Chapter 6 - Someone on Rosa's Porch
Rosa called her daughter, who lived with her while finishing nursing school. No answer. She tried again. This time a frightened voice picked up.
"Mom? There's a car outside. It's been there for an hour."
Daniel called Detective Ruiz before anyone left the hospital. Two officers met Rosa's daughter at the house and found a dark sedan idling across the street. It drove off when their cruiser turned the corner. The license plate in a neighbor's security footage belonged to a fleet leased by Cedar Gate Services.
"That's Graham's contractor," Daniel said.
"It could be," Ruiz replied. "Don't do our investigation for us. Keep the messages and let us trace them."
"That's why they're scared," Emily said.
Two days passed. The baby's heart rate remained steady. Dr. Shah found no sign of an ongoing emergency but insisted on close follow-up and immediate care if Emily noticed pain, bleeding, or reduced movement. Emily went home with instructions and a number to call any hour.
"Home?" she repeated as Daniel helped her into his car. "Not that house."
"Never that house again," he said.
They rented a furnished apartment near the hospital. It had mismatched chairs and an ugly orange lamp, and Emily loved it on sight because there was no one waiting inside to tell her she had used the wrong plate.
That evening June called. Her team had located an old Morrow Court inspection notice that reported urgent electrical hazards. The repairs should have started eleven months earlier.
"The paperwork says Cedar Gate finished them," June said.
May you like
Daniel looked at the baby monitor they had brought from the nursery, still in its unopened box. "And if they didn't?"
June answered quietly. "Then there are sixty families sleeping inside a building that may not be safe."
