Chapter 3 - The Empty BedSebastián lunged toward the bed.
"Valeria!"
The blanket was twisted.
The restraints had been cut.
A pool of blood stained the floor near the door.
Mercer drew his weapon.
"Nobody move!"
The nurses screamed.
Rebeca stood perfectly still.
Octavio was gone.
So was one of the hospital security guards.
Sebastián looked around wildly.
"My wife!"
Mercer grabbed his arm.
"Don't touch anything."
"She was here!"
"Which is why we need to know who moved her."
Sebastián pulled free.
"That's my wife!"
He ran into the hallway.
The corridor was chaos.
Patients were being evacuated.
Nurses shouted.
Emergency lights flashed red.
At the far end of the hallway, a security door was closing.
Sebastián sprinted toward it.
He reached the stairwell.
Nothing.
Then he heard footsteps below.
"Valeria!"
No answer.
He ran down two flights.
A door slammed.
He reached the basement.
Empty.
Except for one thing.
A black scarf lay on the floor.
Valeria's scarf.
Sebastián picked it up.
Blood was on it.
His heart stopped.
Mercer arrived seconds later.
"Don't touch it."
"It's hers."
"We need to assume she's alive."
"Assume?"
Mercer looked at him.
"Because if the person who took her wanted her dead, we probably wouldn't be standing here looking for a body."
Sebastián stared at him.
Then he noticed something.
A camera above the basement entrance.
"Security footage."
Mercer looked up.
"Already being erased."
Sebastián's face tightened.
"What?"
Mercer pulled out his phone.
"The hospital system has been compromised."
"By who?"
"Someone with administrative access."
A slow realization spread through Sebastián.
"Octavio."
Mercer nodded.
"Possibly."
A voice echoed from the doorway.
"Not possibly."
They turned.
Dr. Salgado was standing there.
He was supposed to be unconscious.
Mercer raised his weapon.
"Hands where I can see them."
Salgado raised both hands.
"You need to hear me."
Sebastián stared.
"You tried to drug my wife."
"I was ordered to."
"By my mother?"
Salgado nodded.
"And the person who ordered your mother's decision is much more powerful than she is."
Mercer narrowed his eyes.
"Who?"
Salgado looked at Sebastián.
"Your father."
Silence.
Sebastián stepped backward.
"That's impossible."
"I saw him three weeks ago."
Mercer asked, "Where?"
Salgado hesitated.
"Underground."
"Underground where?"
"The old Alcázar medical facility."
Sebastián recognized the name.
A building abandoned after his father's death.
The place had supposedly been demolished.
Salgado continued.
"Your father didn't disappear because he was afraid."
"Then why?"
"Because he was investigating the people who funded your family's empire."
Sebastián's jaw tightened.
"Who?"
Salgado swallowed.
"The men behind the foundation."
Mercer frowned.
"What foundation?"
Salgado looked at him.
"The San Gabriel Foundation."
Sebastián's eyes widened.
His family had donated millions through San Gabriel.
Hospitals.
Scholarships.
Children's charities.
Political campaigns.
Salgado whispered:
"It was never a charity."
Before anyone could speak, a loud metallic crash shook the basement.
Mercer spun around.
A car engine roared somewhere beyond the loading dock.
Sebastián ran toward the sound.
He burst through the exit.
A black SUV was speeding away.
The rear door was half open.
Someone inside screamed.
"Valeria!"
Sebastián ran toward his own car.
Mercer grabbed him.
"You can't chase them."
"That's my wife!"
"Your car is tracked."
Sebastián froze.
Mercer lowered his voice.
"We need to assume the people who took her already know exactly where you are."
Sebastián looked back toward the hospital.
His mother stood in the basement doorway.
Watching.
Not shocked.
Not confused.
Watching.
Then she raised one hand.
She was holding something.
A baby bracelet.
Pink.
Tiny.
Dry.
Sebastián's blood ran cold.
"Where did you get that?"
Rebeca smiled.
"From the nursery."
"The baby hasn't been born."
May you like
Her smile widened.
"Exactly."
