Chapter 17 - The Hospital
Rachel called the hospital.
No answer from the social worker.
She called again.
Nothing.
Daniel drove like the city had disappeared around him.
Dunn met them at a side entrance.
“They’re gone.”
Rachel grabbed him.
“What do you mean gone?”
“Security footage shows a doctor signing them out for imaging.”
“What doctor?”
“There is no doctor by that name.”
Rachel nearly collapsed.
Daniel caught her.
“Where did they go?”
Dunn held up a tablet.
“A service elevator. Basement garage.”
Rachel saw Sophie on-screen holding Lily’s hand.
Her daughter was trying to be brave.
That made it worse.
A woman walked beside them.
Claire.
Daniel stared.
“She took them.”
Rachel called Claire.
She answered immediately.
“Where are my children?”
“They’re safe.”
“You kidnapped them.”
“I got them out before Victor’s people arrived.”
“Put Sophie on.”
A pause.
Then Sophie’s voice.
“Mom?”
Rachel closed her eyes.
“Oh, baby.”
“Are you mad?”
“No. Are you okay?”
“Yes. The lady says she knows Bunny.”
Rachel forced herself to breathe.
“Give the phone back.”
Claire returned.
“Meet me alone.”
“No.”
“Then you don’t get the truth.”
“I’m done trading my kids for answers.”
“This isn’t about answers anymore.”
“What is it about?”
“Choosing which child Victor finds first.”
Rachel went cold.
Claire sent an address.
An abandoned church on the West Side.
Daniel said, “We go together.”
Claire heard him.
“No.”
“Claire—” Daniel began.
Her voice changed.
“I told you once that if anything happened to me, you did it.”
Daniel flinched.
“You framed me.”
“I was trying to make Victor believe I didn’t trust you.”
“Why?”
“Because he already knew you loved me.”
Rachel looked at Daniel.
Silence.
Claire continued.
“Tell Rachel the rest.”
Daniel’s face emptied.
Rachel whispered, “What rest?”
Claire hung up.
Rachel stared at her husband.
“You were in love with her?”
Daniel said nothing.
And while Sophie and Lily were missing, Rachel realized her marriage still had another secret big enough to break it.
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