Chapter 12 - LILY
Mia gripped the doorway to remain standing.
“No.”
The word came from somewhere deeper than fear.
Marcus ran into the unit.
He saw the open incubator and immediately spoke into his radio.
“Infant abduction.”
“Lock every exterior door.”
“Search all staff.”
Mia pushed past him.
“I’m coming.”
“You just had surgery.”
“That is my daughter.”
A nurse brought a wheelchair.
Mia refused it until the pain nearly dropped her to the floor.
Marcus helped her sit.
Hospital security reviewed the backup camera feed.
A person in scrubs had entered Lily’s room during the network reset.
The intruder used a stolen nurse’s badge.
The figure disconnected Lily’s monitors, wrapped her in a hospital blanket, and placed her inside a portable infant transport carrier.
The person’s face remained hidden.
Mia watched the footage.
“Go back.”
The guard replayed it.
“Stop there.”
She pointed toward the intruder’s wrist.
A thin red scar crossed the skin beneath the glove.
Mia had seen that scar hundreds of times.
“Scarlett.”
Marcus looked at her.
“Scarlett is in custody.”
“Check.”
He called the detention center.
Scarlett had been transported to court that morning.
Her prison van was struck by another vehicle two blocks from the courthouse.
During the confusion, someone wearing a guard’s uniform opened the rear door.
Scarlett escaped.
The collision had occurred forty minutes earlier.
Marcus’s face hardened.
“She took Lily.”
Mia watched the hallway feed.
Scarlett pushed the infant carrier toward a service elevator.
The elevator descended to the basement.
No camera showed her leaving the building.
“She’s still here,” Mia said.
Security teams searched the basement.
They found the abandoned carrier beside the laundry room.
A baby blanket lay inside.
Lily was gone.
Mia lifted the blanket.
Something hard was wrapped in one corner.
A phone began ringing.
Marcus placed it on speaker.
Scarlett’s voice filled the room.
“Mia.”
“Listen carefully.”
“Where is my daughter?”
“She is alive.”
“For now.”
Mia closed her eyes but kept her voice steady.
“What do you want?”
“The audit copy.”
“You don’t have it.”
“You mailed it to Eleanor.”
“She gave it to someone else before Victor took her.”
Scarlett’s breathing became uneven.
“Tell me who has it.”
“No.”
“Then Lily disappears.”
Mia looked at Marcus.
He silently activated a trace.
“You hurt me because you were afraid.”
Mia spoke slowly.
“You took a premature baby from intensive care because you are still afraid.”
Scarlett’s voice sharpened.
“I am not afraid of you.”
“You should be.”
“Because Victor will abandon you the moment you stop being useful.”
The line went silent.
Then Scarlett whispered.
May you like
“He already has.”
The call ended.
