CHAPTER 26: THE GRANDSON
Amelia ran from the basement.
The hospital was twenty minutes away.
It took the police convoy twelve.
Mara called hospital security.
No one answered from the NICU.
The live video remained on Ethan’s phone.
William Carter wore medical clothing.
He placed one hand against Theo’s incubator.
“My grandson,” he whispered.
Ethan gripped the dashboard.
“Don’t touch him.”
William looked directly into the camera.
“You disappointed me, Ethan.”
“I’m coming for you.”
“You always arrive after the important choice has been made.”
Amelia leaned toward the phone.
“What do you want?”
William smiled.
“Evelyn’s daughter.”
“You planned my marriage.”
“I created an opportunity.”
“You trapped me in the elevator.”
“That was not my original plan.”
“Then whose plan was it?”
William looked toward someone outside the camera frame.
“The person who has always understood you better than I do.”
A gloved hand appeared beside him.
The person handed William a syringe.
Amelia stopped breathing.
“What is that?”
“Something your son needs.”
“Don’t inject him!”
“Without it, he may not survive his first year.”
“You’re lying.”
“Ask Dr. Shah why his genetic results were classified.”
Amelia looked at Mara.
Mara immediately called the doctor.
Dr. Shah answered in tears.
“I was ordered not to discuss the marker.”
“Is Theo sick?”
“The compound in his blood may become unstable as his lungs develop.”
“Can William treat it?”
“I don’t know.”
On the video, William inserted the syringe into Theo’s IV line.
Amelia screamed.
The feed went black.
They reached the hospital.
The NICU doors stood open.
Two guards were unconscious.
Theo remained inside his incubator.
William was gone.
A nurse checked the baby.
“What did he inject?” Amelia asked.
The nurse removed the syringe from the IV tubing.
“It wasn’t medicine.”
“What was it?”
The syringe contained a tiny rolled piece of paper.
Mara opened it.
A location was written inside.
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Beneath it were five words:
BRING NOAH OR EVELYN DIES.
