Chapter 6 - The Woman Upstairs
The first man through the door went down.
Not from a bullet.
From a stun gun.
Dominic stepped over him.
Hannah followed.
He turned.
“I told you to stay outside.”
“And I ignored you.”
“Clearly.”
Emergency lights flashed red along the hall.
Doors stood open.
Rooms were empty.
The place smelled like bleach and medication.
Luca checked the stairwell.
“Clear.”
They reached the third floor.
Hannah’s heart pounded harder with every step.
Room 314 stood open.
Empty bed.
IV line hanging.
Warm blanket.
Dominic touched it.
“She was here.”
Hannah searched the room.
A hairbrush.
A paper cup.
A white sweater.
Then she saw scratches on the wall beside the bed.
Small marks.
Groups of three.
Again and again.
Three.
Three.
Three.
“The girls,” Hannah whispered.
Dominic’s eyes filled with something dangerous.
Footsteps sounded behind them.
A nurse appeared.
Hands raised.
“Don’t shoot.”
Dominic grabbed her.
“Where is Evelyn Vale?”
“I don’t know that name.”
Hannah pointed toward the bed.
“The woman who was here.”
The nurse trembled.
“Claire Morris.”
“That’s not her name.”
“I swear, that’s what her chart says.”
“Where did they take her?”
“A man came ten minutes ago.”
“Name.”
“I don’t know.”
Dominic pulled Julian’s photograph from his phone.
“This man?”
The nurse stared.
“Yes.”
Hannah felt sick.
“Where?”
“Service elevator.”
Luca ran.
Dominic released the nurse.
Hannah noticed the woman’s badge.
Nora Bennett.
“How long was Claire here?”
“Almost eleven months.”
Dominic went still.
“Eleven?”
The nurse nodded.
“She was admitted unconscious. Severe trauma. Then sedated.”
“By who?”
“Orders came from Dr. Warren.”
“Did she wake up?”
Nora looked at Hannah.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Months ago.”
Hannah’s throat tightened.
“And nobody called the police?”
Nora’s eyes filled with shame.
“We were told she was psychotic. Dangerous. That she attacked her own children.”
Dominic slammed his fist against the wall.
Nora flinched.
Hannah grabbed his sleeve.
“Not now.”
Nora continued quickly.
“She kept saying she had daughters.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“She begged us to contact her husband.”
Hannah felt tears burn.
“What name did she give?”
“Dominic.”
Silence.
“She said he would come for her.”
Dominic turned away.
For the first time, Hannah saw his shoulders shake.
Only once.
Then they hardened again.
Luca returned.
“Garage empty. Vehicle left through rear gate.”
Dominic looked at Nora.
“Where would they take her?”
“I don’t know.”
Hannah noticed something beneath Evelyn’s pillow.
A piece of paper.
She pulled it free.
One sentence.
Written weakly.
Hannah, if Dad told you, I’m sorry.
Below it was a drawing.
Three small birds.
And a number.
47.
Dominic stared.
“What’s forty-seven?”
Nora answered.
“Room forty-seven?”
“There’s no room forty-seven.”
Luca shook his head.
“Could be an address.”
Hannah flipped the paper.
More handwriting.
Almost invisible.
Ferry.
Dominic’s face changed.
“What?”
“My family owns an old freight terminal on the Hudson.”
“What number?”
“Pier forty-seven.”
Then Dominic’s phone rang.
His security chief called from Manhattan.
Dominic answered.
His face drained of color.
“What happened?”
Hannah’s stomach dropped.
Dominic listened.
Then whispered one word.
“No.”
He ended the call.
Hannah grabbed him.
“What?”
Dominic looked at her.
For the first time since she met him, fear completely broke through.
“The townhouse was attacked.”
Hannah stopped breathing.
May you like
Dominic’s next words came out like broken glass.
“They took my daughters.”
