Chapter 3 - THE BOY IN ROOM 417
We left the mansion twelve minutes later.
Not Victoria.
She stayed behind.
I had already called the police.
I had also called my attorney.
And for the first time in my marriage, I told the security team at the gate that Victoria Cole was not permitted to leave the property until officers arrived.
She screamed when she heard me say it.
I didn’t turn around.
Emily sat beside me in the back of the SUV, wrists wrapped in clean gauze by our household nurse.
The twins were with my sister, Lauren, who had arrived within ten minutes after hearing my voice on the phone.
Neither Emily nor I spoke for most of the drive.
Caleb was at St. Matthew Children’s Hospital.
Room 417.
Emily had received the call at 11:08 that morning.
His condition had deteriorated while she was trapped in my house.
Every red light felt personal.
“How sick is he?” I asked.
Emily stared through the window.
“Congenital heart disease.”
“How long?”
“His whole life.”
“And today?”
“They were preparing emergency surgery.”
I looked at her.
“You thought he might die while you were tied to that bed.”
She nodded.
I looked away.
There are kinds of anger that burn.
This one froze.
I called the hospital from the car.
“My name is Daniel Cole.”
The administrator knew it immediately.
Cole Capital had donated seven million dollars to the hospital foundation.
That fact suddenly made me feel sick.
Money could place my name on a building.
It couldn’t give Emily back the hours Victoria stole.
“I need the best pediatric cardiac team you have available for Caleb Bennett.”
The woman paused.
“Mr. Cole, Dr. Ramirez is already—”
“If he needs equipment, specialists flown in, blood products, anything, authorize it.”
Emily looked at me.
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Cole—”
“Yes, I do.”
Her eyes filled.
“This isn’t your responsibility.”
I looked at the bandages around her wrists.
“Some of it is.”
At the hospital, Emily ran.
I followed.
Room 417 was empty.
Her face collapsed.
“No.”
A nurse appeared.
“Emily?”
“Where is he?”
“They took him down twenty minutes ago.”
“For surgery?”
“Yes.”
Emily pressed both hands over her mouth.
The nurse embraced her.
“He was asking for you.”
Emily began sobbing.
I turned away because suddenly I felt like an intruder.
Then the nurse handed Emily a plastic bag.
“He wanted you to have this.”
Inside was an old black backpack.
Emily frowned.
“That isn’t his.”
“He said it belonged to his mother.”
Rachel.
My attention sharpened.
“When did he get this?”
“He wouldn’t say.”
Emily opened the backpack.
Inside were two books.
A toy car.
A sealed envelope.
And an old prepaid cellphone.
The envelope said:
FOR EMILY IF CALEB EVER GETS SICK ENOUGH TO ASK QUESTIONS.
Emily sat down.
Her hands shook.
“That’s Rachel’s handwriting.”
She tore it open.
The letter was dated nearly four years earlier.
Emily,
If Caleb gives you this, then he finally found the courage to show you where I hid it.
I’m sorry.
I wanted to come home.
I wanted to tell you everything.
But there are people more dangerous than Victoria Cole.
Daniel is not one of them.
Remember that.
Victoria is cruel, but she was afraid of someone too.
The baby is alive.
Her name is Sophie.
Caleb knows where she was taken.
Do not trust Dr. Arthur Vale.
Emily stopped reading.
“Arthur Vale.”
I knew the name.
Everyone in my social circle did.
Dr. Arthur Vale was one of the most respected obstetric surgeons in Manhattan.
He had delivered the twins.
He was also Victoria’s godfather.
My phone rang.
Lauren.
I answered.
“Daniel.”
Her voice was tense.
“What?”
“The police arrived at the house.”
“And?”
“Victoria isn’t there.”
I stood.
“What do you mean?”
“She’s gone.”
“She was surrounded by security.”
“Apparently one of the household cars left through the service entrance before you called the gate.”
“When?”
“Seven minutes after we left.”
My jaw tightened.
“Where are the twins?”
“With me. Safe.”
“Lock everything.”
“Already did.”
Emily had continued reading.
Her face was becoming paler.
“What?”
She handed me the letter.
Arthur arranged the adoption.
But it wasn’t an adoption.
No legal agency was involved.
No court.
No records.
He gave Sophie to a couple in Connecticut named Thomas and Claire Harrison.
I followed them.
They loved her.
That was the only reason I didn’t take her back immediately.
But then Arthur found me.
He told me if I spoke, Caleb would pay.
I believed him.
I still do.
Emily whispered, “Caleb knows where they lived.”
A doctor emerged from surgery.
“Family of Caleb Bennett?”
Emily stood.
“I’m his aunt.”
“I’m Dr. Ramirez.”
“How is he?”
“He’s stable.”
Emily nearly collapsed.
I caught her arm.
“The surgery is complicated,” he continued. “But he made it through the first stage. We’ll know more over the next several hours.”
Emily cried silently.
“Can I see him?”
“When he’s moved to recovery.”
The doctor left.
I looked at the old phone.
“Can we turn it on?”
Emily pressed the button.
Nothing.
A nurse brought us a charger.
Ten minutes later, the screen glowed.
There were no contacts.
No messages.
Just photographs.
The first showed Rachel.
She looked like Emily.
Same dark hair.
Same eyes.
Rachel stood beside a parked car holding a tiny infant wrapped in yellow.
The next photo showed a suburban house.
Then Thomas and Claire Harrison.
Then Sophie at approximately age one.
Age two.
Age three.
Rachel had been watching her for years.
The last photo was different.
It had been taken recently.
Sophie looked about four.
She stood outside a preschool holding a purple backpack.
Behind her was a road sign.
GREENFIELD ACADEMY.
Fairfield County.
Connecticut.
“We can find her,” Emily whispered.
“Yes.”
Then the phone vibrated.
An incoming text.
Unknown number.
My stomach tightened.
The message read:
IF YOU’RE READING RACHEL’S PHONE, YOU’VE ALREADY MADE A SERIOUS MISTAKE.
A second message appeared.
DANIEL, GO HOME TO YOUR TWINS.
A third.
THE THIRD CHILD WAS NEVER YOURS.
I stared at the screen.
Emily whispered, “How does he know you have the phone?”
Another message arrived.
BECAUSE I’M WATCHING ROOM 417.
I looked toward the hallway.
People passed.
Nurses.
Visitors.
Orderlies.
Security.
Anyone could be watching.
Then a photograph appeared on the phone.
It showed Emily and me sitting outside Caleb’s room.
Taken less than thirty seconds earlier.
May you like
Below it were five words.
VICTORIA IS COMING FOR SOPHIE.
