Dawn

by Aleatha Romig

  “May I suggest,” I said, “either of your mothers? I know the judge didn’t raise a baby, but I bet she knows stuff. Rebecca raised you, and there’s always Madeline.”

  Araneae nodded. “I’m sure I’ll talk to my mothers. I do plan on watching and helping Madeline to learn.”

  My phone buzzed. When I looked up, my chest was as full of excitement as it had been all day. “Ruby is on her way up.” There was another message. “And Renita is waiting in the garage,” I said to the other two ladies.

  We all hurried from the nursery to the large staircase. As we reached the first floor of the penthouse, we heard the elevator open. All three of us slowed as we stepped back, allowing Sparrow an open path. Ruby was cradled in his arms, her knees bent and face against his chest. Her eyes were closed.

  “Oh,” Araneae said, her fingers going to her lips. “Is she going to be all right?”

  Sparrow’s gaze met his wife’s. “I won’t accept any other answer to that question except yes.”

  The determination in his voice echoed through the marble entry as he began the ascent up the staircase. Araneae was a step behind, explaining what room she had prepared. Their voices disappeared beyond the second-floor balcony.

  My attention went to my husband. “Why?”

  His head shook.

  “Was it the same people who took us?”

  “We don’t fucking know. Mason chased down the person who had Ruby’s shoes.”

  “You heard from him?” Laurel said, gripping the bottom of the banister as she took a small step backward.

  “Sparrow did. I really don’t know much.” Reid stepped toward Laurel. “I’m sorry we didn’t notify you. We do know he’s on his way back.”

  Her blue eyes shone up at him as she nodded. “Thank you. I’ve been...” She didn’t finish the sentence.

  Reid smiled. “What you said earlier is true; Mason takes his role as everyone’s protector seriously. I hope he learned something that will help.”

  The sound of the elevator again garnered our attention. This was the reason we hadn’t followed the Sparrows upstairs. We turned as Renita stepped out of the elevator. Based upon her casual clothing, I believed we’d interrupted her in a moment of rare time off.

  “Where is she?” Dr. Dixon asked.

  “Upstairs,” I replied. “We’ll take you up there.”

  “What do you know about her?” she asked as we began climbing the stairs.

  “I don’t know anything” —I turned back to Laurel— “can you fill her in?”

  Laurel began recounting the story that Ruby had been with her parents, the anesthesiologist asked her and Patrick to step out. She received a text message and kissed Patrick and said she’d be back. He knew they were surrounded by Sparrows.

  “It appeared as though the text was from Sparrow,” Reid said, bringing up the rear of our train.

  My gaze went to his. “Appeared? It wasn’t, though.”

  “No. It was a blocked number. I have traced it to a disposable phone purchased at a convenient mart near Northwestern’s campus.”

  “That’s near the Women’s Hospital,” Renita said. “Not very helpful.”

  “No, especially since it was bought with cash. I’m working on accessing their security to see if I can find the transaction. I do have a time stamp.”

  “We believe,” Laurel went on, “Ruby was rendered unconscious and removed from the hospital via ambulance. I’m going to help Reid continue to search the footage of the hospital to see if we can figure out how she was taken right past Sparrows standing guard.”

  Renita stilled as we all congregated on the landing above the first-floor entry. “Sadly, there are many patients wheeled around the hallways of hospitals. If the kidnapper was properly dressed and had a badge, there wouldn’t be much question.”

  “Badge?” Reid asked.

  “Yes, most doors including shipping docks and ambulance bays require a badge to activate the doors. No one is just wheeling a patient from a hospital without passing security.”

  “Lorna,” my husband said softly. “Sweetheart, I’m going back to 2. I have an idea.”

  “Do you mind if I come too after I see Ruby?” Laurel asked.

  “Honestly, I’m happy to have your help.”

  Laurel smiled. “I’m happy I can.”

  As Reid turned to go back down the stairs, I looked to Laurel. “You know, we’re a bit jealous. I’ve lived here a lot longer and I’ve only seen a small bit of 1 and less of 2.”

  “Lorna, you’re always doing so much for everyone. I’m just happy I can do something—anything.”

  We all came to a stop outside the room that was Ruby’s temporary place to stay. As Araneae tended to Ruby, Sparrow was the first to notice us as he stood back away from the bed with his arms crossed over his chest. “Doctor.”

  Renita went into the room.

  “Thank you.”

  “Wait until you get my bill.”

  Sparrow’s stoic expression cracked as a smile crept across his face. “I am grateful.”

  “I know that. Now, Laurel was filling in some blanks. What can you tell me?”

  Quietly, I stepped in, Sparrow and Renita’s conversation fading into the background as I sat on the far edge of the bed. Araneae was gently clearing Ruby’s long dark hair away from her face.

  “She looks like she is sleeping,” I said.

  Araneae nodded.

  “Ladies and Mr. Sparrow,” Renita said, “if you’ll give me a little time alone with Ruby.”

  We all nodded as we stepped away and Araneae closed the door.

  Araneae turned to Sparrow. “I sent Patrick a picture, so he knows she’s safe.”

  He nodded. “Any news on the baby?”

  “No.” The answer came from all of us.

  “Patrick texted me over an hour” —he looked at his watch— “over two hours ago and said it was soon.”

  “Babies have their own schedule,” Laurel said with a grin.

  Reid

  “Would you mind going through the hospital security videos?” I asked Laurel. “The area outside their hospital room is useless, but they had to get her from there down to an ambulance bay. I’m going to work on what Renita said. I think I can access all the badge readers throughout the hospital.”

  Laurel nodded as she sat at Mason’s desk and resumed the task she’d started earlier in the day. For nearly the next hour, we worked in unison. Laurel took notes with time stamps and locations when she saw anyone on a gurney. I began a program that could cross-reference those times with doors restricting entry. Those weren’t simply outside doors. Doors to enter the wing where Madeline was situated required a badge or a code. Doors to the actual obstetrics unit required a badge or code. The more I searched, the more I realized that every room, including supply closets, required some form of identification.

  “Have you worked in hospitals?” I asked.

  Laurel looked up from her notes and the screen. “I’ve had privileges at the university hospitals in Indianapolis. It was a teaching medical center.”

  “Northwestern is the same.”

  “Yes.”

  “How does that differ from nonteaching hospitals?”

  Laurel stood and made her way to the coffee machine. After inspecting the available pods, she reached for one with a sigh.

  “Are we missing something?”

  “There’s no decaf.”

  “How do you think we maintain our schedule? It’s not with decaffeinated coffee.”

  As she waited for the coffee to sputter out its magic liquid, Laurel contemplated my question. “There are more people at a learning hospital. For example, I had privileges, but I didn’t see patients. I was on-site in more of a facilitator role. I oversaw the interns’ interaction with their patients. Now, I’ll admit, I considered many of those patients mine in the sense that I wanted the best care possible, but my role was to see that the students provided the best care.”

  “Yet you
had the same access that others had.”

  Laurel nodded. “You’re looking into badges. Each one on the medical campus where I worked was unique. For example, I was working with patients in the mental health sector.”

  “If your badge would have shown up in obstetrics...?” I left the question open-ended.

  “Yes,” she said, gathering her cup of fresh coffee. “I think it would have worked, but it would have activated a red flag.” As she again situated herself at her husband’s workstation, Laurel reconsidered. “I take that back. There were more restricted areas. In mental health that included access to medications. A student couldn’t access Schedule 3 or stronger medications without the presence of a prescribing medical doctor.”

  “So their badge wouldn’t allow them access?”

  “Right.”

  “And the unit which Madeline occupies was restricted. That would mean that not every student or staff member would be able to enter.”

  “Right.” Laurel turned toward the screen. “This supply closet has been bothering me.” She pointed to the screen. “It isn’t filled with brooms, if you ask me. See the scanner?”

  Getting up from my chair, I moved closer. “Yes. It’s pretty basic.”

  “And that door is closed right up until someone put this hallway camera on a loop. When the loop ends, the closet door isn’t shut tight.”

  “They don’t lock up brooms and mops?”

  Laurel shrugged. “I can’t answer that for sure. In my experience, the answer would be no. It would depend on what cleaning solutions are present. Even so, this door is restricted. My gut is saying that whoever took Ruby did so while accessing this closet. I don’t know if they took her inside it or they were hiding within, waiting for the right moment.”

  I took a deep breath. “Either way, they had access.”

  “Can you find the data for this closet?”

  “I sure as fuck can try.”

  I couldn’t be sure how much time had passed. I’d compiled a list of badge numbers that had accessed that particular closet in the last ten hours. I’d cross-referenced it with badges that had entered the unit. They didn’t all match. My mind told me there were practical reasons for that discrepancy. As an example, I often entered 2 with one of the other men. One of us scanned our palm or retina for entry and two or more of us entered. We had no way to record each person, only the one who used the scanner. In other words, the kidnapper could have entered the secure unit at the same time as someone else. That made sense for entering the wing, not the closet. The first person would most definitely realize they weren’t alone in a closet.

  “I think I found something,” Laurel said. “Here. The time stamp is 12:04. See this orderly wheeling this gurney out to a waiting ambulance. And there’s a paramedic waiting.”

  Quickly, I reviewed the footage Marsha and Sam had sent us. “The number on the back of the ambulance where they found Ruby was forty-eight.”

  “Bingo,” Laurel said with a grin. As she did, the steel door opened, and her husband entered. Laurel stood and ran toward Mason. He caught her mid-lunge as her arms wrapped around his shoulders.

  “Hi,” he said after they separated, a tired grin on his face as he hung up his jacket. “I didn’t expect to see you down here.”

  “Laurel’s been helping,” I replied. “Sparrow gave her entry, and I’m recruiting.” Laurel smiled in my direction. “It just so happens that she’s perfect for the job of detective.”

  Mason tugged his wife closer and laid a kiss on the top of her head. “My doc is perfect for anything she puts her mind to.”

  Laurel took a step back and swatted Mason’s arm. “Return my damn calls.”

  His smile morphed to a guilty smirk. “I was going to after I got back here.” He walked near his workstation. The picture on the screen caught his attention. “That’s him.”

  “Him who?” she asked.

  “The man who had us speeding down I-90.”

  “Suicide or assisted?” I asked.

  “Tomayto-tomahto. I heard you sent Garrett to check.” Mason pulled up a second chair and sat. Leaning back, he stretched his arms over his head before relaxing them. “Cleanup crew was Sparrow’s idea.”

  It wasn’t really a question, but I nodded.

  “Not necessary,” he went on. “I left the scene as clean as it needed to be.”

  “Did he have ID on him when you got to him?”

  Standing, Mason went to the jacket he’d taken off as he entered the floor and hung on a series of hooks. Next, he pulled out a plastic bag. “It’s all here.”

  “The gun?”

  “His. Technically, legit suicide. We got the information we could from him” —he looked my way— “I’ll share more when Sparrow gets down here. We gave him the choice to let his employer know he compromised the situation or take another alternative.”

  “Oh my,” Laurel said, “so he killed himself?”

  “Doooc,” Mason said, elongating the nickname. “He knew it was an easier road than what would have happened if his employer found out he fucked up.”

  “What did he fuck up?” I asked.

  “I have it all in the evidence room on 1. In the car was a box lined with a special polymer. I think it is how they blocked the signal of Lorna and Araneae’s shoes.” Mason tilted his chin toward my computer station. “Look and see if you see Ruby’s shoes and phone on 1.”

  I pulled up the GPS. “No.”

  “I want to do some more investigation on what they’re using.” Mason ran his fingers through his hair. “The box was in the back seat. If the kid had used it, we wouldn’t have been able to follow. To give the kid a break, he was fucking freaked out. I don’t think he knew what he signed up to do. It was just some extra cash. Once we caught up to him, he tried to run.” Mason laughed. “He pulled the fuck over and bolted into a damn field. Fucking playing tag in a cornfield.” Mason shook his hair. “Damn tassels shed everywhere.”

  The steel door opened. “Welcome back. How was Indiana?”

  “Didn’t quite make it that far.”

  “What made you turn around?” Sparrow asked.

  “Jimmy boy had strict instructions to take Ruby’s shoes and phone to a drop-off. The closer we got to that drop-off, the more my gut was telling me not to go. With just Romero and me and no other backup, I had the feeling” —his green gaze came to me— “it was a trap. The kid did his job. I’m starting to believe that his getting caught was part of the plan. I decided that the two of us weren’t walking into an ambush.”

  Sparrow nodded and looked at Laurel. “Thank you for your help down here. In case you want a break, Ruby is awake and talking to her parents.”

  Laurel stood. “Oh, that’s great news.”

  Sparrow smiled. “Ruby wanted to meet her little brother in person, but seeing him via FaceTime is the next best thing.”

  “He’s born?” I’m not certain if one or all of us asked at the same time.

  Sparrow turned to me and Mason. “They didn’t call earlier because they wanted Ruby to be the first one to meet him. It sounds like they’ll release Madeline tomorrow or the next day. When they do, the fucking flock of Sparrows around them will be so goddamned thick, no one is getting close to the Kellys.”

  “Do we have a name?” Laurel asked as she stood near the steel door.

  Sparrow shrugged. “It’s not one I’d pick, but Ruby was excited.”

  All of our attention was on Sparrow.

  “Well?” Mason encouraged.

  “Edward Oleg Kelly.”

  We all scoffed.

  “Fucking rolls off the tongue,” Mason said as Laurel disappeared beyond the steel door.

  “Now, give me the details you didn’t want to say in front of your wife,” Sparrow ordered.

  Lorna

  “What can I get for you?” I asked as Ruby laid her iPad on the bed.

  Her blue eyes glistened. “I wanted to be there.”

  Araneae reached for her hand. “I’m
so sorry, Ruby. I know there’s nothing we can do to make that up to you, but you’ll be the first one to hold Edward when he gets home.”

  “Why did this happen? Why?”

  Araneae and I looked at one another with the same uncertainty in our eyes. When she didn’t speak, I tried to articulate what truly had no good answer. “There isn’t a good reason. Why were your aunt and I taken? All we can say is that we’re all happy that you’re home and unharmed.”

  Ruby pulled the covers higher over her chest. “I’m scared. What if that would happen when I’m away at school and Uncle Sterling or my dad couldn’t get help to me fast enough?”

  I sat on the other edge of the queen-size bed and smoothed the comforter beneath my palm. “Ruby, do you remember what you said to me after Araneae and I came back from Montana?”

  “To talk to people.”

  “Exactly,” I said, “talk to us or your mom or dad. I can’t promise any of us have answers, but we can all talk and more importantly listen.”

  She shrugged her slender shoulder. “I remember getting the text from Uncle Sterling. I now know it wasn’t from him, but I guess I wasn’t thinking. I was so excited for the baby.” She grinned. “He has a name. Edward.” Her chin fell to her chest as a tear streamed down her cheek.

  “Ruby,” Araneae said, “it’s okay to be disappointed. It’s not okay to focus on that. Your brother is healthy and will be home as soon as the doctors discharge him and your mom.”

  “I wish I could go back to the hospital.” She dabbed her eyes with the corner of her sheet. “I hate living in a cage.”

  My chest inflated as I inhaled, wondering how many times I’d thought the same thing. “You don’t.”

  Her head fell back to the headboard. “Sometimes it feels like it. Why can’t we just be normal?”

  “Because we’re not,” Araneae answered. “None of us are. You’re not. Your mom and dad aren’t. And do you know why that’s a good thing?”

  “Why?”

  “Because if we were all normal, your parents wouldn’t have found each other again.”

  “Maybe if we were normal,” Ruby replied, “they never would have been separated.”