BLOODY BELL

by Jeremy Waldron

  I had asked myself the same question but wasn’t sure we knew enough to have an answer. But when I thought back to what Cameron said about her own experience, there could only be one explanation. “Dr. Andrews must have done it at MHHC.”

  The engine shifted gears and Erin yanked on the wheel as she swerved past a slow commuter bus. Breathing in its exhaust, we discussed the timing of Cameron’s blood work and the need for an ultrasound. “If it wasn’t for Cameron’s original request for emergency contraception, I would have said it was excessive. But maybe it wasn’t?”

  Erin’s spine was straight, her focus on her driving, but her head was somewhere else. “How could she not know an embryo was put inside of her?”

  I felt my stomach harden with thoughts of us crashing before we ever got to the hospital. “MHHC attracts vulnerable women. They’re scared and trust the opinions they are receiving. The women who go there probably don’t ask why a doctor is doing what they are doing as long as it seems legit.”

  “Still,” Erin flicked her gaze in my direction, “she would have had to allow someone access.”

  The hospital came into view and this time we didn’t even bother taking the time to find a parking spot. Erin slammed on the brakes near the front entrance and took the first handicapped space she saw without remorse. We kicked open our doors and booked it up to Cameron’s room.

  The elevator couldn’t travel quickly enough. As soon as we jumped off, I pushed my way past the people filling the busy hallways and continued to pray Campbell assigned an officer to watch over Cameron.

  Rounding the corner at full speed, I heard the soles of my shoes squeak on the floor. When I came within sight of Cameron’s room, my worst nightmares became reality. There was no one standing guard. Her door was cracked open and I wondered if maybe we were too late.

  “Miss, you need to check in at the desk.” A nurse came out of nowhere and chased after me after blowing past the desk. Erin took off in the opposite direction, saying she was going to sweep the halls looking for Wu.

  “I won’t be here long,” I called back to the nurse.

  “That’s not the point.” She grabbed my arm and spun me around. “Visiting hours haven’t started.”

  “You don’t understand.” I pointed a straight arm at Cameron’s door. “The woman in Room 52 is in danger.”

  The nurse squinted her eyes at me. Ms. Dee must have heard my voice because she came flying out of the room. “Samantha? What’s this about?”

  Taking my eyes off the nurse, I swept them over to Ms. Dee. “I think I know who left your daughter for dead.” Air was sucked out of the entire hallway. “It might have been a doctor she knew.”

  “That’s it.” The nurse hurried back to her desk. “I’m calling security.”

  Ms. Dee stood there with wet eyes, wondering if I could be right.

  Ignoring the nurse, I nodded and added, “And I think he might be coming to finish what he started.”

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  “Have any doctors recently stepped foot inside Cameron’s room?”

  Ms. Dee had her arms folded across her chest as she glared at the back of the nurse’s head. She flicked her gaze back to me. “No.”

  A sudden lightness lifted off my chest. Pulling out my phone, I showed Ms. Dee a photo I had saved of Dr. Glenn Wu. “This is the man. Are you sure you haven’t seen him here?”

  Ms. Dee stared into my cell phone’s screen. “I haven’t seen him. But all this talk on the news is making me nervous.”

  We locked eyes and I could see the uncertainty swirling around her dark pinpricks. “What about Campbell; where is he?”

  “He hasn’t come back since he threatened to arrest you.”

  I clenched my jaw and turned my head away. Campbell’s showmanship was grating on my nerves, but I refused to allow my criticism of how he conducted his police work to stop me from making sure Cameron stayed safe. “What has Detective Campbell been telling you?” I asked.

  Ms. Dee dropped her arms and leaned her face closer to me. Shaking her head, she said, “Maybe you can tell me what’s going on because Campbell is keeping me in the dark.”

  I could feel the clock ticking. There wasn’t enough time to explain everything in great detail, but I told Ms. Dee enough for her to understand the importance of speaking to her daughter immediately.

  Without hesitating, Ms. Dee hooked her arm through the crook of mine and tugged me into the room. Cameron met my eye and I smiled. Then I watched her smile fade as she flicked her gaze over my shoulder.

  “That’s her,” I heard the same nurse who threatened me earlier say. “That’s the one.”

  I turned on a heel and saw the nurse pointing directly at me. Her scowl was fierce but not as intimidating as the six-foot-two linebacker security officer she had brought with her.

  “Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” The officer’s heavy boots stopped at the door.

  I debated my options, knowing I had no choice but to stay with Cameron. Ignoring the officer’s calls for me to leave, I said, “I don’t have time for this. Her life is in danger.”

  When the officer stepped for me, Ms. Dee stepped in front of him and blocked his pursuit. “You’re going to let her stay.”

  Everything behind me suddenly went quiet. I heard Ms. Dee demanding he give me five minutes to speak with her daughter. I didn’t wait for permission. I reached for Cameron’s hand and gave it a firm squeeze before lowering my tail to the edge of her bed. “I visited the clinic you told me about.”

  Cameron’s brow wrinkled. “Did you find my baby?”

  “No.” I choked on my own words. “But I haven’t stopped looking.” Cameron dropped her gaze to our hands still locked together and I shifted the conversation to Dr. Wu. “I was hoping you could identify someone for me.”

  “I’ll do anything to get my baby back in my arms.”

  I smiled and patted her hand. Then I showed her a picture of Dr. Wu. “Is this Dr. Cherub?”

  Cameron took my phone into her hand and brought it close to her face. “No. That isn’t him.”

  I was knocked to the floor with surprise. If it wasn’t Wu, then who was Dr. Cherub? “Okay, but have you ever seen this man before?”

  Cameron glanced to the image of Dr. Wu for a second time. “He doesn’t look familiar,” she said, placing my phone back into my palm.

  Ms. Dee stood quietly on the opposite side of the bed with her arms folded across her chest, waiting to see where I was going with all this. I wasn’t so sure myself now that Cameron hadn’t recognized the man King said was heading our way. But there was one last person it could be.

  I swiped over to Dr. James Andrews’s image and turned the screen back to Cameron. Her eyes widened the moment they landed on his face and I heard her lungs suddenly freeze. There was no doubt in my mind she knew him, but I asked anyway. “Is this Dr. Cherub?”

  Her shoulders fell in on themselves as she nodded. “That’s him. That’s Dr. Cherub.”

  “Is that who took your baby?” Ms. Dee asked.

  Cameron flicked her gaze up to her mother and I watched as tears pooled in the corners of her brown eyes. “I don’t know. But he was my doctor. The doctor that would only visit occasionally. The doctor who delivered my baby.”

  Ms. Dee fixed her intense gaze on me. “Is this who has my granddaughter?”

  “I’m not sure.” I swallowed. “Here is what I believe is happening.” I explained what Erin and I discussed on our drive over; how it was possible Cameron might not have been pregnant until the doctor implanted his own embryo inside of her. I left out the part about Erin and me wondering if Wu and Andrews were working together. There was little doubt left in my mind, now, that they were both involved.

  “That’s disgusting,” Ms. Dee snapped. “Cameron, is what she is saying true?”

  Cameron nibbled on the inside of her cheek as she muttered, “I don’t know, Momma. Maybe.”

  “We’ll of course have to confirm it,�
�� I said. “But first we need to find your baby.”

  “I’m going to kill him,” Ms. Dee fumed.

  “Is the baby even mine?” Cameron asked me.

  I stared into her eyes, not sure I had an answer to give.

  “Of course it’s yours, Cam, baby,” Ms. Dee said with conviction. “You carried it for nine months. That girl is yours no matter what anybody says.” Ms. Dee’s hands balled at her sides as if she was gearing up to start swinging.

  Standing, I explained the Pattersons’ story and how Dr. Andrews and Dr. Wu were original founders in a biotech company that created designer babies through a complicated process known as gene editing. Ms. Dee stayed with me the entire way as Cameron seemed to drift off into her head.

  “They took advantage of my baby because her womb was ripe.” Ms. Dee spit fire. “Is that what you’re saying?”

  “Basically.” I nodded. “I’m certain Cameron wasn’t the only woman they took advantage of. There are more, and I think they might be housed at the private clinic they had Cameron at.”

  “The women the police mentioned in the news? Is that who you’re talking about?”

  “Yes.” I looked to Cameron. “It seems to me like it might have been an elaborate scheme to impregnate women and then convince them to seek assistance at a private clinic the corrupt doctors also managed.”

  The whites in Ms. Dee’s eyes were the size of headlights as they stared openly at me. I could understand the confusion, the heartbreak, and the desire to make sure these men received the justice they deserved. But I still had to confirm whether or not Cameron believed her baby—and Tracey Brown—might still be at the Guardian Angel clinic.

  “Tell me, Cameron,” I reached for her hand, bringing her focus back to the present, “was I at the right place? Is that where I should look for your baby?”

  “What about the man you said was coming to finish what he started?” Ms. Dee asked sternly.

  I fixed my eyes on Ms. Dee. “As long as that officer comes back, Cameron is safe here.”

  “Samantha,” Cameron’s voice was small when I turned my attention back to her, “you were at the right place. That’s the clinic. If my baby is still alive, that’s where you’ll find her.”

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  Detective Alex King ran to the exit of the North Denver Reproductive Medicine office and stiff-armed his way through the glass door. The warm spring air hit his face as Alvarez hit the brakes behind him.

  “Do you see where that bastard went?” Alvarez shielded the sun from his eyes with his hand.

  King continued to scan the parking lot. He looked through windshields and popped over the hoods of cars. There wasn’t movement anywhere he looked and he feared that they had let Dr. Wu get a head start on them.

  “Any idea what kind of car he drives?” Alvarez asked.

  Neither of them knew.

  “C’mon, let’s go,” King said, running to their car. “We have to catch up with him.”

  Not more than a minute later, they were speeding south. The siren wailed over their heads and Alvarez was on the radio speaking with Dispatch when King had to cut the steering wheel sharp. The tires squealed on the pavement when blasting through the traffic light, and the car they nearly collided with honked in a rage of anger. King kept his hands firm while straightening out the wheel and driving as fast as the road allowed.

  Without breaking a sweat, all he could think about was how he missed the connection between Cameron and Dr. Wu. If it weren’t for the call from Sam, who knows what would have happened. But now, at least they had a chance to stop Wu in his tracks before anything worse could happen.

  Alvarez clutched the radio mic inside his grip and said, “Dispatch is directing a couple patrol cars in the area to head this way.”

  King kept glancing at the clock and the minutes felt like they were frozen in time. To the detective, it seemed to take them forever to cut across town to Presbyterian St. Luke’s. Finally, they arrived, after what felt like an eternity, and King parked near the entrance in the emergency vehicles only area and sprinted inside.

  Alvarez followed as they pushed through the knots of people impeding their rush to the elevators. The hospital seemed especially busy with both visitors and patients, not to mention the staff filling the halls.

  King kept an eye out for Sam, and was convinced they would collide with Wu at any moment. He saw neither person before they tumbled into the elevator and jabbed at the buttons to be whisked up to Cameron’s floor.

  King stared at the floor numbers climbing up and cursed every time the car would suddenly stop on an unexpected floor. He felt his heart race the closer they got to their landing. As soon as the elevator stopped and the door opened, the two men wedged their way through and sprinted toward the front desk, holding up their badges.

  The nurse working the desk stood and nodded without speaking.

  King hurried down the hall and was surprised that hospital security was already standing guard.

  “Have you let anyone past?” he asked the security officer.

  The man leveled his gaze with King. “No one who hasn’t been authorized by the patient or the patient’s guardian.”

  Cameron’s door was closed. After having the officer confirm the safety of the patient inside, King spun around and asked his partner, “Why the hell isn’t Campbell here? Or someone he posted here?”

  Alvarez turned and faced the front desk when he heard boots clacking toward them. “Looks like you got what you wished for.”

  Two uniformed officers joined them and Alvarez was filling them in on the situation when King took out his cell and dialed Campbell.

  “King, where the hell are you?” Campbell answered.

  King’s brows squished. “Me? I’m at the hospital guarding Cameron. Where the hell are you?”

  “Haven’t you heard? A tip came in and we have eyes on Tyler Lopez.”

  King turned to face Alvarez.

  “Lopez is driving east and just crossed the line into the city of Aurora.” King could hear Campbell practically smiling with elation. “I suggest you hurry and get your ass down here before the party is over. That is, if you want to be part of the arrest.”

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  Tracey Brown’s stomach grumbled with hunger pains as she pushed herself up and tried the TV. Again, it didn’t turn on. She was tired of being held against her will, and exhausted from not eating. Something wasn’t right. It was time for her to figure her way out of here.

  Her bare feet hit the cold floor and she padded lightly to the door only to find she had been locked inside. Panic squeezed her ribs as she jiggled the unforgiving door handle. The lock didn’t budge no matter how hard she tried. Slapping her hand against the hard wood door, she screamed, “Let me out! I’m starving in here.”

  After calming herself down, she pressed an ear against the door. She heard nothing. It was completely silent which only made her worries grow. Where did everyone go?

  Balling her hand into a fist, she punched the door with the sharp point of her knuckles before jumping back into her bed. Tracey pulled the covers over her cold skin, sure she had missed at least two meals and was close to missing a third.

  She wanted nothing more than to bust her way out. With the door securely locked, she didn’t know how that would happen. Tracey reached for her water bottle and sipped it down until it was nearly empty. At least she had access to a tap in the bathroom. It was the only relief for her stomach.

  The young woman sat quietly, not sure what to do about the situation she was in. Suddenly, Tracey was hugging her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth, and found herself humming a song her mother used to sing to her as a child.

  Closing her eyes, a smile lifted the corners of her mouth.

  She missed her parents, wanted to talk to her best friends, and most of all to apologize to her dad for being such a brat. She would do anything to take their advice now. That was the deepest regret she had—knowing how she’d l
eft things before disappearing.

  Her belly grumbled. She weighed it down with more water, but after having Dr. Cherub be so adamant about her eating healthy and religiously taking her prenatal vitamins, she imagined something must have happened to him.

  Turning her head, Tracey glanced to the bathroom and found herself grappling with the same dark thoughts that crossed her mind once already. There, inside that small tile-wall room, she could end this, take her own life, end the suffering. She might have if it wasn’t for the baby growing inside of her—the one she was now responsible for.

  Instead, as soon as that door opened, Tracey knew she would make her escape and choose to live.

  Then she heard a noise echo off the hallway walls.

  Tracey stared through the darkness and opened her eyes wide as light spilled beneath the door. Her blood ran hot as the footsteps got closer.

  Tossing her covers, she dropped to the floor and crouched low near the door.

  Her heart pounded like a hammer driving a nail into thick wood. She waited. The footsteps stopped and she listened as the lock gently clicked over. The door cracked, spilling in light, and Tracey sprang between the thick leg stepping into her room and the doorframe, making her escape.

  “Not so fast.” A strong hand caught her ankle. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Let me go.” Tracey twisted onto her back and kicked her legs at the doctor. “I need food.”

  Dr. Cherub pulled her to her feet easily and tossed her back into the room. Tracey watched as he threw down a plastic bag of clothes onto her bed. She glanced to it and covered her chest with her hands.

  “Get dressed. We’re leaving.”

  Tracey stared and gaped, frozen with fear.

  When Tracey didn’t move quick enough, the doctor lunged one foot forward and let his open palm swing across her face. Smack! Tracey cried out as if getting stung. She covered her face with both hands and keeled over as she felt tears prickle the backs of her eyes.