Chapter 5
Theo arrived at St. Catherine’s shortly after one in the morning.
He had bruising along one wrist where Grant tied him with plastic cord. A shallow cut crossed his chin. He was dehydrated and terrified, but no major physical injury was found.
He asked for Willa before asking for Hannah.
The nurses initially refused to bring him into her room.
Willa’s fever had risen.
Her immune system was severely compromised.
Infection precautions mattered.
Dr. Ravi Patel arranged for the siblings to see one another through the glass partition between the oncology room and corridor.
Theo stood in a hospital gown beneath a blanket.
Willa lay connected to antibiotics, fluids, and a new infusion pump.
When they saw one another, neither child spoke.
Theo lifted one hand.
Willa lifted hers.
Glass separated their palms.
“You found my phone,” Willa said through the intercom.
“Dad broke it.”
“I know.”
“I called 911.”
“I know.”
“Are you mad I let him find it?”
Willa’s face crumpled.
“No.”
Theo pressed his forehead to the glass.
“I counted red things.”
“You did it wrong.”
“I got to three.”
“You’re supposed to get to five.”
“He had a knife.”
Willa almost smiled.
“Three is okay then.”
Hannah watched from the end of the corridor.
She had not touched either child yet.
Police had interviewed her separately and medical staff had examined her after noting bruises beneath her sleeve.
She stood with both arms wrapped around herself as though her body had forgotten what to do without someone pulling it in opposite directions.
Elise remained near Willa’s door.
She should have gone home.
Owen arrived from the fire station and offered to take her.
But when Willa woke during transfer, she asked:
“Where’s the coat lady?”
That was how Elise became the coat lady.
Not a rescuer.
Not family.
A familiar person from the moment between danger and help.
Owen placed one hand against Elise’s lower back.
“You’re thirty-six weeks pregnant.”
“I am aware.”
“You’ve been standing for an hour.”
“I’m sitting now.”
“You’re sitting on a supply cart.”
“It has wheels.”
He looked through the glass at the children.
Then stopped arguing.
Detective Martinez entered with a digital forensics technician.
The crushed phone had uploaded data before Grant removed its battery.
The old device automatically backed up voice recordings whenever connected to cellular service.
Theo had accidentally activated the recorder while searching for the emergency-call screen.
The cloud contained forty-three minutes of audio from inside Grant’s truck and the warehouse.
The first recording began with Grant speaking to someone over the truck’s hands-free system.
A woman’s voice answered.
Diane Byrne.
Grant:
She still planning to testify?
Diane:
Hannah thinks the hospital makes her untouchable.
Grant:
Did you handle Willa?
Diane:
She drank enough to sleep. I disconnected the alarm before I left.
Grant:
What about staff?
Diane:
They think the pump battery failed.
Grant:
How long?
Diane:
At least four hours. More if the chemotherapy hits hard.
Grant:
And Hannah?
Diane:
She won’t call police while you have Theo.
A road sound followed.
Theo’s breathing was faint beneath the conversation.
Grant:
She signs the recantation tonight. Tomorrow she tells the judge the children copied stories from her.
Diane:
And Samuel?
Grant:
She says he attacked me and I was protecting the plant.
Diane:
Once bail holds, we deal with him separately.
The technician stopped playback.
No one in the room moved.
The recording did not show Diane misunderstanding her son.
She had planned around Willa’s chemotherapy, helped disable medical equipment, and created the window for Theo’s abduction.
Hospital security located her vehicle leaving the employee garage at 7:02 p.m.
She had used a volunteer badge to access a staff corridor.
Her phone went straight to voicemail.
Police reached her house at 2:11 a.m.
The front door was open.
May you like
A suitcase was missing.
So was Diane.
