Chapter 7 - Everything happened at once.The attacker lunged.
Raymond turned.
The knife missed his chest by inches.
Security tackled the man to the floor.
Emily screamed.
Dr. Shaw collapsed.
Blood spread across his shirt.
“Call an ambulance!”
Nurses rushed in.
Raymond stared at the attacker.
“Who sent you?”
The man said nothing.
He wore hospital scrubs.
His face was unfamiliar.
But Emily noticed one thing.
A small pink ribbon pinned to his uniform.
Victoria's symbol.
Security ripped it off.
Raymond looked at Emily.
“She's escalating.”
Emily stared at the blood on the floor.
“How long until the ambulance gets here?”
“Five minutes.”
Dr. Shaw looked at her.
“Listen…”
“Don't speak.”
He grabbed her wrist.
“Your baby…”
Emily bent closer.
“The father…”
His voice faded.
Then he whispered one name.
Emily froze.
“No.”
Dr. Shaw's eyes closed.
“What did he say?” Raymond asked.
Emily looked at him.
“Adrian.”
Raymond frowned.
“Who is Adrian?”
Emily whispered:
“Dr. Shaw.”
Everyone stared.
“He said the father is Adrian Shaw.”
Raymond's face changed.
“That can't be.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian Shaw can't have children.”
Emily stared.
“What?”
Raymond didn't answer.
But the security chief did.
“Mr. Black.”
He held up a tablet.
“We found a sealed medical record on Dr. Shaw's private account.”
Emily grabbed it.
The record stated:
PATIENT: ADRIAN SHAW
FERTILITY STATUS: ZERO VIABLE SPERM
She stared.
“It says he can't be the father.”
Raymond nodded.
“Exactly.”
Emily looked at Dr. Shaw.
He was unconscious now.
Then the hospital alarm sounded.
A woman's voice screamed from the maternity ward.
“Someone took the mother!”
Emily turned.
“What mother?”
A nurse came running.
“The woman from the basement!”
Emily felt the blood leave her face.
“The fake Margaret?”
“She’s gone.”
Raymond immediately ordered:
“Lock every exit.”
The security chief shook his head.
“Too late.”
“How?”
“Someone used a hospital helicopter.”
Raymond stared at him.
“Who authorized it?”
The officer looked at the authorization screen.
“Victoria Hayes.”
Emily's eyes narrowed.
“She kidnapped that woman.”
Raymond shook his head.
“Maybe.”
Emily looked at him.
“What do you mean?”
“If Victoria wanted to use that woman as a decoy, she wouldn't need to kidnap her.”
Emily froze.
“She was helping her.”
Raymond nodded.
“Exactly.”
They rushed to the helicopter hangar.
The aircraft was gone.
But a small package had been left on the ground.
Emily opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Her mother.
Standing outside a house.
Beside her was Victoria.
And behind them...
Richard Hayes.
All three were alive.
The date on the photograph was yesterday.
Emily stared.
“This was taken yesterday?”
Raymond nodded.
She flipped it over.
A message was written on the back.
COME TO BLACKWOOD ESTATE ALONE.
Below it:
BRING THE ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE.
Raymond immediately said:
“No.”
Emily looked at him.
“I have to go.”
“It's a trap.”
“Yes.”
“You'll be walking into it.”
“My mother is there.”
“We don't know that.”
Emily held up the photograph.
“She is.”
Raymond was silent.
The security chief stepped closer.
“Mr. Black, there is one more thing.”
“What?”
“We checked the photograph.”
“And?”
“The woman beside Victoria isn't Margaret.”
Emily frowned.
“What?”
The officer pointed to the image.
“Her fingerprints don't match.”
Emily stared.
Raymond looked closer.
The woman's face was identical to Margaret.
But the photograph contained one impossible detail.
A tattoo on her wrist.
Margaret never had a tattoo.
Emily's voice became quiet.
“That woman isn't my mother.”
Raymond nodded.
“Which means Margaret is still missing.”
A text message arrived on Emily's phone.
You have six hours.
Another followed.
After that, your baby won't be the key anymore.
Then a final image appeared.
A security photograph.
Emily gasped.
It showed a nursery.
Inside was a crib.
And written on the wall:
ROOM 17.
Raymond stared at it.
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because Room 17 was sealed twenty years ago.”
May you like
Emily looked toward him.
“Then someone just opened it.”
Related Stories
