Chapter 4 - Twenty Minutes Until Help
The first strike against the gate bent one of the steel bars.
The second damaged the control panel.
Then the power went out.
Nathan heard the generator activate beneath the house, but the interior lights remained dark.
“They cut the local line,” he said.
Rosa lifted her phone. “No signal.”
The house had been designed with multiple safety systems, but Marcus Kane appeared to know exactly which ones to disable.
That frightened Nathan more than the vehicles outside.
He guided Lily behind the stone fireplace, where the central wall offered protection from broken glass. Rosa carried the infants there and placed them inside a padded laundry basket lined with blankets.
A crash sounded from the lower level.
“The basement windows,” Nathan said.
His grandfather had installed narrow reinforced windows near the storage rooms. They were strong enough to resist weather, but not a determined intruder with tools.
Nathan opened a concealed cabinet beside the fireplace. Inside were emergency flashlights, a radio, and the manual controls for the steel shutters.
He switched on the radio.
Static filled the speaker.
Then a dispatcher’s voice broke through.
“Mercer residence, respond.”
Nathan pressed the transmitter. “This is Dr. Nathan Mercer. Multiple intruders are attempting entry. Three children are inside. One requires medical transport.”
The response dissolved into static.
Rosa pointed toward the hallway.
A faint light moved beneath the basement door.
Someone was inside the house.
Nathan took the emergency medical bag and handed Rosa the radio.
“Stay with the children.”
“What are you doing?”
“Locking the stairwell.”
“You are not going down there.”
“My grandfather installed a secondary barrier.”
“Nathan.”
“If they reach the main floor, we lose control of the house.”
He moved through the hallway without waiting for an answer.
At the end stood a heavy oak door leading to the basement stairs. Nathan opened the wall panel beside it and pulled a red lever. Metal bolts slid into place below, sealing a second door at the bottom of the stairwell.
A man struck it from the other side.
Nathan stepped back.
A voice came through the wood.
“Dr. Mercer, we are here to retrieve abducted children.”
Nathan recognized the speaker as the man Rosa had seen at the hospital.
“Identify yourself.”
“Federal child recovery contractor.”
“Give me your agency number.”
Silence.
“Open the door,” the man said.
“Police are on the way.”
“No, they aren’t.”
Another impact struck the lower barrier.
Nathan returned to the living room.
Lily had opened the edge of one baby’s blanket and was searching the stitching.
“It isn’t here,” she said.
“What isn’t?”
“The page.”
Nathan knelt beside her. “You said your mother hid it in one of the blankets.”
“She changed the blankets at the cabin.”
“Why?”
“One got wet.”
“Where is the original?”
Lily squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember.
“Mommy put it in a black bag.”
“Did she keep the bag?”
“No. She gave it to someone.”
“Who?”
Lily looked at Rosa.
“The nurse from the hospital.”
Rosa’s face went pale.
“Describe her.”
“She had dark hair. She wore a silver bird around her neck.”
Rosa reached beneath her scrub top and pulled out her necklace.
A small silver hummingbird rested against her palm.
Lily stared at it.
“That one.”
Rosa shook her head. “I have never met your mother.”
But Nathan remembered what Rosa had said earlier.
A frightened woman had come to the emergency department asking about two children.
She had left before security could question her.
“What happened to the woman you saw yesterday?” Nathan asked.
“I told you. She disappeared.”
“Did she give you anything?”
“No.”
“Did she come close to you?”
Rosa’s hand moved toward the pocket of her winter coat hanging near the door.
She searched it.
May you like
Her fingers closed around an object.
When she pulled it out, she was holding a small black key.
