Chapter 7 - The Water Pitcher
The hospital locked down my floor.
Security took the pitcher. Blood and urine samples were drawn. Dr. Patel moved me to a private room under a false name in the internal system.
"Could the powder have hurt the baby?" I asked.
"We don't know what it is yet," she said. "You did not drink from it, correct?"
"No."
Maya had stopped me twenty minutes earlier because the water tasted metallic.
Detective Ortiz arrived with hospital security footage.
At 6:42 p.m., a man in blue scrubs entered the family waiting area carrying a supply tray.
He wore a mask and cap.
At 6:46, he passed my doorway.
At 6:48, he left without the tray.
"Employee?" I asked.
"No badge scan," Ortiz said. "We're pulling exterior cameras."
Ryan called while she was speaking.
Ortiz told me to answer on speaker.
"Emily, I heard the baby had another episode."
I looked at her.
"Who told you?"
He paused.
"The hospital called me. I'm her father."
Dr. Patel's expression changed.
"We did not call him," she mouthed.
"Ryan," I said, "where are you?"
"Home."
"Alone?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"A simple one."
He exhaled.
"Vanessa isn't here, if that's what you're asking. I haven't seen her since yesterday."
Ortiz wrote something down.
A security officer entered and handed her a still image from the hospital garage.
A black SUV was leaving at 6:51.
The license plate belonged to Vanessa.
I felt sick.
Ortiz turned the image so I could see the driver.
It wasn't Vanessa.
The picture was grainy, but I knew the face.
"That's Mark Ellison," I whispered.
Maya frowned. "Who?"
"Ryan's personal security consultant."
Ortiz looked up.
"And the man in scrubs?"
I stared at the still frame again.
Same height. Same shoulders.
"I think that's him too."
Then Ortiz's phone rang.
She listened for ten seconds.
"Lab just identified the powder," she said.
May you like
Her face hardened.
"It's a prescription sedative."
