Chapter 10 - THE SERVICE ELEVATOR
Emergency lights flashed red.
Maya pushed a chair beneath the door handle.
The nurse outside stopped pretending.
She struck the door with her shoulder.
“Open it.”
Maya held Noah against her chest.
His breathing was still fragile.
He began wheezing from fear.
“Please,” Maya whispered.
“Not again.”
The door shook.
Then came a heavy crash.
The chair moved two inches.
Maya grabbed Noah’s inhaler from the bedside table.
This time, it was where it belonged.
She gave him the prescribed dose.
His breathing steadied slightly.
Outside, someone shouted.
Police officers rushed into the hallway.
The nurse ran toward the service elevator.
Detective Ortiz was on the phone with hospital security.
“Seal every exit.”
Ryan drove toward the hospital with an officer.
He could hear everything through Maya’s open call.
Footsteps.
Commands.
Noah crying.
Then a gunshot-like sound cracked through the line.
Ryan’s heart stopped.
It was not a gun.
It was a fire extinguisher striking the stairwell door.
Angela Reed forced her way into the service corridor.
She reached the basement.
A black sedan waited near the loading entrance.
Police blocked the gate.
The driver abandoned the vehicle and ran.
Angela was arrested beside the elevator.
Inside her bag, officers found a pediatric sedative.
A forged transfer order.
And a photograph of Noah.
Evelyn was not with her.
Ryan reached Maya’s room.
He opened the door.
Maya stood beside the bed holding Noah.
Her face was pale.
Her hands shook.
Ryan embraced them both.
For the first time, Maya did not pull away.
But she did not relax either.
Detective Ortiz entered several minutes later.
“Angela is talking.”
Ryan turned.
“What did she say?”
“She claims Evelyn promised to pay off her debts.”
“Where is my mother?”
“She doesn’t know.”
“Then what does she know?”
Ortiz looked toward Maya.
“She says Evelyn had another person inside this family.”
Ryan frowned.
“What person?”
Angela had only provided a title.
May you like
Not a name.
She called the person “the guardian.”
