Chapter 9 - The Empty Bassinet.
Claire did not remember getting out of bed.
One second she was staring at Lucy's empty bassinet.
The next she was standing beside it with pain tearing through her abdomen and both hands gripping the clear plastic sides.
"Where is my daughter?"
Mia caught her before her knees gave way.
"Mrs. Cole, please sit down."
"Where is Lucy?"
The words came out louder.
Adrian was already in the hallway.
Detective Keene shouted for security to lock the floor.
Dana grabbed the room phone and ordered an infant security alert.
A piercing tone sounded overhead.
Doors at both ends of the maternity wing locked automatically.
Margaret picked up Noah and Grace's bassinets and pulled them close to Claire's bed.
"They are not taking another one."
Claire could barely hear her.
Her vision had narrowed to the empty blanket where Lucy had been sleeping.
"Who took her?"
Mia looked devastated.
"I was gone less than three minutes."
"Who was here?"
"A transport aide came in."
"What transport aide?"
"He said Dr. Harris ordered a cardiac echo because of the blood antigen alert."
Dr. Harris appeared in the doorway.
"I ordered no such test."
Mia went white.
Claire's heart felt as if it had stopped.
"What did he look like?"
Mia described a man in blue scrubs, surgical cap, mask, and hospital badge.
Keene swore under his breath.
"Marcus Vale."
Adrian ran toward the stairwell.
Keene grabbed his arm.
"Do not do that."
"That is my daughter."
"And if you turn this into a chase, you could make it worse."
Adrian's face twisted with rage.
Claire had never seen him look so frightened.
It did not erase what he had done.
But it reminded her that Lucy was his child too.
A hospital radio crackled in the hallway.
Security had spotted a transport cart near diagnostic imaging.
Then came another message.
The cart was empty.
Claire covered her mouth.
Margaret moved behind her and held her shoulders.
"They will find her."
Claire could not answer.
A third radio message came thirty seconds later.
A nurse had found an unattended bassinet in a staff elevator on level three.
There was a baby inside.
Claire's knees almost failed.
"Is it Lucy?"
Nobody knew yet.
Keene ran.
Mia followed.
Claire started toward the door.
Dr. Harris blocked her gently.
"You cannot run through the hospital after major surgery."
"Move."
"Claire."
"Move."
Something in her face convinced him.
He found a wheelchair.
Adrian pushed it.
Neither of them spoke as they raced down the hall.
On level three, four security officers surrounded the elevator.
Mia stood beside the bassinet.
She turned when she saw Claire.
"It's her."
Claire made a sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh.
Lucy was awake and furious.
Her tiny fists waved above the blanket.
A nurse had already checked her identification and vital signs.
Claire reached for her.
Mia placed Lucy carefully in her arms.
Claire pressed her face against the baby's white bear-ear hat.
"I have you."
She repeated it again and again.
"I have you."
Adrian knelt beside the wheelchair.
His eyes were wet.
He touched Lucy's foot but did not reach for Claire.
That restraint was the first appropriate thing he had done all day.
Keene examined the elevator camera feed.
The masked man had placed the bassinet inside, pressed the button for level three, and stepped out before the doors closed.
"He abandoned her?"
Claire asked.
Keene shook his head.
"I think he changed plans."
"Why?"
A security officer held up a small black device found beneath the bassinet mattress.
"Because the infant security tag triggered the lockdown."
Dana frowned.
"That device is an RFID blocker."
Keene looked at it.
"He planned to disable the tag."
Claire held Lucy tighter.
"Then why didn't it work?"
Mia looked down at Lucy's ankle.
"Because I replaced all three security tags after the bracelet incident."
The new model operated on a different frequency.
Whoever planned the removal had prepared for the old tag.
They had not known Mia changed it.
Claire looked at her.
"You saved my daughter."
Mia's eyes filled.
"I almost let someone take her."
"No."
Claire shook her head.
"They fooled you with a forged order and a stolen badge."
She glanced at Adrian.
"People can be fooled."
He looked away.
Claire continued.
"What matters is what they do after they know."
The sentence was meant for both of them.
Mia nodded.
Adrian said nothing.
Back in the room, security moved Claire and the babies to a private secured suite on another floor.
Only six named people were allowed access.
Adrian was one of them because Claire did not want him outside making decisions she could not see.
That did not mean forgiveness.
It meant strategy.
At 2:10 a.m., Detective Keene returned.
"Marcus Vale has been detained."
Claire exhaled.
"Did he say who sent him?"
"He asked for a lawyer."
Adrian gave a humorless laugh.
"Victor will send one."
Keene looked at him.
"Victor's attorney already called."
The room went silent.
"For Marcus?"
"Yes."
Claire stared at Adrian.
"There it is."
Keene held up a second evidence bag.
Inside was a folded discharge form recovered from Marcus's pocket.
The form listed Lucy as LUCY MONROE.
The authorized guardian named on the form was not Claire.
It was Vanessa Hart.
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