Chapter 3 - The Missing Patient
Ryan read the facility name three times.
"Greenwood House."
Jessica nodded.
"Outside Macon."
"You knew she was alive?"
"I suspected it two weeks ago. I didn't know for sure until yesterday."
Ryan slammed the paper onto the table.
"And you waited?"
"I was trying to get proof before Mom found out."
I squeezed his wrist.
"Ryan. Not here."
He looked at me, then at the monitor strapped around my stomach.
The baby's heartbeat stayed steady.
For now.
A doctor came in and told us the contractions had slowed, but they were keeping me overnight because no one yet knew what I had swallowed.
"We sent the sample to toxicology," she said. "Until we know more, we watch you and the baby closely."
Ryan asked, "Could it have caused the contractions?"
"It's possible. I won't guess beyond that."
After she left, a detective named Lena Brooks entered with a clear evidence bag.
Inside was the black jar.
"Mrs. Carter," she said, "your mother-in-law claims this was a traditional tonic and that you agreed to drink it."
"She's lying."
"Your husband says he saw her holding you down."
"He did."
Jessica leaned forward. "Ask Margaret about Anna Mercer."
Brooks's expression sharpened.
"Who is Anna Mercer?"
Ryan answered without looking away from the old medical page.
"Apparently my mother."
The detective took the copy.
Ten minutes later, Ryan called Greenwood House.
He put the phone on speaker.
A receptionist searched the name.
"Anna Mercer was a long-term resident," she said carefully.
"Was?"
"She left our care three months ago."
Ryan's face tightened.
"Where did she go?"
A pause.
"I'm sorry, sir. Her release authorization is restricted."
"Who signed it?"
Another pause.
May you like
Then the receptionist said a name that made Jessica stand so fast her chair scraped the floor.
"Margaret Carter."
