CHAPTER 13: THE FALSE NURSE
Ethan ran.
The man in the hospital uniform disappeared through the stairwell.
Security sealed the floor while nurses checked every infant.
Theo remained in his incubator.
His medical bracelet had been copied.
The real bracelet was still around his tiny ankle.
Detective Grant examined the duplicate.
“Someone was preparing to remove him.”
Amelia’s knees weakened.
“Why?”
“The copied bracelet would allow another infant to be presented as Theo while he was taken elsewhere.”
Mara placed an arm around her.
“The hospital is assigning two guards to the NICU.”
“That won’t be enough.”
Noah entered the stairwell with three security officers.
They found the abandoned uniform two floors below.
The suspect had escaped through a maintenance tunnel.
Inside the uniform pocket was an old photograph.
It showed five people standing outside Whitmore Mill days before the fire.
William Carter.
Thomas Reed.
Julian Whitmore.
A younger Evelyn Bennett.
And a fifth man whose face had been scratched away.
On the back, someone had written:
ONE OF THEM SURVIVED.
Noah stared at his father’s face.
Amelia stared at her mother.
Ethan looked at the scratched-out figure.
“I know that jacket.”
Detective Grant turned toward him.
“Who wore it?”
Ethan hesitated.
“My captain.”
“Your current captain?”
“Yes.”
“Name?”
“Gabriel Morales.”
Noah’s expression changed.
Captain Morales had supervised the elevator rescue.
He had been the person giving Ethan updates from the lobby.
He had also ordered Noah to remain outside after Amelia was taken away.
Detective Grant searched department records.
Morales had served at Station 17 eight years earlier.
His name did not appear anywhere in the official Whitmore Mill report.
Not as a firefighter.
Not as a witness.
Not even as a responder.
Someone had erased him.
Amelia looked at Ethan.
“You said Claire wasn’t controlling this.”
Ethan stared at the photograph.
“No.”
“Then who is?”
May you like
His answer was barely a whisper.
“The man who taught me how to lie.”
