Chapter 7 - HAWTHORNE
Police did not storm Hawthorne immediately.
That nearly drove Alexander insane.
Keller explained why.
Satellite surveillance showed six vehicles.
At least eight armed guards.
Possible medical staff.
And one woman believed to be Elena.
A direct assault could endanger her and the baby.
Alexander paced the command room.
“So we wait?”
“We plan.”
“Every hour matters.”
“I know.”
“You don’t.”
Keller stared him down.
“I have spent twenty-two years bringing kidnapped people home.”
“I know exactly what one hour means.”
Alexander stopped.
She continued.
“If you go there angry, Julian wins.”
That night, a camera drone captured a woman walking briefly between two buildings.
Long dark hair.
Pregnant.
Escorted by two men.
Alexander watched the ten-second clip repeatedly.
“Elena.”
Daniel placed a hand on his shoulder.
“She’s alive.”
For the first time, rescue felt possible.
Then the drone footage showed something else.
Nathan’s vehicle approaching the estate.
He had gone to Hawthorne alone.
Keller frowned.
“He knows the location.”
Alexander understood.
“He’s going after Julian.”
That could destroy everything.
Nathan entered through the rear gate.
For twenty minutes, nothing happened.
Then one guard ran toward the main building.
Another vehicle moved.
A gunshot was heard through surveillance audio.
Keller made the decision.
“Go.”
Police teams moved.
Alexander remained at the command post because Keller threatened to have him physically removed if he interfered.
I stayed there too.
I still do not fully understand how I became part of it.
Maybe because Sophie had started everything.
Maybe because Keller trusted my ability to monitor multiple camera feeds.
Or maybe because once you see someone trapped inside a nightmare, leaving becomes difficult.
Body cameras streamed fragmented images.
Hallway.
Kitchen.
Empty bedroom.
Medical equipment.
Two detained guards.
Then shouting.
“Female located!”
Alexander moved toward the monitor.
A body-camera image showed a woman crouched behind a locked bathroom door.
Not Elena.
A nurse.
She was terrified.
Keller’s officer asked.
“Where is the pregnant woman?”
The nurse pointed toward another building.
“Delivery suite.”
“She went into labor.”
Alexander froze.
“How long?”
The officer repeated the question.
The nurse answered.
“An hour ago.”
Three weeks early.
Keller radioed the entry team.
“Medical building now.”
Then another body camera showed Nathan.
He was on the floor near a staircase.
Bleeding from his shoulder.
Alive.
Police detained him.
Nathan shouted.
“Julian took her!”
“Where?”
“The tunnel!”
Keller looked at the property map.
There was no tunnel.
Nathan yelled again.
“Under the chapel!”
Officers rushed toward a small stone building.
Inside, they found a concealed staircase.
Alexander watched officers descend.
The video became unstable.
Concrete walls.
Old pipes.
A corridor.
Then a door.
Locked.
Police forced it open.
Empty.
At the far end was an exterior exit leading into forest.
Tire tracks disappeared toward a service road.
Julian had escaped with Elena.
Again.
Alexander kicked a chair.
This time Keller did not stop him.
Then the detained nurse said something through the radio.
“The baby.”
Keller answered.
“What about the baby?”
The nurse shook her head.
“She hasn’t delivered yet.”
Alexander looked relieved for half a second.
Then the nurse continued.
“But Julian has medication.”
“What medication?”
“Something Dr. Mercer supplied.”
Mercer, who was already in custody, was immediately questioned.
His answer terrified everyone.
The drug could accelerate labor.
Used correctly, it was medically legitimate.
Used outside a controlled setting, it could be dangerous.
Julian was out of time.
He no longer cared about keeping Elena comfortable.
He wanted the baby born.
Police interrogated Nathan at the estate.
At first he refused to speak unless Alexander came to him.
Keller allowed a monitored conversation.
Nathan sat handcuffed in an ambulance.
His shoulder had been bandaged.
Alexander stood several feet away.
“Where did he take her?”
Nathan looked at him with open hatred.
“You don’t deserve her.”
Alexander nearly walked away.
Keller shook her head.
Nathan continued.
“She waited for you.”
“I know.”
“Every day.”
“I know.”
“She still defended you.”
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
“Where is she?”
Nathan looked toward the woods.
“I tried to stop him.”
“Then help me finish it.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“You think you’re the hero now?”
“No.”
Alexander stepped closer.
“I’m the husband who failed to find her for three years.”
Nathan seemed surprised by the admission.
Alexander continued.
“I will live with that.”
“But if you ever cared about Elena at all, tell me where Julian took her.”
Nathan looked down.
For the first time, the obsession disappeared from his face.
He simply looked tired.
“He has a train car.”
Keller frowned.
“What?”
“Old private rail line.”
“It runs through the western edge of the property.”
“Where does it go?”
Nathan answered.
“To a freight junction.”
“From there he can reach three states without touching a highway.”
Keller immediately radioed state authorities.
Alexander asked.
“Which direction?”
Nathan looked him in the eyes.
“He told Cynthia once that if everything failed, he would go back to where the Whitmore family began.”
Daniel, standing behind Alexander, whispered.
“Pennsylvania.”
Alexander turned.
Daniel nodded.
“Your grandfather’s first steel mill.”
The abandoned Whitmore mill sat outside Pittsburgh.
Hundreds of miles away.
May you like
And an old private rail spur connected almost directly to the Hawthorne property.
Julian had planned his escape years before anyone knew they were chasing him.
