Chapter 13 - ROOM B-17
Saint Catherine's Hospital had been abandoned for twelve years.
Police entered before dawn.
Daniel was ordered to remain outside.
He refused until Ruiz threatened to remove him.
Twenty-three minutes later, officers found Room B-17.
Rebecca Lane was inside.
Alive.
Barely.
She was dehydrated.
Thin.
And terrified of every male voice she heard.
But Noah was not there.
At the hospital, Rebecca woke that afternoon.
Emily sat beside her.
When Rebecca saw Victor's daughter, she turned away.
"I'm not him."
Emily whispered.
Rebecca looked back.
"I know."
Daniel entered carefully.
"I'm Daniel Vance."
Rebecca studied him.
"Claire's husband."
"Not for much longer."
Rebecca almost smiled.
Then she whispered.
"Noah?"
Daniel told the truth.
"We're still looking."
Rebecca began crying.
"I told him nothing."
"I swear."
Daniel sat beside her.
"You protected your son for six years."
Rebecca looked ashamed.
"I let him think I was dead."
"You were imprisoned."
"Before that."
She stared at the blanket.
"When I discovered Victor's accounts, I knew he would come after Noah."
"So I disappeared."
"Victor found me eight months later."
"He's kept me hidden ever since."
Daniel asked.
"Why didn't he kill you?"
"Because he never believed there was only one copy."
Emily nodded.
"He was right."
Rebecca looked at her.
"The master file?"
"Police have it."
Rebecca exhaled.
Then her face changed.
"Which master file?"
Everyone froze.
Emily pulled up the memory card directory.
Rebecca stared at it.
"No."
"That's the financial archive."
Daniel felt a chill.
"There's another?"
Rebecca nodded.
"The insurance file."
"What insurance file?"
"The one proving how Victor makes problems disappear."
Emily looked sick.
Rebecca continued.
"Deaths that looked natural."
"Accidents."
"Overdoses."
"Falls."
"Medical emergencies."
Daniel thought of his mysterious symptoms.
"Names?"
"Hundreds."
"Where is it?"
Rebecca closed her eyes.
"I gave it to Noah's father."
"But he died."
"He hid it before they killed him."
"Where?"
Rebecca looked at Daniel.
"Inside something a child would keep forever."
Daniel thought of the dollhouse again.
Rebecca shook her head.
"Not Sophie's."
"Noah's."
Daniel asked.
"What?"
Rebecca whispered.
"His music box."
Daniel remembered seeing Noah holding a wooden music box at Melissa's house.
Then Ruiz's phone rang.
He listened.
His expression hardened.
"What happened?"
Ruiz looked at Daniel.
"Claire Vance was attacked in custody."
Daniel felt no sympathy.
But then Ruiz continued.
"She survived."
"Before losing consciousness, she wrote something in blood on the floor."
Daniel's stomach tightened.
"What?"
Ruiz showed him the photograph.
Three letters.
M.
H.
C.
Emily whispered.
"Marcus Hale?"
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
Rebecca stared at the letters.
Her face filled with terror.
"I know what that means."
"What?"
"Mercy Hill Cemetery."
Daniel looked at her.
May you like
Rebecca whispered.
"That's where Noah's father is buried."
