Chapter 4 - The Enemy From Wade’s Past
The hospital moved the meeting into a private consultation room beside the NICU.
Wade refused to go far enough that he could not see bed nine through the glass.
Shelby sat between Rachel and Dana, both hands wrapped around a paper cup she had not touched.
Cole placed his phone on the table.
“This photograph came from a camera near the maternity elevators,” he explained. “Crane used a stolen badge to enter the floor.”
Dr. Hale looked at him.
“How did you obtain security footage that quickly?”
Cole glanced at Wade.
“You probably don’t want the answer.”
“I definitely do,” Dana said.
Wade remained standing.
“My people have contacts inside the company that maintains the hospital’s security system.”
Dana’s face tightened.
“You accessed confidential hospital footage illegally?”
“A child was targeted,” Wade replied. “File a complaint when he’s safe.”
“You cannot interfere in an active investigation.”
“Then start investigating.”
Dana closed the folder.
“The police are on their way.”
Wade gave a humorless smile.
“Victor Crane paid half the county force for years.”
Cole nodded.
“He may still own several officers.”
Rachel looked at Wade.
“You said he worked for you.”
“He handled transportation.”
“For what kind of business?”
Wade’s eyes stayed on the NICU window.
“The kind I don’t discuss in hospitals.”
Shelby leaned forward.
“Did you know he was selling babies?”
Wade turned toward her.
“No.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
The honesty surprised her.
Wade continued.
“But if I had known, Crane would never have lived long enough to enter this hospital.”
Dr. Hale stiffened.
“We are not discussing murder.”
“We’re discussing what he deserves.”
“We’re discussing what keeps Noah safe,” Rachel said firmly.
Wade looked at her.
She did not look away.
“Rachel is right,” Dana said. “Shelby and Noah need legal protection, not revenge.”
Cole tapped the screen.
“Crane’s network targets young mothers with no family support. They alter records, pressure the mothers to leave, and arrange private adoptions for wealthy clients.”
Shelby’s face twisted.
“They were going to sell my son.”
“Yes,” Cole said.
“Why Noah?”
“Because he is male, has no known congenital condition, and his records suggested no involved family.”
Shelby pushed back from the table.
“I need to get him out of here.”
Dr. Hale shook his head.
“He is not medically stable enough to leave.”
“Then Crane can walk right back in.”
“The unit is locked down.”
“He got in before.”
Wade moved closer to the table.
“He won’t get in again.”
Shelby laughed through her tears.
“Because you’ll protect him?”
“Yes.”
“You’re a criminal.”
“Yes.”
“People say you’ve hurt men.”
“Yes.”
Rachel watched him carefully.
Wade made no attempt to deny his past.
Shelby stood.
“Then why should you be anywhere near my baby?”
The room became tense.
Wade could have silenced her with one look.
Instead, he pulled back the sleeve of his hospital gown.
He exposed the yellowed bracelet and the tattoo beneath it.
Shelby read the words.
SAMUEL HOLDEN
ONE DAY WAS ENOUGH TO LOVE YOU FOREVER
Her anger faded.
“My son died in bed nine,” Wade said. “Twenty-three years ago today.”
Shelby stared at him.
“I didn’t know.”
“No one here did until this afternoon.”
Wade looked through the glass at Noah.
“I cannot change what I did after Samuel died. I cannot give him another day. But I can keep Crane from taking yours.”
Shelby’s voice softened.
“Why do you still wear the bracelet?”
“Because for a long time, grief was the only proof I had that Samuel existed.”
Rachel lowered her eyes.
Wade rolled his sleeve back down.
“Now decide whether you want my help.”
Shelby sat slowly.
“What would your help mean?”
“Protection for you and Noah. Safe housing. Legal representation. Treatment, if you need it.”
Her face flushed.
“I’m not an addict.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
Dana opened the folder again.
“Shelby has a history of prescription medication misuse.”
Shelby glared at her.
“I was injured at work. The pills got out of control.”
“And that made you easier to threaten,” Wade said.
She looked away.
“I’ve been clean for six weeks.”
“Then stay clean.”
“You make it sound easy.”
“No.” His voice lowered. “I make it sound necessary.”
Shelby’s eyes filled again.
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know you came back.”
The words silenced her.
Wade leaned both hands on the table.
“Crane chose you because he thought nobody would fight for you. He believed you would disappear and everyone would accept the paperwork.”
“He was right,” Shelby whispered.
“No. He was wrong. You came back.”
Cole’s phone vibrated.
He checked the message, then looked at Wade.
“We have another problem.”
“What?”
“Crane knows Shelby is here.”
Dana stood.
“How?”
“A text was sent from a prepaid phone to one of his known associates. It says, ‘The mother returned. Move the package tonight.’”
Rachel’s face went pale.
“The package is Noah.”
Cole nodded.
Dr. Hale moved toward the door.
“I’m calling hospital administration.”
Wade caught his arm.
“Do not announce the threat over the internal system.”
Dr. Hale pulled free.
“Why?”
“Because Crane may already have someone inside.”
Dana looked at the forged nurse signature.
“A staff member?”
“Or a contractor. Security. Janitorial. Anyone with access.”
Rachel thought of every unfamiliar face she had seen that day.
Then she remembered something.
“This morning, a respiratory technician came to bed nine.”
Dr. Hale frowned.
“No respiratory therapy was scheduled this morning.”
Rachel’s pulse quickened.
“He checked the oxygen connections.”
“What did he look like?” Cole asked.
“Middle-aged. Glasses. Surgical mask.”
“Did he touch the chart?”
“Yes.”
Wade turned toward the NICU.
“Check the baby.”
They rushed from the room.
Emily stood beside bed nine.
“What’s wrong?”
Dr. Hale opened the incubator and inspected the lines.
Rachel lifted the feeding bag.
Her expression changed.
“This isn’t the formula we prepared.”
Dr. Hale took the bag from her.
“Stop the feed.”
Emily clamped the tube immediately.
Shelby grabbed Wade’s sleeve.
“What did they give him?”
“We don’t know,” Dr. Hale said. “Send this to the lab.”
Rachel ran toward the medication station.
Wade stared through the glass at Noah.
The baby remained asleep.
Too asleep.
“Wake him,” Wade ordered.
Dr. Hale touched Noah’s foot.
The infant barely reacted.
“He’s lethargic.”
Shelby began screaming.
“What did they do?”
Dr. Hale lifted Noah from the incubator.
“Prepare emergency toxicology screening.”
Monitors began alarming.
Rachel called for the neonatal response team.
Wade stood motionless as the staff surrounded Noah.
The sound dragged him back into his worst memory again.
But this time, he refused to remain helpless.
He turned to Cole.
“Find Crane.”
Cole nodded.
“Alive?”
Wade looked at Shelby, then at the doctors fighting to stabilize her son.
“Alive,” he said. “He is going to tell us everyone involved.”
Cole moved toward the exit.
Dana blocked him.
“You cannot leave to conduct your own manhunt.”
Wade stepped between them.
“Then call the police and give them his address.”
Cole stopped.
Dana looked suspicious.
“You know where he is?”
“I know where he conducts business.”
Wade gave her the address of an abandoned private clinic thirty miles north of Pine Valley.
Dana immediately called the lead detective.
As she spoke, Rachel approached Wade.
Her face was tense.
“The lab found a sedative in the feeding bag.”
Shelby covered her mouth.
“Will Noah survive?”
“We stopped the feed early,” Rachel said. “Dr. Hale believes he has a strong chance.”
Wade’s shoulders lowered slightly.
Then Rachel added, “But whoever replaced the bag is still somewhere in the hospital.”
The lights flickered.
Every monitor in the unit briefly went dark.
Emergency power came on seconds later.
A security alarm sounded near the elevators.
Cole looked at his phone.
“The cameras just went offline.”
Wade moved toward bed nine.
Through the glass doors, a man in maintenance clothing appeared at the end of the corridor.
He pushed an empty neonatal transport incubator.
The man lifted his head.
A scar ran beside his mouth.
Shelby froze.
“That’s him.”
May you like
Victor Crane smiled from behind the glass.
Then he raised a hospital access card and unlocked the NICU doors.
