Chapter 6 - THE DOCTOR’S SECOND FACE
Nora felt Adrian stiffen beside her.
Dr. Warren had delivered Lily.
He had treated Isabelle after two miscarriages.
He had attended every major family emergency for fifteen years.
Now he stood inside the abandoned warehouse holding a syringe.
Claire’s head hung forward.
A masked man checked his watch.
“Where is the rabbit?”
Dr. Warren answered quietly.
“Celeste failed.”
“She said the child would tell her.”
“The child nearly died.”
“That was not part of the plan.”
Nora’s hands curled into fists.
Daniel placed a warning hand on her shoulder.
They needed to know whether more captors were inside.
A door opened at the rear of the warehouse.
Marcus Reed entered.
He had escaped the estate.
Adrian whispered a curse.
Marcus had apparently been taken away by police less than an hour earlier.
That meant someone had released him.
Marcus approached Claire.
“Her sister will come.”
Dr. Warren looked uneasy.
“And Adrian?”
“He still trusts the wrong people.”
Marcus smiled.
“He always has.”
Daniel signaled the security team to move into position.
Before they could advance, Claire lifted her head.
Her eyes met Nora’s through the cracked warehouse window.
Claire did not scream.
She looked deliberately toward the ceiling.
A red light blinked above the customs office.
A motion sensor.
Nora understood.
The river entrance was alarmed.
She pointed it out to Daniel.
He changed the plan.
Adrian stepped from the shadows and walked through the main warehouse door alone.
Marcus turned.
“Mr. Vale.”
Adrian held up the rabbit.
“You wanted this.”
Nora watched from behind a shipping container.
Dr. Warren moved the syringe closer to Claire’s neck.
“Set it down.”
Adrian placed the rabbit on the floor.
Marcus approached it.
At that moment, the warehouse lights went out.
Daniel’s team entered through the eastern loading doors.
Nora ran toward Claire.
A gunshot exploded.
Metal sparked near her head.
She dropped behind the chair.
Claire kicked the masked man in the knee.
Nora tore the tape from her sister’s wrists.
Across the room, Adrian struck Marcus before he could reach the rabbit.
Dr. Warren fled toward the river exit.
Daniel caught him near the alarm sensor.
Within seconds, the warehouse was under control.
Marcus lay bleeding on the concrete.
Claire clung to Nora.
Then Daniel opened the cream-colored rabbit.
He found a small tracking device hidden beneath the stuffing.
Someone had placed it there after Celeste opened the toy.
The tracker was still transmitting.
The kidnappers had not been waiting for Nora.
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They had been guiding someone else directly to the warehouse.
Outside, the sound of a helicopter grew louder.
