Chapter 12 - THE EMPTY BASSINET
Genevieve forgot she was paralyzed.
She tore the blanket away and tried to stand.
Her knees collapsed immediately.
Darnell caught her before she hit the floor.
“My baby!”
Sarah was already calling security.
Tessa ran into the room, breathless.
“The nursery had a fire alarm. Staff evacuated three infants into the family corridor. Someone wearing a transport badge took Nora.”
Genevieve’s vision narrowed.
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
Ortiz appeared on Sarah’s screen from the courthouse.
“I’m sending officers. Lock every exit.”
Genevieve grabbed the bed rail.
Then she remembered Eleanor’s favorite entrance to the hospital: the private foundation elevator, the one donors used to avoid the main lobby.
“Basement,” she said.
Sarah looked at her.
“Eleanor always parks under the east wing.”
Security raced downstairs.
Genevieve forced herself into a wheelchair and made Darnell push.
“No.”
“Take me.”
“Genevieve—”
“Take me to my daughter.”
The elevator doors opened onto the private garage.
A black SUV idled near the ramp.
Eleanor stood beside it holding Nora.
For one surreal second, she looked almost peaceful.
Then she saw Genevieve.
“You should be upstairs.”
“Give her back.”
“She is a Vale.”
“She is my daughter.”
Eleanor tightened her hold.
Security surrounded the SUV.
Nora began to cry.
Genevieve wheeled closer.
“You lost, Eleanor.”
Eleanor smiled sadly.
“You still don’t understand what this family does when it starts losing.”
Security took Nora from her.
Genevieve pressed the baby to her chest, sobbing.
As officers handcuffed Eleanor, she leaned close enough to whisper.
“Ask Julian what happened to your father.”
Genevieve went still.
May you like
Eleanor’s smile returned.
“He was there that night.”
