. She walked with a cane.””
Rebecca Shaw.
“Did she speak to Ellie?”” I asked.
Melissa looked at me.
“She said she was a friend of Ellie's mother.””
“What did Ellie say?””
“Nothing at first. Then the woman knelt beside the bed and said something I couldn't hear.””
“Why didn't you stop her?””
“I thought she was authorized to be there!””
Carter leaned closer.
“What happened next?””
“The woman showed Ellie a photograph. Ellie started crying. Then she stood up, took her hand, and walked out.””
“Did Ellie seem frightened?””
Melissa hesitated.
“No. That's what was strange. She looked scared when the woman first spoke, but afterward she seemed to recognize her.””
I looked at the empty bed.
“Did you hear what the woman said?””
Melissa swallowed.
“I heard one sentence.””
“What sentence?””
“She told Ellie, ‘Your mother is waiting where the rain can't reach her.’”
The room went silent.
Rain.
The warehouse.
The red sedan.
And the woman behind the wired glass.
I turned toward Carter.
“We need to find Rebecca Shaw.””
“We already have agents looking for her.””
“Then tell them to look faster.””
Carter's eyes narrowed.
“Ray, I understand you're worried about Ellie, but you're not running this investigation.””
“No. I'm the man who pulled her out of a locked van while the people who put her there tried to kill us.””
I took a breath.
“And someone just walked into a federal safe location and took her without breaking a lock.””
Carter didn't answer.
Because we both knew I was right.
An officer approached with a tablet.
“Agent Carter, we pulled the access records. The badge used to enter this floor belongs to a hospital administrator named Paul Mercer.””
“Where is Mercer?””
“He died eighteen months ago.””
Carter closed her eyes briefly.
“Of course he did.””
The officer continued.
“There's another issue. The security system was manually disabled from the hospital's central control room. Whoever did it had an administrator's access code.””
“Can you identify the terminal?””
“Yes. It was accessed remotely from a computer registered to the Atlanta Police Department.””
I stared at him.
“Pierce.””
“Possibly,” Carter said.
“But we need confirmation.””
A phone rang in the hallway.
An officer answered, listened, then hurried toward Carter.
“We found the nurse's car.””
“Where?””
“Parking garage, level four. Driver's door open. Blood on the steering wheel.””
Carter immediately called for medical assistance and ordered the garage sealed.
I looked at Melissa.
“Did the woman hurt you?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“Did she threaten you?””
“No.””
“Then why do you look like you're about to faint?””
Melissa glanced at Carter before answering.
“Because I recognized her.””
Carter went still.
“You said you thought she was an administrator.””
“I lied.””
“Why?””
Melissa's eyes filled with tears.
“Because six years ago, I worked at St. Vincent's Hospital. I was there the night Samantha Reed supposedly died.””
My heart began pounding.
“What did you see?””
Melissa looked at the photograph of the bracelet.
“Samantha wasn't dead.””
She pressed both hands against her mouth.
“I saw her walking out of the hospital with a baby. Claire Thompson was with her. They were arguing about a birth certificate.””
“Did you report it?””
“Yes.””
“To whom?””
“Detective Alan Pierce.””
Carter's face turned cold.
“And what did he do?””
“He told me I was confused. Then he showed me a photograph of my daughter leaving school and said I should stop asking questions.””
Nobody spoke.
Melissa began to cry.
“I quit my job the next morning. I changed my daughter's school. I thought it was over.””
Carter reached for her phone.
“Get me a warrant for Pierce's residence. I want his financial records, communications, everything.””
Then Melissa grabbed my arm.
“Mr. Dawson, there's something else.””
I looked down at her.
“The woman who took Ellie didn't come alone.””
“Who was with her?””
Melissa's lips trembled.
“A man. He was waiting in the elevator.””
“Did you see his face?””
She nodded.
Then she whispered a name that made Carter reach for her weapon.
“Daniel Voss.””
Across the room, the hospital's emergency announcement system crackled.
A woman's voice came through the speakers.
“Attention, security personnel. Please report to the east entrance.””
Carter's phone rang at the same moment.
She answered, listened, and turned toward me.
“Ray, we've got a problem.””
“What now?””
“Daniel Voss just surrendered himself at the courthouse.””
I stared at her.
“Then who took Ellie?””
Carter looked toward the empty bed.
May you like
And for the first time since I'd met her, she appeared genuinely frightened.
“That's what he wants us to find out.””
