Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO DISAPPEARED
The recording ended.
No one in the hospital room spoke.
Julian stood beside my bed with his hands clenched at his sides.
His face had become terrifyingly calm.
I had seen that expression before.
It was the face he wore during hostile business negotiations.
The face that had built Foster Meridian into an empire.
But this time, he was not protecting a company.
He was protecting his children.
The detective lowered the phone.
“We need to bring both women in for questioning.”
Julian looked at him.
“My mother will have an attorney waiting before you reach her driveway.”
“That does not make her untouchable.”
“You do not know Eleanor Foster.”
The detective’s eyes hardened.
“And she does not know me.”
I pressed one hand over my stomach.
“Do you believe she started the fire?”
The detective hesitated.
“The recording shows intent to frighten you.”
“It does not prove either woman set the fire.”
“But someone disabled the hotel cameras.”
“Yes.”
“And someone entered the office.”
“Yes.”
“And that person had photographs of me.”
“Yes.”
My voice trembled.
“Then someone has been watching me for months.”
Julian moved closer to the bed.
“No one will get near you again.”
I looked at him.
“You said that before.”
His expression tightened.
“I know.”
The detective turned to Julian.
“Do not contact your mother.”
Julian gave a humorless laugh.
“If she knows I have heard the recording, she will destroy evidence.”
“Exactly.”
“I can keep her talking.”
“No.”
The detective’s tone sharpened.
“You are not part of this investigation.”
Julian glanced at me.
Then he nodded.
“Fine.”
But I knew him too well.
Julian had never accepted being told to wait.
The detective left with the evidence bag.
Hannah stepped into the hallway to call the hotel staff.
That left Julian and me alone.
“You are going to call her,” I said.
“No.”
“You are lying.”
He looked at me.
“I will not call her.”
“That is not the same as saying you will do nothing.”
He sat beside the bed.
“I need to understand why Madison was meeting with my mother.”
“Maybe they both wanted me gone.”
“My mother wanted control.”
“And Madison wanted you.”
Julian looked down.
“I never promised Madison anything.”
“She told you that you were unhappy.”
“She told you I did not understand you.”
“She told you I held you back.”
His head lifted.
“How do you know that?”
“Because women like Madison do not begin with a kiss.”
“They begin with sympathy.”
He said nothing.
I continued.
“She made you feel like the victim.”
“And you let her.”
Julian’s eyes filled with shame.
“Yes.”
The answer hurt more than an excuse would have.
I looked away.
“She used every crack in our marriage.”
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“I created the cracks.”
For several seconds, the machines beside my bed were the only sound in the room.
Then his phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
His face changed.
“What is it?”
“It is Madison.”
My heart began beating faster.
“What did she say?”
Julian turned the phone toward me.
The message contained only six words.
Your mother knows about the recording.
A second message appeared.
She is coming for Audrey tonight.
Julian stood.
“Call the detective.”
I reached for the nurse button.
Before I could press it, the lights went out.
The room fell completely dark.
The monitor beside my bed continued beeping on emergency power.
Somewhere in the hallway, a woman screamed.
Julian immediately moved between me and the door.
“Stay behind me.”
“I cannot exactly go anywhere.”
Emergency lights flickered on.
A red glow filled the room.
The door handle moved.
Julian grabbed the metal IV pole.
The door opened slowly.
A nurse stepped inside.
Her face was pale.
“The entire maternity floor lost power.”
“What happened?” Julian asked.
“We do not know.”
“Lock this room.”
“We cannot lock patient doors.”
Julian looked past her into the hallway.
“Then get security.”
The nurse hurried away.
My phone vibrated on the table.
Unknown Number.
I stared at it.
Julian saw the screen.
“Do not answer.”
It rang again.
Then a text appeared.
You should have stayed gone.
Another message followed.
Your babies will never be Fosters.
My throat tightened.
Julian took the phone.
“Give it back.”
“I need to show the police.”
A photograph appeared.
It had been taken moments earlier.
The image showed the hospital entrance from across the street.
Below it was one sentence.
I can see his car.
Julian looked toward the window.
“We need to move you.”
The door opened again.
This time, two hospital security officers entered.
“We received a threat involving this patient.”
Julian showed them the messages.
One officer spoke into his radio.
“We are relocating her to a secure floor.”
The nurse disconnected the IV lines from the wall.
They moved my bed into the hallway.
Emergency lights cast long shadows across the floor.
Patients stood in their doorways.
Nurses rushed from room to room.
As we reached the elevator, Julian’s phone rang.
The detective’s name appeared.
Julian answered.
“Tell me you found Madison.”
The detective’s voice came through loudly enough for me to hear.
“We went to her apartment.”
“And?”
“She is gone.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“What about my mother?”
“Her driver says she left Chicago two hours ago.”
“Where is she going?”
“We do not know.”
The elevator doors opened.
A hospital employee stepped out wearing blue scrubs and a surgical mask.
She lowered her head as she passed.
For one brief moment, I saw her eyes.
My entire body went cold.
“Julian.”
He turned.
The masked woman began walking faster.
“That was Madison.”
Julian looked down the hallway.
Then he ran after her.
“Julian, no!”
The elevator doors started closing.
I watched him disappear around the corner.
The security officers pushed my bed inside.
The doors shut.
The elevator began moving upward.
Then it stopped between floors.
The emergency lights flickered.
One of the officers pressed the call button.
Nothing happened.
May you like
A metallic sound came from above us.
Someone was opening the elevator hatch.
