Chapter 14 - The Last Trap
We raced back to the hospital.
Police locked down the pediatric floor.
Mia was safe.
Cassandra wasn’t there.
The camera had been planted earlier inside a flower arrangement.
A nurse remembered the delivery.
No sender name.
Then Grant discovered the truth.
Cassandra wasn’t threatening Mia.
She was pulling police away from somewhere else.
Natalie understood first.
“Eli.”
We ran to her room.
Empty bassinet.
Open window.
Natalie screamed.
But the baby hadn’t been taken through the window.
Security footage showed a woman in hospital scrubs pushing Eli in a covered bassinet toward the service elevator.
Cassandra.
Police tracked her to the parking structure.
We heard tires squeal below.
Grant ordered us back.
Jackson ignored him.
So did I.
We reached level three just as Cassandra’s car stopped near the exit barrier.
A police SUV blocked the ramp.
Cassandra stepped out.
Eli was strapped safely into a carrier.
“Cass,” Jackson called.
She pointed a small handgun toward the ground.
Every officer raised their weapon.
“Put it down!”
She laughed through tears.
“This family destroys everyone.”
Jackson stepped forward.
“Stay back!” Grant shouted.
Jackson kept moving slowly.
“You’re right.”
Cassandra blinked.
“What?”
“Mom lied.”
Another step.
“Dad lied.”
Another.
“I lied to myself for years because it was easier.”
Cassandra’s hand shook.
“But Eli didn’t do anything.”
Her face crumpled.
Neither did Mia, I thought.
Neither did Natalie.
Neither did my father.
Jackson continued.
“You want someone to blame? Blame me.”
“Shut up.”
“I should’ve listened when people told me something was wrong.”
“Shut up!”
“I should’ve protected Emily from Mom.”
Cassandra started sobbing.
“I should’ve protected you from Dad.”
Her gun lowered slightly.
That was when Lorraine appeared from the stairwell.
Police shouted at her to stop.
She did.
Cassandra stared at her mother.
“You ruined everything.”
Lorraine’s face broke.
“Yes.”
No excuse.
No defense.
Just yes.
“I protected your father when I should’ve protected you.”
Cassandra’s hand dropped.
“And then you became him.”
Cassandra screamed.
She lifted the gun.
Officers moved.
Jackson threw himself sideways.
The gun fired.
The sound exploded through the concrete garage.
I screamed.
Then Cassandra hit the ground.
An officer had tackled her.
The bullet struck a concrete column.
Nobody was hit.
Jackson grabbed Eli’s carrier and backed away.
Cassandra was handcuffed.
She stopped fighting.
I thought it was over.
Then she looked straight at me and smiled through her tears.
“You still don’t know why your father took the blame.”
My blood turned cold.
“What?”
“He knew Lorraine altered the records.”
Lorraine froze.
Cassandra laughed softly.
“He could have cleared his name any time.”
I looked at Lorraine.
“Is that true?”
She closed her eyes.
And I knew.
May you like
My father had chosen silence.
The only question was why.
