Chapter 11 - MY SON WAS THE EVIDENCEThe baby's records were locked.
The hospital system was isolated.
Agents flooded the NICU.
Every access point was audited.
Diana stood beside me.
“This isn't just about money anymore.”
“No.”
“Someone wants to use the baby as evidence against you.”
I looked through the glass.
My son slept beneath the soft blue lights.
So tiny.
So helpless.
And somewhere outside, adults were turning his name into ammunition.
Diana called the federal cybercrime unit.
They traced the unauthorized access.
It came from a terminal inside the hospital.
We searched it.
Empty.
Then an agent found a camera.
Someone had disabled it exactly twenty-seven minutes earlier.
“Inside job,” Diana whispered.
She turned toward me.
“We need to move the baby.”
The medical team prepared a secure transfer.
Halfway through, the lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the corridor.
The emergency lights came on.
Red.
A scream came from the far end.
Then running footsteps.
Someone shouted:
“Security breach!”
Diana grabbed my shoulder.
“Stay behind me.”
We moved toward the NICU.
A nurse was standing there.
Frozen.
“Where’s the baby?”
She pointed.
“He's gone.”
My heart stopped.
“No.”
Diana pushed past her.
The incubator was empty.
The blankets were still warm.
I couldn't breathe.
“My son.”
Diana spun toward the security team.
“Seal the hospital!”
Doors slammed shut.
Elevators stopped.
Every entrance was blocked.
We searched.
Nothing.
Then a monitor flickered.
One sentence appeared.
COME TO THE ROOFTOP.
Diana stared at me.
“I’ll go.”
“No.”
“Audrey.”
“My son.”
“You stay here.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
“I know who took him.”
She stiffened.
“Who?”
“Seraphina.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she wants me to come.”
We reached the rooftop.
Cold wind swept across the concrete.
Seraphina stood near the edge.
She held a phone.
Not my son.
A live video.
On screen, my baby slept inside a transport incubator.
My legs almost gave out.
“Where is he?”
Seraphina smiled.
“Safe.”
“You kidnapped him.”
“I relocated him.”
“Give him to me.”
She shook her head.
“Not yet.”
Diana raised her weapon.
“Put the phone down.”
Seraphina laughed.
“You can't shoot me.”
“Try me.”
Seraphina looked at me.
“You're the problem, Audrey.”
“You nearly killed me.”
“You survived.”
“You locked me away.”
“That was Mother.”
“Julian betrayed me.”
“He always was weak.”
“Then why take my son?”
“Because he's worth more alive.”
My blood ran cold.
“What does Blackthorne want?”
She smiled.
“They want the evidence.”
“What evidence?”
Seraphina's smile vanished.
“The one thing your father hid.”
My father's face came to mind.
“The master ledger.”
She nodded.
“Where is it?”
“I don't know.”
“Then your son doesn't come home.”
I looked at the screen.
My baby moved.
Tiny fingers.
Tiny face.
Alive.
I swallowed.
“What do you want me to do?”
Seraphina answered:
“Go to your father's house.”
“And?”
“Open the basement wall.”
“For what?”
“The ledger.”
I stared at her.
Then she added:
“Bring it to me before midnight.”
“And if I don't?”
She looked at the screen.
“You'll lose your son.”
The call ended.
Diana turned to me.
“We're not giving her anything.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“We're giving her exactly what she expects.”
A trap.
But there was one problem.
Before we could set it, my father called.
One sentence.
May you like
Then he hung up.
“Don't trust Diana.”
