CHAPTER 7 — THE NIGHT SOMEONE TRIED TO TAKE THEM
CHAPTER 7 — THE NIGHT SOMEONE TRIED TO TAKE THEM
At 2:17 a.m., the NICU lights went red.
I woke to the sound of an alarm.
For one terrible second, I didn't understand where I was.
Then I saw the incubators.
Noah.
Elise.
And the empty chair where the night nurse had been sitting.
My heart stopped.
I jumped to my feet.
“Elise?”
No answer.
I rushed toward the glass.
The door to the neonatal unit was open.
That was impossible.
It was never supposed to be open.
Not at night.
Not without authorization.
Not without security clearance.
I ran.
“Where are my children?”
A security officer grabbed my arm.
“Mrs. Whitmore, stay behind me.”
“Where are they?”
“We're checking the unit.”
“Where are Noah and Elise?”
He didn't answer.
I pushed past him.
The first incubator was empty.
Noah was gone.
I screamed.
“NOAH!”
The second incubator was empty too.
“ELISE!”
My legs nearly collapsed.
Two nurses rushed toward me.
“Mrs. Whitmore—”
“WHERE ARE MY CHILDREN?”
The entire corridor erupted into chaos.
Doctors ran.
Security officers shouted into radios.
Doors slammed.
I couldn't hear anything except my own heartbeat.
Someone had taken my babies.
My grandfather arrived less than two minutes later.
He didn't look frightened.
He looked furious.
“Lock down the hospital.”
The security chief immediately responded.
“Already initiated.”
“Elevators?”
“Disabled.”
“Parking?”
“Sealed.”
“Helipad?”
“Closed.”
“External roads?”
“Security teams are blocking them.”
My grandfather looked at me.
“Emma.”
“They took them.”
“We'll get them back.”
“You don't know that.”
His face softened.
“We will.”
I shook my head.
“They're premature.”
“I know.”
“They need their machines.”
“I know.”
“They can't survive without them.”
He grabbed my shoulders.
“Emma.”
I looked at him.
“We will find them.”
The cameras were pulled up in the security command center.
Thirty-two screens covered the wall.
At first, nothing made sense.
Then one image appeared.
A nurse entered the NICU.
She pushed a portable incubator.
Another person followed.
A doctor.
Both wore hospital uniforms.
The nurse scanned a badge.
The system accepted it.
The doctor scanned his.
Accepted.
My stomach turned.
“Who are they?”
The security chief enlarged the image.
The nurse was Laura Bennett.
A legitimate employee.
The doctor was Dr. Samuel Price.
Also legitimate.
My grandfather stared.
“Where are they now?”
The security chief checked the cameras.
“Basement level.”
“Why?”
“Because they took the service elevator.”
My grandfather turned.
“Seal the basement.”
The doors locked.
But the elevator had already disappeared from the camera system.
The security chief looked confused.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
“The service elevator isn't connected to the basement cameras.”
My grandfather's expression changed.
“Of course.”
He looked at me.
“Someone built a blind corridor.”
I remembered the locked basement from my grandfather's old estate.
The secret rooms.
The hidden documents.
The things my family had never explained.
Now I understood.
Our family had been preparing for this for generations.
But someone else had been preparing too.
I ran toward the elevator.
My grandfather stopped me.
“You stay here.”
“No.”
“Emma.”
“They're my children.”
“I know.”
“Then let me go.”
He looked at me for several seconds.
Then nodded.
“Michael goes with you.”
The service elevator descended.
The doors opened into darkness.
Michael raised his flashlight.
“Stay behind me.”
I followed.
The corridor smelled like concrete and disinfectant.
We moved quickly.
Then I heard something.
A faint cry.
My heart stopped.
“Noah?”
Another sound.
A tiny whimper.
“Elise.”
I ran.
Michael grabbed my arm.
“Wait.”
We reached a steel door.
Behind it—
someone was speaking.
“Move them carefully.”
“She's going to wake up.”
“Keep her sedated.”
My blood turned cold.
They were alive.
I looked at Michael.
He nodded.
Security officers moved into position.
The door opened.
“POLICE!”
Chaos erupted.
The nurse dropped the medical equipment.
The doctor ran.
Security tackled him.
I rushed toward the incubators.
Noah.
Elise.
Alive.
Still breathing.
I cried so hard I couldn't speak.
A nurse checked them.
“They're stable.”
I pressed my hands against the incubators.
“Oh God.”
My grandfather arrived.
He looked at the captured doctor.
“Who sent you?”
The man refused to answer.
My grandfather walked toward him.
“Who?”
The doctor smiled.
“You're too late.”
My grandfather's eyes narrowed.
“For what?”
The doctor looked at me.
“She's already been taken.”
I froze.
“Who?”
He smiled.
“Your sister.”
I stared at him.
“What did you say?”
He didn't answer.
My grandfather grabbed his collar.
“Who took her?”
The doctor laughed.
“You spent twenty-nine years looking in the wrong place.”
My grandfather's face went pale.
“Where is she?”
The doctor whispered:
“Alive.”
Then he smiled.
“And she's been watching Emma her entire life.”
The police took the doctor into custody.
The nurse broke down and confessed.
She had been paid.
Not by Adrian.
Not by Grant.
Not by Vanessa.
By someone she had never met.
A woman.
The payment had been made through an offshore account.
But the instructions came with one photograph.
My photograph.
And two words:
Take them.
She had been told to remove Noah and Elise from the hospital.
Not kill them.
Not hurt them.
Take them.
I looked at my grandfather.
“Why?”
He didn't answer.
The nurse continued.
“They wanted the babies because of their blood.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“They said the twins carried something rare.”
“Who said that?”
“I don't know.”
“Who paid you?”
“I never saw him.”
“Then how did you receive instructions?”
She pulled a phone from her pocket.
“Through this.”
Michael examined it.
“Encrypted.”
My grandfather looked at the phone.
“Give it to me.”
Michael hesitated.
Then handed it over.
My grandfather typed one command.
The screen unlocked.
I stared.
“How?”
He didn't answer.
A single message appeared.
THEY'RE READY.
Below it was another.
THE THIRD CHILD WILL BE NEXT.
My blood froze.
“Third child.”
My grandfather's face hardened.
“They know.”
“They know about my sister?”
“Yes.”
“Then who is she?”
He didn't answer.
I grabbed his arm.
“Who is my sister?”
He looked at me.
“Her name was Lily.”
“Was?”
“We believed she died.”
“You said she was alive.”
“We don't know that.”
“The doctor said she was.”
“He could have been lying.”
“But why would he know her name?”
My grandfather went silent.
That was enough.
He knew something.
At dawn, the twins were returned to the NICU.
The doctors stabilized them.
They were exhausted but alive.
I sat between them.
I hadn't slept.
I didn't care.
Every time I closed my eyes, I imagined someone taking them again.
I touched Noah's tiny hand.
“You scared Mommy.”
Then Elise.
“You too.”
Their fingers moved.
I smiled through tears.
“I won't let anyone take you.”
My grandfather stood behind me.
“We need to leave.”
I turned.
“Why?”
“Because this hospital is compromised.”
“But it's yours.”
“That doesn't matter.”
I looked around.
Security.
Doctors.
Nurses.
Cameras.
Everything had failed.
Someone had entered a supposedly secure facility.
Someone had accessed restricted systems.
Someone had known exactly where my children were.
And someone had known about Lily.
I nodded.
“Where do we go?”
“Home.”
“My house?”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Your mother's house.”
Three hours later, we arrived at an estate I had never seen before.
It stood outside the city.
Hidden behind tall trees.
A long stone driveway.
Iron gates.
No visible neighbors.
My grandfather unlocked the front door.
I stepped inside.
Everything smelled old.
Dust.
Wood.
And something familiar.
I walked through the hallway.
Photographs covered the walls.
My mother.
My father.
My grandfather.
And me.
But there was something else.
A little girl.
Maybe three years old.
Standing beside my mother.
I stopped.
“Who is that?”
My grandfather didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
The girl had my eyes.
My mother's smile.
And the same small birthmark I had near my shoulder.
I touched the frame.
“Lily.”
My grandfather looked away.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You had pictures.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you hide them?”
“Because your father was searching for her.”
I turned.
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“You said she was dead.”
“We were told she was.”
“By whom?”
He hesitated.
“Your father.”
I felt sick.
“So my father told you she died.”
“Yes.”
“And you believed him?”
“At the time.”
“Why?”
“Because he showed us the body.”
I stared.
“A body?”
“Yes.”
“Whose?”
“We never knew.”
I looked at the photograph again.
“Then Lily could still be alive.”
My grandfather's voice was quiet.
“Yes.”
That evening, Michael arrived with new information.
“We found something.”
“What?”
“The account used to pay the nurse.”
He placed a file on the table.
“It's connected to a company.”
“Whose?”
“Unknown.”
“Then what did you find?”
“The company's registered address.”
I looked at him.
“Where?”
He gave me the address.
My stomach tightened.
It was only a few miles from the estate.
“Who lives there?”
“No one.”
“Then why is it registered?”
Michael opened another page.
“Because it isn't a residence.”
“What is it?”
“A private research facility.”
My grandfather's expression changed.
“Which one?”
Michael looked at him.
“Vale Biomedical.”
Silence.
Adrian.
Again.
I felt my blood run cold.
“Then Adrian is alive.”
My grandfather shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who runs the facility?”
Michael looked at the final document.
“We don't know.”
I stared.
“Find out.”
“We're trying.”
My grandfather stepped toward the window.
“Don't.”
I turned.
“What?”
“Don't go there.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian may not be the person we're looking for.”
“Then who?”
He turned around.
“The man who inherited Adrian's work.”
I frowned.
“Who?”
My grandfather didn't answer.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
No one spoke.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then a woman's voice.
Soft.
Familiar.
“Emma?”
I froze.
My heart stopped.
“Who is this?”
A pause.
Then:
“It's Lily.”
I couldn't breathe.
My grandfather turned toward me.
“What did you say?”
I held the phone tighter.
“Lily?”
The voice trembled.
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because they're listening.”
My heart raced.
“Who?”
She whispered:
“The same people who took Noah and Elise.”
I looked at my children.
“Are you safe?”
“No.”
“Lily, where are you?”
“I've been trying to reach you for years.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“Why didn't you?”
“Because every time I got close…”
She stopped.
“Someone made me disappear.”
“Who?”
Silence.
Then she said:
“Your husband.”
I froze.
“Grant?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“He knew I was alive.”
My grandfather closed his eyes.
Lily continued.
“He found me years ago.”
“Why?”
“To make sure I never came home.”
My hands trembled.
“Where are you now?”
She whispered:
“Inside Vale Biomedical.”
The line went dead.
I stared at the phone.
My grandfather looked at me.
“Don't go.”
I shook my head.
“I have to.”
“Emma.”
“My sister is alive.”
“And someone is holding her.”
“Yes.”
He stepped closer.
“And they know you know.”
I looked at Noah and Elise.
Then at the photograph of Lily.
Then at my grandfather.
“I spent my whole life believing I had no family left.”
My voice steadied.
“I was wrong.”
I picked up my coat.
“I have a sister.”
I looked toward the gates.
“And I'm bringing her home.”
My grandfather didn't stop me.
He simply said:
“Then we're going to war.”
That night, the cameras at Vale Biomedical showed a woman standing alone behind a glass wall.
Lily.
She looked older than the photograph.
But unmistakably—
she had my eyes.
She held a photograph in her hands.
It was one of me.
Taken outside Beacon Crest.
Beside me were Noah and Elise.
She touched the photograph.
Then whispered:
“I'm sorry.”
A man appeared behind her.
“You shouldn't have called her.”
Lily turned.
“You promised you'd let me go.”
He smiled.
“I promised nothing.”
“Why do you want the twins?”
“They're valuable.”
“They're babies.”
“They're heirs.”
Lily stepped back.
“You won't hurt them.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“Because we don't need to hurt them.”
“Then what do you need?”
He looked toward the surveillance screens.
Emma.
Her grandfather.
The twins.
All visible.
“We need Emma to come willingly.”
Lily's face hardened.
“And if she doesn't?”
The man smiled.
“She will.”
He pressed a button.
A live image appeared.
Emma walking toward a waiting vehicle.
The man whispered:
“Because now she knows her sister is alive.”
And somewhere outside the facility, unaware that she was being watched—
I made the decision that would change everything.
I was going to rescue Lily.
I was going to protect my children.
And I was going to find the person who had spent twenty-nine years controlling my family.
But I still didn't know the most terrifying truth.
The man behind Vale Biomedical wasn't Adrian Vale.
It was someone I had trusted.
May you like
Someone who had been standing beside me from the beginning.
Someone who already knew exactly where I would go next.
