Chapter 17 - The Room with No Answer

Rachel called again and again as the car turned off the highway. Bear drove while an agent rode beside them, speaking into his radio. It was forty miles to the motel and every minute felt stolen.

Louise finally answered, breathless.

"The children are safe," she said. "But someone tried to get in."

Rachel shut her eyes. "Who?"

"A woman in hospital scrubs. Said Andrea sent her to collect them. Owen asked for the code word we'd agreed on. She didn't know it."

Rachel had never been prouder of her son.

"Where is she?"

"Gone. I locked the hallway and called the real police."

When they reached the motel, Lily ran into Rachel's arms, and Owen stood a step behind, trying not to cry. Rachel hugged both of them until Owen's shoulders finally shook.

"I was scared," he admitted.

Louise had made a rule at the motel: no one entered without the agreed phrase, not even someone who claimed to know Bear. Owen had complained it was childish. When the false nurse appeared, he was glad for every word of it. He later told Rachel he'd asked the question while his legs trembled. She told him courage wasn't having steady legs. It was doing the sensible thing while they shook.

"Me too."

"I thought if I let her in, she'd take Lily."

"You didn't. And you were never supposed to handle this alone."

A uniformed officer who had arrived from a neighboring county handed Hannah the motel camera footage. The false nurse's face was clear enough to identify.

Andrea Walsh watched the clip on her phone and went rigid. "That's my former supervisor. Her name's Patricia Kline. She left St. Agnes last year."

Hannah called the hospital records unit. Patricia's last employer was Halcyon Security.

Then another message arrived from Thomas's phone. This time the video played automatically. He sat in a chair, one cheek bruised, and forced out four words.

"Rachel, check your mother."

Rachel's mother had died eleven years ago. She stared at the screen, confused.

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