Chapter 2
Elise did not drive toward the warehouse.
Every frightened instinct told her to move—to chase the vanished signal, to place the car between Willa and whatever might be happening to Theo.
But Owen had taught her one thing during twelve years of marriage to a firefighter:
Running toward danger without information can give danger another victim.
She kept the doors locked.
The heater running.
Her phone connected to the dispatcher.
“Tell me exactly where the last signal appeared,” the dispatcher said.
Elise read the street name from the map.
“Calder Industrial Park. Building fourteen or fifteen. The pin is between them.”
Another voice entered the call.
“Mrs. Hart, this is Detective Rosa Martinez. I am coordinating the response.”
Elise recognized the controlled tone of someone carrying urgency without spreading it.
“Willa says the building belonged to her father’s former employer.”
“Ask whether she knows an entrance he might use.”
Elise put the call on speaker at low volume.
“Willa, do you remember the warehouse?”
The girl nodded.
“Did your father ever take you there?”
“Before he got fired.”
“How did you enter?”
“The front office.”
“Any other doors?”
“A big door for trucks. And a little blue door behind the broken fence.”
Martinez heard.
“Good. Ask whether there are stairs, basements, or places Theo might be hidden.”
Willa squeezed the blanket.
“Dad had a room upstairs.”
“What kind of room?”
“With windows looking at all the machines.”
“An office?”
“Yes.”
“Anything downstairs?”
“A tunnel.”
Elise looked at her.
“What tunnel?”
“For pipes. Dad said children weren’t allowed.”
Martinez said something to another officer away from the phone.
Then:
“We have units approaching without emergency lights. Do not move from your location. Hospital security and medical staff are coming to you.”
Willa shook her head.
“No. We have to go.”
“The police are already going.”
“They don’t know Theo.”
“They know where he may be.”
“He hides when he’s scared.”
Elise reached across the center console but stopped before touching her.
“What helps him come out?”
Willa’s lips trembled.
“He has a song.”
“What song?”
“‘You Are My Sunshine.’ Mom sings it badly.”
Despite everything, Elise almost smiled.
“Anything else?”
“He counts red things.”
“Why?”
“Our counselor taught him. Five red things, four blue things, three sounds.”
Grounding.
Theo had already been receiving trauma treatment.
Elise relayed the information.
The detective repeated it to the tactical team.
Willa’s body began shaking more violently.
Elise initially thought she was crying.
Then she touched the girl’s forehead.
Hot.
Far too hot for someone who had been standing in freezing rain.
“When did you last have your temperature checked?”
“Before the medicine.”
“What medicine?”
“The nurse gave me chemo. Then Grandma brought juice.”
“Your grandmother was at the hospital?”
Willa nodded.
“She said Mom needed help with Theo.”
“Did you drink the juice?”
“Some.”
“What happened afterward?”
“I got sleepy.”
Elise looked at the hospital bracelet.
“Do you know what chemotherapy medicine you received?”
“No.”
“Did anyone disconnect your pump?”
“Grandma said the beeping would wake me.”
The answer tightened every muscle in Elise’s body.
“Did a nurse see her disconnect it?”
“I don’t know.”
Willa’s eyes fluttered.
“Stay awake,” Elise said.
“I’m tired.”
“I know. Tell me about Theo. What color is his backpack?”
“Green.”
“What does he keep inside?”
“Dinosaurs.”
“What kind?”
“Mostly meat eaters.”
“Which is his favorite?”
“Spinosaurus. Because it swims.”
Willa’s voice weakened.
The dispatcher heard it.
“Medical team is two minutes away.”
“I think she has a fever.”
“Keep her warm, but do not overheat the car. Do not give food or drink unless medical staff directs you.”
Elise lowered the heater slightly.
Through the rain, a dark hospital security vehicle approached without lights. An ambulance followed at normal speed.
Willa saw it.
“You promised.”
“I promised I would listen.”
“You’re taking me back.”
“You are sick, Willa. The police are going to Theo. You have already shown them where.”
“What if Dad moves him?”
“The officers are there now.”
As if summoned by the sentence, Detective Martinez’s voice returned.
“Team has visual on the warehouse. One vehicle outside. Registered to Grant Byrne.”
Willa gripped Elise’s sleeve.
“That’s him.”
“We are not entering yet. We are checking exits and looking for the child.”
“Tell them about the office,” Willa said.
“They know.”
“And the tunnel.”
“They know.”
“Tell them Dad keeps a knife in his boot.”
Elise repeated it.
Martinez answered:
“Received.”
The ambulance stopped behind them.
A paramedic opened Elise’s door.
Willa recoiled against the passenger window.
“No.”
The paramedic remained outside.
“My name is Maya. I am not going to pull you out. Elise says you have a fever and a central line. May I check you while you stay in the seat?”
Willa looked at Elise.
Elise nodded.
“Let her.”
Maya reached in slowly.
Temperature:
103.1 degrees.
Heart rate:
One hundred sixty-two.
Blood pressure low.
Oxygen acceptable.
The skin around Willa’s port dressing looked red.
Maya’s expression tightened.
“We need to move now.”
Willa stared at Elise.
“Will you come?”
Elise looked at her own stomach.
At the hospital.
At the rain.
“Yes.”
She had no idea whether the maternity wing would approve a thirty-six-week-pregnant stranger following an oncology emergency.
May you like
She only knew Willa had trusted one promise that night.
Elise would not make her keep the next one alone.
