PART 5
I couldn’t move.
My baby’s photograph was still glowing on the screen.
Someone had him.
Someone inside this hospital.
And they wanted me to come alone.
Mark grabbed my arm.
“Don’t go.”
I pulled away.
“You just told me you had no choice.”
“I lied.”
Those two words stopped me.
Mark looked broken.
“I knew they were watching us. I knew something like this might happen.”
“Who are they?”
“I don’t know everyone involved.”
“Then tell me what you do know.”
He looked at Judy.
She slowly nodded.
Mark took a breath.
“Your first baby wasn’t supposed to die.”
My chest tightened.
“I know.”
“No,” he whispered. “You don’t understand. The doctors didn’t lose him.”
He pointed toward the photograph.
“They took him because he was part of a plan that started before you ever entered this hospital.”
I stared at him.
“What plan?”
Mark reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny key.
“There is an old maternity wing beneath this building. It’s been closed for years.”
Judy whispered, “That’s where they’re keeping him.”
I immediately headed for the door.
Mark followed.
“No. I’m coming with you.”
“The message said alone.”
“Then we’ll make them think you came alone.”
We slipped through a service corridor while the hospital remained in chaos.
The farther we walked, the colder it became.
Finally, we reached a metal door.
Mark inserted the key.
CLICK.
The door opened.
Beyond it was a dark hallway lined with abandoned rooms.
Then we heard something.
A baby crying.
My heart nearly stopped.
“That’s him.”
I ran toward the sound.
At the end of the hallway was a room with a small window in the door.
I looked inside.
A woman was standing beside a hospital crib.
She slowly turned around.
Even after six years, I knew that face.
My sister.
Emily.
She smiled sadly.
“Hello, Anna.”
I covered my mouth.
“Emily…”
She walked toward the door.
“I know you have a thousand questions.”
“Where is my son?”
She pointed toward the crib.
“He is safe.”
I rushed inside and grabbed my baby.
He was crying, but alive.
I held him against my chest and sobbed.
Then Emily said something that made me freeze.
“Your husband didn’t betray you.”
I looked at Mark.
Emily continued.
“He’s been trying to expose them for years.”
“Who?”
She looked directly at Judy.
Judy stepped backward.
Emily whispered:
“The people who arranged your emergency delivery.”
Judy’s face went white.
Then the lights suddenly came on.
Behind us, the metal door slammed shut.
And a man’s voice came over the speaker.
“Thank you for bringing all three of them together.”
Mark grabbed my hand.
Emily looked terrified.
Because apparently…
we had walked straight into a trap.
PART 6 — TO BE CONTINUED…
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