Chapter 4 - THE PATIENT WHO VANISHED TWICE
The first time Noah disappeared, Emma had spent seven years wondering whether she'd missed a warning.
The second time, she refused to waste a single hour blaming herself.
She turned the photographs over to the detectives.
She also submitted a formal report about the forged clinical documentation.
Hospital security restricted her account while issuing replacement credentials.
The medical director assured her that the institution would cooperate with investigators.
Still, Emma felt watched.
Every time she walked through the emergency department, she noticed strangers looking up from their phones.
Every time a black car slowed beside the hospital, her pulse quickened.
She hated it.
She hated the fear.
And she hated that Julian Vescari had somehow entered her life just as the past was returning.
Two days after surgery, Julian disappeared from his assigned room.
Not from the hospital.
From the recovery floor.
Emma discovered the empty bed during a shift change.
The monitor had been disconnected.
His chart contained a discharge note she hadn't seen before.
Dr. Chen stood beside her.
"That can't be right."
Emma stared at the timestamp.
The discharge had been entered at 3:12 a.m.
Under authorizing physician:
DR. MICHAEL CHEN.
Chen shook his head.
"I was in surgery at 3:12."
Emma felt cold.
"Again?"
He nodded grimly.
"Again."
They called hospital security.
The cameras showed Julian being moved through a service corridor by two men wearing clinical transport uniforms.
Tomas wasn't with him.
Neither was the hospital's designated transport team.
The recording ended near a loading-bay elevator.
After that, there was nothing.
Emma stared at the screen.
Somebody had taken a postoperative patient out of a monitored bed using forged authorization.
She remembered Julian's weak pulse.
His blood pressure.
The wound in his abdomen.
If he developed internal bleeding or infection, he could deteriorate quickly.
Then her phone rang.
An unknown number.
She answered.
"Hello?"
Julian's voice came through the line.
"Emma."
Her heart jumped.
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere safe for the moment."
"You were taken out of the hospital."
"I know."
"You need medical care."
"I know that too."
She closed her eyes.
"Then why aren't you calling an ambulance?"
A pause.
"Because the people who arranged the transfer are still inside your hospital."
Emma sat down.
"What?"
Julian's voice lowered.
"They used the same company that moved Noah seven years ago."
Her breath stopped.
"How do you know?"
"Because I recognized the transport supervisor."
"Who?"
Julian hesitated.
Then said, "A woman named Mara Sloane."
Emma stared.
Mara Sloane had been a nurse at the hospital until three months earlier.
She resigned suddenly.
No explanation.
No farewell party.
No contact with former coworkers.
Emma remembered helping her pack the contents of her locker.
"Where is she now?"
"Working for Saint Catherine's."
Emma swallowed.
"And Noah?"
Julian was silent.
Then he answered.
"I think he's there too."
That evening, Tomas appeared outside Emma's apartment.
She had just returned from work.
He stood beside the staircase, his gray hair damp from rain.
Emma stopped immediately.
"Julian specifically ordered you not to follow me."
Tomas raised both hands.
"I know."
"Then leave."
He looked exhausted.
"Miss Richardson, I need to speak with you."
"About what?"
"Your brother."
Her heart stopped.
She kept several feet between them.
"What about him?"
Tomas looked toward the street.
Then whispered, "Noah was my informant."
Emma stared.
"Your what?"
"He contacted me seven years ago because he believed someone was using medical transport contracts to conceal illegal transfers."
"Why would he contact a mob bodyguard?"
Tomas looked ashamed.
"Because some of those vehicles used routes controlled by the Vescari organization."
Emma's hands began shaking.
"What happened to him?"
Tomas closed his eyes.
"I arranged a meeting."
"And?"
"He vanished before he arrived."
Emma felt sick.
Then Tomas looked directly at her.
"I've spent seven years believing I caused his death."
May you like
He swallowed.
"And now somebody wants you to believe I'm the man holding him prisoner."
