Chapter 12 - The Shot by the River
The gunshot had struck the ceiling.
Grant had fired when Calvin attempted to run.
Police entered the distribution center from three sides.
Calvin surrendered immediately.
Grant barricaded himself inside an office with the valve case.
The negotiator kept him talking.
Every minute felt like an hour.
Elise’s surgeon waited in the operating room.
The nurses prepared her for transport.
Noah lay in the neighboring incubator, his tiny hand opening and closing as if he were searching for his sister.
I pressed my finger against the glass.
“You are not losing her.”
At the warehouse, Grant demanded a helicopter.
He demanded cash.
He demanded written immunity from prosecution.
He received none of them.
Vanessa asked to speak with him.
Margaret warned her that the call would be recorded.
Vanessa agreed.
Grant answered immediately.
“Tell them to meet my demands.”
“You left me.”
“I was coming back.”
“You took my passport.”
“To protect you.”
“You stole the money.”
“I moved it.”
“You used my access to hide dead children.”
Grant became silent.
Vanessa continued.
“You said Emma was weak.”
“She is.”
“No.”
Vanessa looked through the window at me.
“She signed those papers because she knew you would expose yourself.”
Grant’s breathing became ragged.
“You’re choosing her?”
“I’m choosing my child.”
She placed one hand over her stomach.
“I will not let you teach this baby that love means cruelty.”
Grant shouted something unintelligible.
Then the negotiator heard glass break.
Grant had thrown the phone across the office.
Police used the distraction to enter.
They found him near the rear window.
The valve case was handcuffed to his wrist.
He tried to climb onto a drainage pipe.
An officer pulled him back inside.
The case was removed and carried to the waiting helicopter.
Grant was taken into custody.
The helicopter landed at Beacon Crest with twenty-seven minutes remaining on Dr. Morales’s estimate.
Elise entered surgery.
The doors closed.
Grandfather sat beside me.
Vanessa remained across the room.
For the first time since the NICU confrontation, there was nothing any of us could do.
Then a nurse entered.
“The surgeon found another problem.”
My heart stopped.
“The valve is correct.”
May you like
She hesitated.
“But Elise’s infection markers have suddenly increased.”
