Chapter 10 - The Voice Caroline Had Never Heard)
Caroline replayed the recording repeatedly.
Mommy.
One word.
One voice.
It destroyed whatever caution remained inside her.
“I’m going.”
Agent Reed stood in front of the hospital door.
“No.”
“He has her.”
“We cannot confirm that was Grace.”
Caroline glared at him.
“Then confirm it while I’m moving.”
Dr. Carter stepped closer.
“You could go into labor.”
“Then bring medical equipment.”
“Caroline.”
“My daughter has spent almost three years wondering why her mother never came.”
Dr. Carter looked at her for a long moment.
Then she turned to Reed.
“If she refuses care and leaves against medical advice, you cannot legally imprison her here.”
Reed stared.
“You are not helping.”
“I’m acknowledging reality.”
Caroline looked at Dr. Carter.
“Would you come?”
Dr. Carter closed her eyes.
Then nodded.
“Yes.”
The plan changed.
Caroline would appear to leave voluntarily.
Federal agents would follow covertly.
Her phone would be tracked.
Dr. Carter and Sarah traveled in a medical vehicle several minutes behind.
Caroline changed into loose gray clothes.
The white nightgown from Luke’s attack remained sealed as evidence.
Before leaving, Sarah handed her something.
A small ultrasound photograph.
“Your son,” Sarah said.
Caroline placed it inside her coat.
The first message came at 11:23 p.m.
DRIVE EAST.
A car waited in the hospital parking structure.
Police had inspected it remotely.
No explosive.
No driver.
Keys inside.
Caroline entered.
A phone on the passenger seat rang.
Luke.
“Drive.”
“Let me hear her.”
“Drive.”
Caroline started the engine.
Federal vehicles followed from a distance.
Luke directed her out of the city.
Rain began.
The route became familiar.
Caroline did not understand why at first.
Then she saw the sign.
Brightwell Road.
Her first pregnancy.
The clinic.
The building had been abandoned for years.
Luke instructed her to park behind it.
“Come inside alone.”
Caroline opened the door.
Agent Reed’s voice whispered through a concealed earpiece.
“We have eyes on you.”
Caroline entered.
The old clinic smelled of dust and mold.
Emergency lights had been activated.
One hallway glowed dimly.
“Luke?”
No answer.
She followed the lights.
At the end stood a nursery.
Empty bassinets lined the wall.
Caroline’s stomach turned.
On one bassinet sat the stuffed rabbit Grace had carried in the motel footage.
Caroline rushed forward.
“Grace?”
A speaker crackled.
Luke’s voice.
“You finally made it back.”
“Where is she?”
“Do you remember this room?”
Caroline looked around.
“No.”
“You should.”
A memory flickered.
She was younger.
Dizzy.
Lying on a table.
Someone saying:
It’s better if she doesn’t see.
Caroline gripped the bassinet.
“What happened here?”
Luke laughed through the speaker.
“You wanted to leave me.”
Caroline froze.
“When?”
“The first pregnancy.”
Another memory.
Caroline packing a suitcase.
Luke blocking a bedroom door.
“You’re not taking my baby.”
Then Arthur’s voice.
She had heard Arthur.
Impossible.
He was supposedly dead.
But she remembered.
“If she leaves, the investment is lost.”
Caroline whispered, “Investment.”
Luke spoke.
“My father saved our marriage.”
“You mean controlled it.”
“He understood what mattered.”
“You killed my first baby.”
“No.”
Luke’s answer came immediately.
Caroline stopped.
“What?”
“You keep assuming the same thing.”
“What happened?”
“The baby survived.”
Caroline felt dizzy.
“No.”
“The first child lived too.”
Her legs nearly gave way.
“What?”
Luke continued.
“You never had miscarriages, Caroline.”
She pressed one hand to the wall.
The room seemed to rotate.
“There were two children.”
“Yes.”
“Grace and another baby.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Luke laughed.
“That’s the question you should have asked first.”
Caroline looked toward a dark observation window.
Something moved behind the glass.
She whispered, “Luke?”
A light came on.
A man stood on the other side.
Older.
Silver-haired.
Tall.
Caroline had seen him before.
In a casket.
At a funeral.
May you like
Arthur Miller smiled through the glass.
“Hello, Caroline.”
