Chapter 12 - THE DARK HALLWAY
Emergency generators kicked in within seconds.
But for those seconds, the pediatric floor went black.
Mia screamed.
Leah found her by the glow of the exit signs.
“I’m here.”
“Caleb!”
“He’s okay. The monitors have backup power.”
Security sealed the stairwells.
Julia checked every room.
Then a guard called from the east elevator.
A man wearing maintenance coveralls had used a staff badge to enter the building two minutes before the outage.
The badge belonged to an electrician who was off duty.
Leah’s pulse jumped.
“Travis.”
Security spread through the floor.
Mia clung to Leah’s hand.
“Where’s Grandma?”
Leah turned.
The consultation room where Carol had been waiting was open.
Empty.
The security officer assigned to her lay conscious but dazed in the hallway.
“She said she needed the restroom,” he groaned. “Then someone hit the lights.”
Leah’s phone rang.
Dana.
“We found Erin. She’s alive. Travis may be headed your way.”
“He’s already here.”
Leah ended the call and heard a door click behind her.
Caleb’s room.
Mia heard it too.
She ran before Leah could stop her.
“Mia!”
Inside, Caleb slept in the crib.
No one else was there.
But the window to the adjoining family room was open.
A man’s wet shoeprint marked the tile.
Mia pointed.
“Uncle Travis wears boots like that.”
Leah pulled her back.
Then a voice came from the corridor.
“Leah.”
Carol stood at the far end near the service stairs.
Her face was white.
“Where is he?” Leah demanded.
Carol’s hands shook.
“He took my phone.”
“Where is Travis?”
Carol looked toward the stairwell.
“He said if Erin wouldn’t sign, the children would make her.”
A metal door slammed below them.
Security shouted.
May you like
And Mia whispered:
“He’s going to the parking garage.”
