Chapter 8 - The Empty Blanket.
Emily stopped breathing.
"No."
The phone slipped from her hand.
Luca caught it before it hit the floor.
The camera feed showed Dr. Pierce lying unconscious beside the car.
The infant carrier was missing.
Emily turned on Luca with raw panic.
"You said he was safe."
"I believed he was."
"Belief does not help him now."
The accusation landed because Luca knew she was right.
Naomi grabbed Emily's shoulders.
"We find him faster if we think."
Thomas drove them back to the garage.
Dr. Pierce was awake by the time they arrived.
He had a cut above his eyebrow but could speak clearly.
"Two men came through the service elevator."
"Scorpion tattoos?" Luca asked.
"No."
That answer changed everything.
"Describe them."
Dr. Pierce did.
Naomi recognized one description.
"That's federal agent Daniel Cross."
Luca stared at her.
"Federal?"
"He contacted me last year about old Cafalli financial records."
Emily looked ready to collapse.
"Why would federal agents take a sick baby?"
Naomi shook her head.
"A legitimate agent would identify himself."
Luca searched the car and found Noah's white blanket beneath the seat.
Emily picked it up and pressed it to her face.
Then she felt something hard inside the hem.
Another hidden object had been sewn beneath the label.
This time it was a tiny memory card.
Thomas found a laptop that had never been connected to the Cafalli network.
The card contained one video.
Margaret Hart appeared on the screen, older and more frightened than Emily remembered her.
Emily covered her mouth.
"Mom."
The recording was dated six years after Margaret supposedly died.
Margaret spoke directly to her daughters.
She explained that the Scorpion Circle had infiltrated private security firms, city contracts, and even parts of federal law enforcement.
She warned them never to trust a badge without verification.
Then she named one man.
Daniel Cross.
"He is not protecting the Circle," Margaret said.
"He is hunting it, but someone inside his unit has been feeding Victoria information."
The video ended with an address in Brooklyn and one instruction.
WHEN THE CHILD IS TAKEN, GO TO THE RED DOOR.
Emily stared at the screen.
"She knew this could happen."
Luca closed the laptop.
"Then we go to Brooklyn."
Naomi stopped him.
"Victoria will expect that."
"So will whoever took Noah."
Luca stood.
"Good."
An hour later, they reached an old brick warehouse near the waterfront.
Only one entrance had been painted red.
Luca knocked three times.
Locks clicked from inside.
The door opened.
Daniel Cross stood there with a federal badge in one hand.
In the other arm, he held Noah.
Emily rushed forward.
Cross raised his hand.
"He's safe."
"Give him to me."
"I will."
He looked at Luca.
"But first, Mr. Cafalli needs to know who sold the baby's location."
May you like
Cross turned a monitor toward them.
The security log showed the leak had come from Naomi Reed's private phone.
