Chapter 4 - The Pink Cup
The cup bounced once on the hardwood floor.
Celeste picked it up too quickly.
"She's tired," she said.
Ethan did not answer.
Now his daughter was staring at him with frightened eyes.
"What does 'far away' mean?" he asked.
Sophie searched for the words.
"Like everybody is at the end of a tunnel."
Celeste stepped forward. "Ethan-"
"Let her answer."
The sharpness in his voice surprised them both.
Sophie pointed to the small refrigerator beside her bookshelf.
"The pink cup makes me sleepy. Nora said I should tell Daddy."
"When did she say that?"
"Lots of times."
Ethan's chest tightened.
"Who gives you the medicine?"
"Miss Celeste. Sometimes Dr. Vale. Sometimes Mr. Miles brings the box."
Miles Benton.
Head of residential security.
Ethan looked toward the hallway camera.
A green light blinked.
"Sophie, stay here."
Celeste followed him into the corridor.
"What exactly are you doing?"
"Checking records."
"Because a six-year-old described being sleepy?"
He stopped.
"Because Nora risked prison to take my daughter to another hospital."
Celeste's mouth tightened. "You are not seriously defending that woman."
"I'm seriously asking why she thought she had to."
In the security room, Miles Benton was not at his desk.
Ethan pulled up the nursery access logs.
The system showed Dr. Vale entering the wing three times in the past month.
Ethan remembered approving one visit.
Not three.
Then he checked door access.
Miles had entered Sophie's room at 2:11 a.m. six nights earlier.
Again at 1:47 a.m. two nights later.
"What the hell?"
He called Miles.
No answer.
Behind him, Celeste folded her arms.
"Security checks happen at night."
"Inside my daughter's room?"
"Ask Miles."
Ethan turned.
"I am."
He checked the camera archive for the first date.
NO RECORDING AVAILABLE.
Second date.
NO RECORDING AVAILABLE.
Third.
NO RECORDING AVAILABLE.
Ethan's pulse slowed in the dangerous way it did when anger became focus.
"Why are these clips gone?"
Celeste's voice came softer now.
"Maybe Nora deleted them."
Ethan looked at her.
Nora had no security clearance.
May you like
Celeste knew that.
And in the reflection of the dark monitor, he saw her realize she had answered too fast.
