Chương 12
Victoria stared at the photograph until the letters blurred.
A nurse reached for the phone.
“Victoria, I need you to put that down.”
She tightened her fingers around it.
“Give me ten seconds.”
The nurse looked toward Dr. Shah.
Dr. Shah was checking the fetal tracing and did not argue.
Victoria enlarged the image.
The little girl was thin, dark-haired, and unsmiling.
Behind her, the blue Oldsmobile sat beside a low concrete building with corrugated metal doors.
A white number had been painted above one of them.
317.
Victoria’s pulse jumped.
She forwarded the photograph to Detective Ortiz and Mara.
Then she sent it to Chloe with two words.
Stay inside.
A reply came almost immediately.
Who sent this?
Victoria typed, Unknown number.
Chloe answered, I’m with police.
The contraction hit before Victoria could respond.
Her hand closed around the side rail.
Dr. Shah moved closer.
“Don’t fight it.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
Victoria almost laughed, but the pain took the breath from her.
By the time it released, sweat had gathered along her hairline.
Dr. Shah checked her again.
“You’re progressing.”
“How fast?”
“Fast enough that I don’t want you worrying about anything outside this room.”
Victoria looked at the phone.
“That’s not possible.”
“I know.”
Dr. Shah’s expression softened.
“But you can choose what gets your attention for the next hour.”
Victoria turned her head toward the monitor.
Her daughter’s heartbeat raced steadily through the room.
That sound became a rope.
She held onto it.
Her phone vibrated again.
Detective Ortiz.
Victoria answered.
“What did you find?”
Ortiz did not waste time.
“We confirmed the photograph appears to show the old Hawthorne storage facility.”
“Unit 317?”
“Yes.”
“Where is Julian?”
“We’re trying to locate him.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“He’s going there.”
“We don’t know that.”
“He asked Chloe for the key.”
“We know.”
“Then why aren’t you stopping him?”
“Because we don’t have his location yet.”
The answer enraged her because it was reasonable.
Ortiz continued.
“Do you know whether his vehicle has a tracking service?”
“Company SUV.”
“What model?”
Victoria told her.
“Bellweather fleet account?”
“Yes.”
“We’re contacting your fleet manager.”
Victoria frowned.
“At five in the morning?”
“Someone answered.”
She pictured poor Daniel Ko, who managed vehicles and complained constantly that executives treated maintenance alerts like suggestions.
“Can he locate it?”
“Potentially.”
The word made Victoria grit her teeth.
Ortiz heard it.
“I’m not going to promise you more than we have.”
“Fine.”
“There’s something else.”
Victoria opened her eyes.
“What?”
“The unknown number that sent the photograph also sent the same image to Mara.”
“So?”
“It came from a prepaid phone.”
“That tells us nothing.”
“Not quite.”
Ortiz paused.
“The phone connected to a tower near this hospital.”
Victoria looked toward the closed door.
“Someone here sent it?”
“Near here.”
“Eleanor?”
“We don’t know.”
Victoria almost said the family motto.
She did not have the energy.
Ortiz asked, “Has anyone else contacted you?”
“No.”
“Do not respond to the unknown number.”
“I already forwarded the image.”
“That’s fine.”
Another contraction began.
Victoria sucked in a breath.
Ortiz heard the change.
“I’ll let you go.”
“Find Julian.”
“We’re trying.”
The call ended.
Victoria handed the phone to the nurse.
“Put it where I can see it but can’t reach it easily.”
The nurse gave her a look of approval she had not requested.
“Excellent plan.”
“It’s temporary.”
“Still counts.”
For the next forty minutes, the world narrowed.
Pain.
Breathing.
The monitor.
Dr. Shah’s voice.
A nurse named Alison who smelled faintly of peppermint.
A paper cup of ice chips that Victoria kept forgetting to use.
Between contractions, she stared at the ceiling tiles and noticed one was slightly darker than the others.
She wondered whether hospitals replaced ceiling tiles individually or in batches.
The thought was useless and merciful.
Then the phone rang.
Alison looked at it.
“Chloe.”
Victoria held out her hand.
Alison hesitated.
“Thirty seconds.”
Victoria answered.
Chloe’s voice came immediately.
“They found Julian’s SUV.”
“Where?”
“Southbound.”
Victoria’s stomach dropped.
“Toward Laredo?”
“Yes.”
“Is anyone following him?”
“Police are coordinating with highway patrol.”
Chloe sounded breathless.
“Ortiz told me not to leave.”
“Listen to her.”
“I am.”
“Good.”
A pause.
Then Chloe said, “Mom is awake.”
Victoria’s fingers tightened.
“And?”
“She wants to talk to me.”
“Don’t.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
Victoria heard something behind Chloe.
A hospital intercom.
Then Eleanor’s voice, faint but unmistakable.
“Chloe.”
Chloe went silent.
Victoria sat straighter.
“She’s near you?”
“She’s in another treatment room.”
“Why can you hear her?”
“I’m in the hall outside.”
“Why are you in the hall?”
“Because police moved me.”
“Move again.”
“Victoria.”
“Move.”
Chloe lowered her voice.
“She says she sent the picture.”
Victoria went still.
“What?”
Eleanor’s voice came again in the background.
“Tell her.”
Chloe said, “She says she sent it to both you and Mara.”
“How?”
“She had a spare phone in her purse.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Eleanor called, louder, “Because Richard lied about that day.”
Chloe said, “Mom, stop.”
Victoria gripped the phone.
“Put her on speaker.”
“No.”
“Chloe.”
“No.”
Victoria heard Eleanor laugh weakly.
“She still thinks I’m the worst thing in that family.”
Victoria said, “She greased my stairs.”
Eleanor answered from somewhere beyond the phone.
“And I’ll answer for it.”
Chloe moved farther down the hall.
Her breathing was angry.
“I don’t want to be the wire between you two.”
Victoria said, “Then don’t.”
“Great.”
“But tell Detective Ortiz Eleanor sent the photograph.”
“I already did.”
“Good.”
Chloe paused.
Then, quietly, “She says Camille saw something at Hawthorne.”
Victoria looked toward Dr. Shah.
The doctor was checking the monitor again.
“What?”
“She won’t tell me what.”
“Ask her.”
“I did.”
“And?”
“She said Richard would have killed me too if he thought I knew.”
Victoria’s skin went cold.
Chloe continued.
“She also said Julian knows where the rest of the photographs are.”
Victoria stared at the wall.
“Rest?”
“That’s what she said.”
May you like
“Ask her how many.”
“I’m not going back in there.”
