Chapter 9 - OLIVER WAS GONE
Ryan broke every speed limit between downtown and St. Matthew’s Hospital.
Maya sat beside him crying into her phone.
“How could they let her take him?”
“She used authorization papers.”
“Fake papers!”
“They looked real.”
Ryan slammed his hand against the steering wheel.
Police surrounded the hospital when they arrived.
Detective Morris met them outside the pediatric wing.
“We have security footage.”
“Where is he?”
“We’re working on it.”
Ryan grabbed her arm.
“That is my three-year-old son.”
“I know.”
“Then tell me where he is!”
Morris did not flinch.
“Evelyn left through the west parking garage fourteen minutes ago.”
“With Oliver?”
“Yes.”
Maya made a sound Ryan had never heard before.
Not a scream.
Something deeper.
He turned and caught her before her knees gave out.
“I want my baby.”
“We’re getting him back.”
“You don’t know that.”
Ryan held her face.
“Yes.
We are.”
Security footage showed Evelyn carrying Oliver wrapped in a hospital blanket.
He was awake.
Confused.
But not fighting.
She had told staff Ryan had authorized the transfer to a private pediatric clinic.
The documents contained Ryan’s forged signature.
Again.
Police traced Evelyn’s vehicle.
It headed north.
Then disappeared near a wooded stretch of highway.
Ryan knew the area.
His family owned an old lake house there.
He called Morris.
“The lake house.”
“We’re already sending units.”
“I’m going.”
“No.”
“That’s my son.”
“You approaching could make this worse.”
Ryan stared at her.
Maya grabbed his sleeve.
“Listen to her.”
Ryan looked at his wife.
She was terrified.
But thinking clearly.
“Please.”
He nodded.
Barely.
Police reached the lake property thirty minutes later.
The house was empty.
But Evelyn had been there.
Oliver’s hospital blanket lay on the couch.
A juice box was on the kitchen counter.
Ryan picked it up with shaking hands.
“He was here.”
Morris walked toward the back room.
“Ryan.”
He followed.
On the table was a laptop.
Its screen displayed a video message.
Evelyn’s face filled the screen.
“Ryan,” she said calmly.
“If you’re watching this, then once again you have chosen Maya over your family.”
Ryan’s fists clenched.
Evelyn continued.
“Oliver is safe.”
Maya shouted at the screen.
“Where is he?”
“He belongs with someone capable of protecting the Whitmore name.”
Ryan stepped closer.
Then Evelyn said something that stopped him.
“You have until midnight to sign the documents I sent your attorney.”
Morris looked at Ryan.
“What documents?”
His phone buzzed.
An email.
Ryan opened the attachment.
He went pale.
It was a resignation from Whitmore Holdings.
A waiver of his interest in the family trust.
And a sworn declaration stating Maya was emotionally unfit to care for Oliver.
At the bottom was a message.
SIGN EVERYTHING.
THEN YOU GET YOUR SON BACK.
Ryan looked at the clock.
8:41 p.m.
May you like
Three hours and nineteen minutes.
And somewhere in the dark, Evelyn Whitmore was holding a sick child who still needed medication.
