Chapter 10 - The Night of the Fire Alarm)
Thomas agreed to testify.
In exchange, prosecutors discussed reduced charges.
Daniel hated the idea.
Claire didn't.
Thomas had committed a terrible act.
But she wanted the network more than revenge.
Thomas described the night of the fire alarm in detail.
Sloane instructed him to trigger Daniel's departure.
Voss controlled the medical chart.
Margaret switched identification bracelets.
Evelyn Price, although officially absent, logged into the hospital system remotely.
But there had been one complication.
A young maternity nurse noticed Emma was missing.
Her name was Sarah Bell.
Claire remembered Sarah.
Twenty three.
Red hair.
Freckles.
She had brought Claire ice chips during labor.
What happened to her?
Thomas looked at the investigators.
She reported the discrepancy.
To whom?
Voss.
Then?
Her report disappeared.
Where is Sarah now?
Nobody knew.
Employment records showed Sarah resigned four days after Emma's death.
No forwarding address.
Her nursing license expired the following year.
Claire searched online.
Nothing.
Reed issued a nationwide database inquiry.
Two days later they found a possible match.
Sarah Bell had changed her surname after marriage.
Sarah Bell Mercer.
Living in Vermont.
Claire called her.
Sarah hung up the moment she heard St. Catherine.
Reed called.
She hung up again.
Finally Lily wrote a letter.
My name was Emma. I think you saw me when I was a baby. I am okay. My mom wants to know what happened. I want to know too.
Sarah called the next morning.
Her voice trembled.
Is the child really alive?
Claire closed her eyes.
Yes.
Oh God.
You knew.
I suspected.
Why didn't you tell us?
I tried.
Claire gripped the phone.
When?
The morning after.
Sarah explained.
During the fire alarm she had been assigned to Claire's infant.
Emma had mild respiratory distress but had stabilized.
No congenital heart defect.
No terminal condition.
Sarah left briefly to assist another nurse.
When she returned, Emma was gone.
A deceased infant occupied the bassinet.
The bracelet said Emma Whitmore.
But Sarah knew it was not the same baby.
How?
Weight.
Claire stopped.
Sarah continued.
Emma weighed seven pounds two ounces.
The deceased baby was smaller.
Six pounds four.
I checked the electronic chart.
The weight had changed.
I told Voss.
He said I was exhausted.
I filed an incident report.
Then what?
Voss called me into his office.
He told me I had administered the wrong medication earlier that night.
Did you?
No.
He said there was a syringe with my fingerprints.
He said if I continued making accusations, he would report me for negligence and a child's death.
Claire's anger rose.
He framed you.
Yes.
Why didn't you go to police?
I was twenty three.
I had sixty thousand dollars in student loans.
My father had cancer.
Voss said I would lose my license and go to prison.
Sarah began crying.
I told myself maybe I was wrong.
Then I saw Margaret Hale leaving through the employee exit with a baby.
When?
Around five in the morning.
Did you see the baby?
Wrapped in a yellow blanket.
Claire knew that blanket.
The hospital photograph showed Emma wrapped in yellow.
What did you do?
I followed.
Sloane stopped me.
He told me Margaret was transporting records.
Records?
I knew it was a lie.
Claire asked the question she feared.
Did you see anyone else?
A man near the service elevator.
Thomas?
No.
Older.
Red tie?
Sarah paused.
Yes.
Victor Sloane.
Anyone else?
A woman.
Who?
I didn't know then.
Years later I saw her on television.
Claire felt tension tighten every muscle.
Who?
Sarah whispered.
Caroline Ward.
Senator Ward's wife.
Claire stared at Reed.
Caroline Ward had been inside St. Catherine the night Emma disappeared.
Why?
Sarah did not know.
She remembered Caroline arguing with Voss.
She heard only one sentence.
You promised there would never be another child.
Claire's skin prickled.
Another child.
Not Emma.
Something older.
A previous arrangement.
Reed asked Sarah if she would provide a sworn statement.
Sarah agreed.
That afternoon federal agents arrived at the police department.
Marcus Dane led them.
The same man seen entering Voss's house before the doctor disappeared.
Dane smiled easily.
Detective Reed.
Reed did not smile.
Agent Dane.
We understand your department has uncovered evidence involving illegal adoptions.
Possibly.
Federal jurisdiction may apply.
Why?
Interstate activity.
Financial transfers.
Identity fraud.
Dane looked at Claire.
Mrs. Whitmore, I'm very sorry for what happened to your family.
Claire studied him.
Did you know Samuel Voss?
His expression did not change.
By reputation.
Have you ever been inside his house?
Reed turned sharply.
Dane glanced at Claire.
No.
Claire watched Reed.
He said nothing about the security image.
Dane continued.
We would like copies of all evidence.
Reed smiled.
Of course.
But later, in private, Reed told Claire.
I'm giving him copies.
Not originals.
Why?
Because Marcus Dane just lied.
That night someone broke into the police evidence annex.
No weapons stolen.
No cash.
Only one evidence locker was opened.
The locker containing Rebecca Hale's flash drive.
The drive was gone.
Security cameras showed no intruder.
Someone had used an authorized law enforcement badge.
At 3:12 a.m. Claire woke to the sound of breaking glass downstairs.
Daniel sat up.
Stay here.
Claire ignored him.
They moved into the hallway.
Another crash.
Then Lily screamed from the guest room.
Claire ran.
The window beside Lily's bed was broken.
A brick lay on the carpet.
Wrapped around it was a note.
Daniel picked it up.
Claire took Lily into her arms.
The note contained one sentence.
Your daughter survived the first fire.
She will not survive the second.
Smoke drifted beneath the bedroom door.
Daniel turned.
Claire.
May you like
The hallway alarm erupted.
Fire.
