CHAPTER 7 — THE EMPTY INCUBATOR
Marcus reached the NICU in less than a minute.
The incubator assigned to Hope was empty.
Wires hung loose.
The tiny blanket inside was still warm.
“No!” Marcus shouted.
A nurse rushed toward him.
“Mr. Thorne, please calm down.”
“Where is my daughter?”
“She was transferred for imaging.”
“By whom?”
The nurse checked the chart.
Her face changed.
“The order was signed by Dr. Hale.”
Adrian grabbed the tablet.
“I never signed this.”
The hospital went into full lockdown.
Doors sealed.
Elevators stopped.
Security officers searched every stairwell.
Khloe heard the alarms from her room.
She tried to sit up.
“What’s happening?”
A nurse gently pushed her back.
“Please stay still.”
“Where’s Hope?”
The nurse hesitated.
Khloe ripped the monitoring leads from her chest.
“Where is my daughter?”
Adrian entered.
Khloe saw the answer in his face.
“No.”
“We’re searching.”
“No!”
She swung her legs over the bed and nearly collapsed.
Adrian caught her.
“You’ll tear your stitches.”
“I don’t care.”
“Hope needs you alive.”
“My baby needs me now.”
Marcus appeared in the doorway.
Khloe’s expression turned savage.
“You let this happen.”
“I’m going to find her.”
“You brought these people into our lives.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
He stepped closer.
“My brother is behind it.”
“Sebastian?”
“He stole from the hospital fund. You found out.”
Khloe closed her eyes.
“I found shell companies tied to him and Isabella.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried. You said I was paranoid.”
Marcus remembered.
Three nights earlier, Khloe had asked him to review unusual transfers. He had been distracted, angry, and tired.
He told her Sebastian understood the finances better than she did.
The memory sickened him.
A message arrived on Khloe’s phone.
Unknown number.
She opened it.
A live video appeared.
Hope lay inside a portable medical bassinet in a dim room.
A gloved hand entered the frame.
Khloe stopped breathing.
Sebastian’s voice came through the speaker.
“Hello, Khloe.”
Marcus grabbed the phone.
“You touch her and I swear—”
“You’re not in a position to threaten anyone, little brother.”
“What do you want?”
“The audit files Khloe copied.”
Khloe stared at the screen.
Sebastian continued.
“Bring the drive to the old surgical wing. Alone.”
“That wing has been closed for years,” Adrian said.
“Yes,” Sebastian replied. “Which means no cameras.”
Marcus looked at Khloe.
“Where’s the drive?”
She shook her head.
“I won’t give him the evidence.”
“He has our daughter.”
“If he gets those files, he’ll kill her anyway.”
Marcus’s voice cracked.
“What choice do we have?”
Khloe looked at Adrian.
“The old wing was closed because of structural damage, right?”
“Yes.”
“Does it still connect to the oxygen service tunnels?”
Adrian’s eyes sharpened.
“There’s a maintenance route beneath it.”
Khloe turned to Marcus.
“You take him the drive.”
“What are you planning?”
She pulled a silver chain from around her neck.
A tiny flash drive hung from it.
“I’m planning to make him believe he finally won.”
The phone screen suddenly went black.
Then Sebastian sent one final message.
May you like
Ten minutes.
After that, the machine keeping your daughter breathing turns off.
