Chapter 7: The Room Beneath the Hospital
For three seconds, nobody moved.
Then I screamed.
“Lily!””
I tore through the emergency room door.
“Lily!””
The hallway was chaos. Red emergency lights flashed across white walls. Nurses shouted into radios. Security officers ran in opposite directions.
But my daughter's bed was gone.
The monitors were gone.
The IV pole was gone.
Only a small plastic cap from one of the oxygen tubes remained on the floor.
I dropped to my knees and picked it up.
“No.””
Calvin grabbed my shoulders.
“Nora.””
“Where is she?””
“I don't know.””
“You said you knew everything!””
“I don't!””
I shoved him away.
“You let them take her!””
His face crumpled.
“I was trying to protect her.””
“You failed.””
Detective Hale came running toward us.
“Lock every exit,” he shouted at security.
“Parking garage, loading dock, ambulance entrance, everything.””
A security officer spoke into his radio.
“Already locked down.””
“Then how did they get her out?””
Nobody answered.
I looked at the empty bed.
Then I noticed something.
The wheels were clean.
Too clean.
The floor beneath them was covered with dust from the shattered window, but there wasn't a single tire mark, footprint, or blood drop leading toward the hallway.
“They didn't take her out this way.””
Hale looked at me.
“What?””
“Look at the floor.””
He crouched.
“You're right.””
Calvin suddenly went pale.
“The old pediatric wing.””
I turned.
“What?””
“There used to be a service corridor underneath this floor.””
Hale stared at him.
“How would you know that?””
Calvin looked at the empty room.
“Because Margaret owned part of the company that renovated this hospital.””
I grabbed Hale's arm.
“Take me there.””
“No.””
“She's my daughter.””
“And you're not going into an unsecured underground corridor.””
I stared at him.
“You can either take me with you or watch me go without you.””
Hale held my gaze for a moment.
Then he nodded.
“Stay behind me.””
We moved through a stairwell marked *AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY*.
The deeper we went, the colder the air became.
Concrete walls replaced painted hospital corridors.
The fluorescent lights flickered overhead.
Calvin followed us.
Hale turned.
“You stay close.””
Calvin nodded.
At the bottom was a metal door.
It was unlocked.
Hale raised his weapon.
“Back.””
He pushed it open.
The smell hit me first.
Bleach.
Then something metallic.
Then smoke.
My stomach twisted.
“That's impossible.””
Calvin looked at me.
“What?””
“Smoke.””
He stared down the corridor.
“There's no smoke.””
“I can smell it.””
The memory came again.
Heat.
A burning curtain.
A little girl crying.
A man shouting.
My head throbbed.
Hale touched my shoulder.
“Nora.””
“I remember this.””
“You've never been here.””
“Yes, I have.””
I walked forward.
At the end of the corridor was a room with a glass window.
Inside stood several old monitors.
One was still running.
On the screen was Lily.
She was sitting in a chair.
Her wrists weren't tied.
But there was a camera pointed directly at her.
My heart nearly stopped.
“Lily.””
She looked toward the camera.
Her eyes were red.
“Mommy?””
I moved toward the glass.
“Baby!””
Hale grabbed my arm.
“It's live.””
A speaker crackled.
Then a man's voice filled the room.
“Hello, Nora.””
I knew the voice.
Dr. Reyes.
Or whoever he really was.
“Where is my daughter?””
A soft laugh came through the speaker.
“She's safe.””
“You have five seconds to tell me where she is.””
“Your military training is showing.””
“Five.””
“Nora—”
“Four.””
“Listen carefully.””
“Three.””
“You've spent five years looking for the wrong enemy.””
“Two.””
“Your husband isn't the one you should fear.””
“One.””
The screen went black.
I stared at it.
Then another monitor turned on.
It showed Calvin.
Not the Calvin standing beside me.
A younger Calvin.
Five years earlier.
He was standing in a room I didn't recognize.
Across from him stood Margaret.
And Daniel Cross.
Margaret was holding a folder.
Daniel was holding a gun.
My husband was crying.
I stepped closer.
“What is this?””
Hale watched the footage.
Nobody spoke.
Margaret's voice came through the recording.
“You have one choice, Calvin.””
The younger Calvin shook his head.
“You're my mother.””
“And Lily is my granddaughter.””
“You wouldn't hurt her.””
Margaret smiled.
“You still don't understand.””
Daniel placed the gun on the table.
“Your wife knows too much.””
Calvin whispered, “She doesn't remember.””
Margaret leaned forward.
“She will.””
The recording changed.
Now I was on screen.
Five years younger.
Standing inside my kitchen.
My clothes were covered in blood.
I was holding a folder.
I looked terrified.
Then I heard my own voice.
“If anything happens to me, Lily goes to my sister.””
I stopped breathing.
I had no memory of saying those words.
Calvin stepped beside me.
“Nora…”
“Don't.””
The video continued.
A door opened behind me.
Daniel walked in.
I turned.
“You.””
He raised his hands.
“You need to come with me.””
“No.””
“You don't have a choice.””
“I have evidence.””
“I know.””
“People need to see it.””
“They will.””
“Then why are you here?””
Daniel looked at the camera.
“Because the people you trust are watching.””
The video ended.
I turned toward Calvin.
“You knew.””
He shook his head.
“Not all of it.””
“You knew I had evidence.””
“Yes.””
“You knew my mother-in-law was involved.””
“Yes.””
“You knew Daniel was there.””
“Yes.””
“And you let me believe I had imagined the entire thing.””
“I was trying to keep you alive.””
I slapped him.
The sound echoed through the concrete room.
Calvin didn't move.
“You should have told me.””
“I couldn't.””
“You should have trusted me.””
“I did.””
“No.””
My voice broke.
“You trusted yourself.””
He looked down.
“I thought if I could make them believe I was cooperating, they'd leave you alone.””
“And Lily?””
“They threatened her.””
“So you made her afraid of you.””
“Yes.””
“You let me hate you.””
“Yes.””
“You let our daughter think her own father was going to hurt her.””
Calvin's eyes filled with tears.
“I thought it was better than letting them kill her.””
I turned away.
Then Hale shouted.
“Wait.””
He pointed at the screen.
A new video had appeared.
Lily was still there.
But someone had entered the room.
A woman.
She bent beside Lily.
I couldn't see her face.
Then Lily looked up.
“Grandma?””
My blood ran cold.
Margaret stepped into view.
She kissed Lily's forehead.
“Hello, sweetheart.””
Lily recoiled.
“You said Mommy wasn't coming.””
“She wasn't supposed to.””
“Why?””
Margaret smiled.
“Because your mother was going to remember everything.””
Lily started crying.
Margaret turned toward the camera.
“I know you're watching, Nora.””
I moved closer to the screen.
“Let her go.””
Margaret laughed.
“You always were brave.””
“Where are you?””
“Under the hospital.””
I looked around.
“You're in this building.””
“Of course.””
“Come out.””
“No.””
“Why?””
“Because if you want Lily alive, you need to bring me the original file.””
I looked at Hale.
“What file?””
Margaret continued.
“The one your husband has been hiding for five years.””
I turned toward Calvin.
He went completely still.
“What file?””
Calvin didn't answer.
“Calvin.””
He closed his eyes.
“I don't have it.””
Margaret laughed through the speaker.
“Yes, you do.””
“No.””
“You kept it in the one place you knew she'd never search.””
I looked at him.
“Where?””
He shook his head.
“Nora…”
“Where?””
Margaret's voice interrupted.
“Ask him about the lavender quilt.””
I froze.
Calvin stared at me.
I remembered the hidden memory card.
Then the insurance papers.
The wedding ring.
The photograph.
I reached into my pocket.
The original file.
The one thing I hadn't noticed inside the metal box.
There was a tiny envelope.
I pulled it out.
Calvin's face changed.
“What?””
He whispered:
“That's not mine.””
The speaker crackled.
Margaret laughed.
Then the lights went out again.
A door slammed somewhere behind us.
Hale spun around.
“Everyone stay together.””
A woman's voice whispered from the darkness.
“Nora?””
I knew it immediately.
Rebecca.
Then came a second voice.
A man's.
“Don't turn around.””
I turned anyway.
May you like
Daniel Cross stood ten feet away.
And he was holding Lily's lavender quilt.
