CHAPTER 7 — THE MAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
Nathan drove to the clinic in eleven minutes.
The main entrance was locked.
He pounded on the glass until a security officer appeared.
“Mr. Whitmore, visiting hours are over.”
“Open the door.”
“You need authorization.”
“My name is on the building.”
The officer hesitated.
Nathan picked up a metal ash container and swung it into the glass.
A web of cracks spread across the door.
The officer unlocked it immediately.
Nathan shoved past him.
“Where is my wife?”
The receptionist stood.
“Mrs. Whitmore is undergoing treatment.”
“What floor?”
“I can’t disclose—”
Nathan swept the computer monitor off the desk.
It shattered on the marble floor.
“What floor?”
“Lower level. Evelyn Wing.”
He ran toward the elevator.
The doors opened on an empty corridor.
Room 14 was unlocked.
The bed was empty.
A length of torn medical tubing lay on the floor. Claire’s hospital gown had been left in a corner.
There was blood on the edge of the mattress.
Not much.
But enough.
Nathan pressed the emergency button beside the bed.
No one answered.
He searched the hallway.
A door near the service elevator opened.
June Parker stumbled out.
One side of her face was bruised.
“Mr. Whitmore?”
“Where is Claire?”
“They took her.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Nathan caught her shoulders.
“Who took her?”
“Dr. Cole and three private guards. They used the service elevator.”
“Was she conscious?”
“Barely.”
“Is she in labor?”
June shook her head.
“The contractions were caused by medication. I removed the intravenous line before the full dose entered her system.”
Nathan’s hands curled into fists.
“Why would they force labor?”
“They weren’t trying to deliver the baby here.”
“What does that mean?”
June looked toward the security camera.
“We need to move.”
They took the service stairs to the underground parking level.
At the bottom, June pointed toward a set of tire marks.
“A white medical transport van was parked there.”
Nathan ran toward his car.
A man stepped out from behind a concrete pillar.
Tall.
Dark hair.
Closely trimmed beard.
Nathan recognized him immediately.
The man from Vanessa’s photograph.
Gabriel Shaw.
Nathan stopped.
Gabriel held both hands where Nathan could see them.
“I’m not your enemy.”
“Where is Claire?”
“I came as soon as she missed our contact signal.”
“What signal?”
“She was supposed to send me a blank message every morning. If it didn’t arrive, I would know they had taken her.”
Nathan moved closer.
“You’re Evelyn’s son.”
Gabriel’s expression changed.
“You found the birth record.”
“The DNA report too.”
“Then you know Claire wasn’t having an affair.”
Nathan looked away for half a second.
Shame burned through him.
“I know.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“Claire contacted me because she found my mother’s letters. She believed Margaret was using the same drugs on her.”
“My mother says Evelyn was unstable.”
“My mother was drugged, restrained, and declared insane after she threatened to expose the trust fraud.”
“Did she die at this clinic?”
“No.”
Nathan looked at him.
“The newspaper said she fell from a balcony.”
“The newspaper printed what the Whitmores paid it to print.”
“Then where did she die?”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
“I don’t know if she did.”
Nathan stared at him.
“You think Evelyn is alive?”
“I think someone has been paying for her care under a false name for thirty-eight years.”
The sound of an engine echoed from the far end of the parking structure.
A white medical van turned toward the exit ramp.
June pointed.
“That’s it.”
Nathan ran toward his car.
Gabriel grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
“My wife is in that van.”
“They want you to follow.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
Gabriel pulled a small tracking receiver from his jacket.
A green light blinked on its screen.
“Claire swallowed a medical tracking capsule before they took her.”
Nathan looked at the moving signal.
“Where are they taking her?”
Gabriel studied the coordinates.
His face lost its color.
“No.”
“What?”
“This isn’t a hospital route.”
Nathan seized his shoulder.
“Where are they going?”
Gabriel looked toward the van disappearing up the ramp.
“To the private estate where my mother was held after they told the world she was dead.”
Nathan rushed toward his car.
Gabriel followed.
As they reached the driver’s door, Nathan’s phone rang.
The caller identification showed Claire’s name.
He answered immediately.
“Claire?”
At first, he heard only breathing.
Then Claire whispered:
“Nathan, don’t follow the van.”
“Where are you?”
“They know Gabriel is with you.”
A man’s voice spoke somewhere near her.
Claire gasped.
Then she forced out three final words.
“Vanessa has Rosa.”
The call ended.
May you like
Nathan looked back toward the clinic entrance.
At that exact moment, every light in the building went dark.
