Chapter 8 - THE EMPTY HOSPITAL ROOM
Malik's room was empty.
Thomas nearly broke the door off its hinges.
“Where is my son?”
Two hospital security officers blocked the hallway.
Lena flashed her badge.
“What happened?”
A nurse was crying.
“A woman came with paperwork.”
“What woman?”
“She said she was from Child Protective Services.”
Thomas shouted, “And you gave her my son?”
“She had credentials.”
Lena grabbed the security supervisor.
“Show me the cameras.”
The footage revealed the truth.
A middle-aged woman in a gray suit had entered at 4:42 p.m.
She carried official-looking documents.
She left thirteen minutes later pushing Malik in a stroller.
Thomas punched the wall.
Arthur grabbed him.
“Stop.”
“My son is gone.”
“We find him.”
“How?”
Arthur looked at the footage again.
The woman had made one mistake.
Around her wrist was a Blackwood House staff bracelet.
Lena recognized her.
“Nurse Carla Mendes.”
They traced her vehicle.
At 5:28 p.m., a highway camera captured it heading east.
Toward the old Whitmore estate.
Thomas knew the property.
“My grandfather's hunting cabin.”
Police units surrounded the cabin before dark.
Malik was found inside unharmed.
Carla surrendered.
Eleanor was not there.
Thomas ran to Malik.
The toddler screamed “Dada!” and threw himself into his father's arms.
Arthur turned away to hide his tears.
Carla was questioned.
Within an hour, she admitted Eleanor had paid her.
Not to harm Malik.
Only to move him somewhere “safe.”
But Carla had no idea why.
Then she provided the most important information yet.
Eleanor was heading to Boston.
“She said she needed to meet someone who could make the problem disappear.”
Arthur asked, “Who?”
Carla shook her head.
“She called him Senator.”
Thomas stared at her.
May you like
Arthur looked toward Lena.
The case had just become much bigger.
