Chapter 17 - The Empty Bassinet
Pain tore through Claire's abdomen when she stood.
She did not care.
"Where is Owen?"
The nurse blocked the door. "Security is handling it."
"That is not an answer."
Maya appeared in the hall. "Claire."
Her face told the truth before her mouth did.
Claire grabbed the wall.
"No."
"Owen's bassinet is empty," Maya said. "A woman in respiratory-therapy scrubs removed him during the alarm."
Claire stopped hearing the rest.
Then Rosa shouted from behind them, "Service elevator."
Security footage showed the disguised woman pushing a covered neonatal transport crib toward an employee elevator.
Basement level two.
Agent Ward ordered a lockdown.
Claire demanded a wheelchair and refused every argument.
"If my son is down there, I'm going."
Maya pushed her while Rosa and two agents moved ahead.
The old donor corridor smelled of dust and disinfectant. Half the lights were off. Framed photographs of hospital benefactors lined the walls.
Eleanor Bennett smiled from three of them.
They found the transport crib outside a locked records room.
Empty.
Claire made a sound Rosa would remember for the rest of her life.
Then a baby cried behind the wall.
Ward found a concealed service door hidden behind shelving.
It opened into a former document-storage suite.
Eleanor stood inside holding Owen.
A pistol rested against the blanket.
Claire stopped breathing.
Eleanor looked almost peaceful.
"He has Charles's mouth."
"Give him to me."
"You never understood this family."
"I understand enough."
"You think Daniel was the disappointment? Charles was. He built an empire and then became sentimental at the end."
Owen cried.
Claire's body moved instinctively.
Ward raised a hand. "Claire, stay back."
Eleanor pressed the gun closer.
Claire froze.
"You won," Eleanor said. "The trust vested. The books open. Everyone goes to prison."
"Then why take him?"
"Because I still have one negotiation left."
"What do you want?"
"Schedule C revoked."
Maya spoke from the doorway. "It can't be revoked by Claire. Charles made it automatic."
Eleanor's eyes shifted toward her.
That distraction lasted less than a second.
Rosa moved.
She threw a metal clipboard across the room.
The gun fired.
May you like
Claire screamed.
And the lights went out.
