Chapter 9 - Under the Bed
The yellow car had been in Lily’s coat pocket.
Hannah had forgotten about it until the child placed it carefully on the floor beside the bed.
Celeste closed the door.
“Where is Dr. Kells?” Lily asked.
“He is attending to your father.”
“Can I see Daddy?”
“When you tell me the truth.”
Lily looked toward the bed.
Hannah pressed herself flat against the floor.
Celeste pulled the child’s chair closer.
“Your mother entered the hospital last night. Did she speak to you?”
“No.”
“Did she give you that toy?”
“No. Daddy did.”
“Your father is not here to protect you.”
“Yes, he is.”
Celeste slapped her hand against the bedside table.
Lily flinched.
“Do not test me.”
Beneath the bed, Hannah gripped the floor until her fingers hurt.
She wanted to crawl out.
She wanted to take Lily and run.
But if they left without finding Michael, Kells might move him or carry out Celeste’s threat.
Lily stood beside the bed, trembling.
“Please,” she whispered. “I don’t know where Mommy is.”
Celeste leaned close.
“Lie again, and you will never see her.”
Hannah covered her mouth.
The yellow car’s red light turned on.
Lily glanced down.
“Mommy didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Then who is she hiding from?”
“People who lie.”
Celeste’s eyes narrowed.
“Your mother drugged your father.”
“No.”
“She caused his crash.”
“No.”
“She entered his room and changed his medication.”
“No!”
The yellow car began to move.
One wheel had been damaged during the courthouse trip. Instead of traveling straight, it curved toward the bed.
It touched Hannah’s sleeve.
She tried to stop it.
Her fingers pushed too hard.
The car rolled out from beneath the frame.
Celeste saw it.
“Then who is hiding under there?”
She bent down.
Hannah’s eyes met hers.
“There you are.”
The struggle lasted only seconds.
Hannah crawled out.
Lily screamed.
Celeste locked the door and called Kells.
When he arrived, Hannah positioned herself between him and Lily.
Kells noticed the blinking toy.
“What has that recorded?”
“Enough,” Hannah replied.
He disconnected the emergency call button and switched off the room’s remaining camera.
Celeste demanded the car.
Hannah refused.
Then Kells made the mistake that destroyed him.
He said, “The child’s statement was supposed to be completed before Michael was moved.”
Hannah glanced at the vent.
Naomi had promised to leave her phone recording inside the tunnel.
But the second red light was not Naomi’s phone.
It belonged to a hospital monitoring device.
The speaker crackled.
Michael’s voice filled the room.
“I heard every word, Mother.”
Celeste turned white.
Kells stumbled backward.
The door unlocked with a mechanical click.
Detective Vale entered first, followed by Naomi, two officers, and a hospital technician.
Lily ran into Hannah’s arms.
Vale placed Celeste under arrest.
Kells raised both hands.
“This is a misunderstanding.”
The speaker activated again.
Michael’s voice was weak but clear.
“No,” he said. “This is attempted murder.”
Hannah looked through the open doorway.
A hospital bed was being rolled from the room across the corridor.
Michael lay beneath a white blanket, thinner and paler than she remembered.
His eyes were open.
Hannah held Lily’s hand and ran to him.
Michael tried to smile.
Lily placed the yellow car beside his pillow.
“I kept it safe, Daddy.”
“I knew you would.”
As officers escorted Celeste from the room, she stopped beside Michael.
“You have no idea what you have done.”
“I stopped you.”
Celeste looked at Hannah.
“No. You opened the door for him.”
“Who?”
Celeste’s expression became almost triumphant.
Before she could answer, Kells broke away from an officer and ran toward the service corridor.
Vale chased him.
A moment later, the lights went out.
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When the emergency lights returned, Kells had vanished.
And so had the yellow toy car.
