Chapter 6: The Man in the Hospital
I reached the hospital in nine minutes.
Naomi arrived seconds behind me with federal agents and local officers.
The intensive-care corridor was in chaos.
A nurse lay unconscious near the supply room.
Harper stood outside Violet’s room, screaming for help.
A man in blue hospital scrubs had locked himself inside with my daughter.
Through the glass, I saw him holding a syringe above Violet’s IV line.
I hit the door with my shoulder.
The lock held.
The man looked at me.
Then he pushed the needle toward the port.
I grabbed a fire extinguisher and drove it through the glass.
The second strike shattered the panel.
I reached through, opened the door, and crossed the room before he could turn.
He swung the syringe toward my neck.
I trapped his wrist and slammed it against the bed rail.
The syringe fell.
He drove his head into my face.
Pain exploded across my nose, but I stayed on my feet.
He reached for Violet’s breathing tube.
I hit him once in the ribs and forced him to the floor.
Naomi’s agents rushed in and handcuffed him.
A black tattoo showed beneath his sleeve.
A shield surrounding the letter S.
Sentinel Global.
Naomi picked up the syringe.
“We’ll test this.”
The attacker laughed through bloodied lips.
“You’re too late.”
I knelt in front of him.
“Who sent you?”
He looked past me at Harper.
“Ask your wife.”
Harper stopped breathing.
The man smiled.
“She opened the door. She gave us the schedule. She wanted the girl frightened into silence.”
“That’s a lie,” Harper whispered.
“Is it?”
He looked back at me.
“Your daughter caught Mommy meeting Uncle Daniel. She recorded everything.”
I stood.
Harper backed away.
“Mason, I never asked anyone to hurt her.”
“What meeting?”
She looked toward Violet.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“Daniel showed me the Ashfall report months ago. He said Voss would destroy our family unless I helped him recover the evidence.”
“Months?”
Harper nodded.
Not two weeks.
Months.
“You gave them Violet’s schedule.”
“He asked when the house would be empty.”
My hands curled into fists.
“You knew he was coming long before today.”
“I thought he wanted the watch. I didn’t know Violet had found it.”
The attacker laughed again.
Naomi pulled him upright.
As her agents led him away, he turned toward Harper.
“Tell Mason about the parking garage.”
Harper’s face drained of color.
“What happened in the parking garage?” I asked.
Before she could answer, her phone vibrated.
A video appeared on the screen.
It showed Violet lying in our hallway while a man held her by the hair.
A distorted voice spoke from behind the camera.
Bring the watch to Level Four of the east garage. Come alone, Harper. Or next time, your daughter stops breathing.
The video had been recorded that afternoon.
But the message had been sent thirty seconds ago.
May you like
Someone was still watching Violet.
And they knew Harper was standing beside me.
