A sharp sting radiates through my chest and a fiery pain rolls in my gut. I check my watch, noting Claire should be here any minute. She’s hyped. Rachel called to tell me the news on the now fully approved and combined bachelor and bachelorette party. A troubled feeling settles deep in my gut, and I begin to get edgy. Something is wrong. My hospital cell rings at the same time a high alarm shrills in the hallway.
I’m on my feet and halfway down the hall in under two seconds, running to the Pediatric Oncology floor. “Bennett,” I bark into the phone.
“Code five, get to your team and secure the floor. Follow protocol.” Dr. Andrews hangs up before I can question him.
“Fuck me.” I break into a run. Code five is the second worst situation, right under terrorist threat.
When I reach the oncology entrance, nurses and patient technicians are scurrying any children in the rec area to their rooms. Dr. Cross is behind the desk on the phone. His words are clipped, and when his eyes meet mine, I freeze. His usual easy-going demeanor has converted. He turns away, and as much as I want to hear what he knows, I jump into gear. I go room-to-room, counting patients and staff. Once I know everyone is accounted for, my mind turns to Evie.
She’s at the nurses’ station, but before I can get to her, the elevator opens and three uniformed officers and a member of hospital security rush in.
“We’re all accounted for,” I shout to them, expecting them to take off to the next department. Instead, they don’t leave, coming straight to me.
“Dr. Bennett, you need to come with us,” the security guard says.
Evie is at my side in a second, gripping my elbow. “What’s going on?”
“Give us a minute.” Dr. Cross walks in front of me, his body tight, his jaw clenched, his eyes sharp. “Mathis, we need to talk.”
“Talk.”
He looks behind him to the four men and back to me, lowering his voice. “There’s been an abduction.”
“A child?” My initial instinct is that a baby had been stolen.
“Two witnesses are reporting a woman in street clothes, wearing a backpack—”
“Claire.” It hits me like a sledgehammer, and I brush Evie off, push Cross aside, and get close to the officers. “Claire?” I say forcefully.
Their faces remain stoic and only one replies. “We’d like to have confirmation. The security feeds are rolling now.”
“Let’s go.” I take off to the stairwell, not waiting.
By the time I hit the first floor, I’m racing to the security offices with my phone to my ear, begging for Claire to answer her phone. It goes straight to voicemail three times before I leave a message. “Claire, baby, call me now!”
I don’t slow, barging into the room and finding a mixture of security and police gathered, staring at three walls of screens. One wall is playing the same scene from different angles, and I see as soon as the footage picks up a woman exiting the parking garage. The blood in my veins turns to ice with the first glance. It’s Claire. The video is grainy, distant, and not entirely focused, but I memorized her sway the first time we met. She crosses the small walkway, gets close to the employee entrance, and someone jumps her from behind wearing full body coveralls. No identifying items. Everything is concealed from shoes to face.
The smoking man jumps into action, helping the mystery man throw Claire into the back of an Escalade, then leaps into the driver’s seat and speeds away.
I look at the running timer on the top of the screen, realizing it took only eight seconds.
Eight goddamned seconds and she was gone.
“It’s Claire,” I announce to the room, my voice shaking with rage.
My eyes scan each angle, over and over, the end result always the same— her being thrown into the vehicle. My blood boils, my chest seizes, and my body quakes with fury and fear.
“Dr. Bennett, we need to ask you some questions.” Another officer steps in my space.
“First, you tell me what you know,” I demand.
“You’ve seen what we know, which is nothing. Hospital is under lockdown in case this wasn’t an isolated incident and there is a much larger game in play. She could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. She could have walked up while the perpetrators were waiting for a partner. There are too many unanswered questions. Our guys are going floor to floor, checking credentials, interviewing staff, and looking for anything out of place. Right now, we can’t confirm she was the target.”
“Bull fucking shit!” I scream, losing my temper. “They put a needle in her side, picked her up like a ragdoll, and threw her into a vehicle! If she wasn’t their target, they abandoned their fucking job and in the process took her.”
“Dr. Bennett, we can’t assume anything.” He tries to sound reasonable, but my temper skyrockets.
“Did I mention she is my motherfucking fiancée!?! While you can’t assume anything, I can, and my conclusion is she was fucking kidnapped!”
He jerks, his eyes locking with mine, his soothing nature now gone. “It’s obvious she was taken, and we need to ask you some questions to put our resources in the right direction.”
“My office.” I turn on my heels, not giving anyone a second look. Before I can open the door, it swings wide and the hospital administrator hurries in.
“Claire Dixon has been kidnapped, there may be a criminal somewhere in our hospital acting out God knows what, and you better be ready to answer a shitload of questions,” I bark out, brush past him, and head back to the stairs.
Footsteps pound behind me on the way back to my office. My adrenaline is in overdrive as I pace the space, clawing through my hair, calling her once again, and feeling my heart splinter at the sound of her voicemail.
“Dr. Bennett, please calm down and talk to us. Tell—”
He’s cut off by a shrieking that almost takes me to my knees one second before my office door slams open and Bizzy flies in, pale and completely stricken. Shaw is a step behind her. She notices the two uniformed officers and screams. “Please, tell me it’s not true.”
Shaw wraps his arms around her waist and chest, bringing her to him and trying to subdue her. His eyes meet mine, and I can’t take the dread staring back at me. My legs give out, and I sink into my chair, dropping my chin to my chest.
“This is a closed meeting, ma’am... Please, give us privacy.” One of the men tries to soothe her.
“We’re not leaving,” Shaw speaks up. “In case you need to know, I’m a lawyer, Mathis’s brother, and Claire Dixon is family. In my estimates, you have about twenty minutes until our other brother shows up, and he comes with a lot of attention. I’d suggest you ask your questions.”
I lift my head in time to see the man’s irritation spark and his shoulders straighten. “How’d you get in here? The hospital is on lockdown, and I’d like to know how you are informed of a disappearance that has not been made public.”
“Do you really want to waste our time wondering that, or do you want to ask your fucking questions?” This comes from Bizzy, who is struggling against Shaw’s hold. I know exactly how they know—Evie.
Both officers narrow their eyes and start to argue when I break in. “Claire spent the day…” I draw their attention back to me and tell them what I know of her day.
They ask the standard questions: Do we have any enemies? Any threats? Any jealous old boyfriends? Drug problem? Debts? General problems?
No, no, no, all of them no.
They ask about our life, our friends, her family. Routines, hobbies, online presence, etc. With each answer and each passing minute, my anxiety spikes. They question Bizzy and Shaw as well, looking for any hidden clues.
Without knocking, the door crashes open again with Nick looking murderous, ushering Grace through. “Tell me you have something!” he roars.
The two officers can’t hide their surprise at his arrival. I guess they missed the part about him being my brother and Shaw’s warning about paparazzi. They do a quick job of gathering themselves, one of them even offering his chair to Grace, who accepts.
They share a look, and the hair on the back of my neck stands.
“Dr. Bennett, do you think this is about money? You are a part of a wealthy family.”
“Oh my God!” Grace cries. “Nick, you have to pay them!”
He squats next to her, placing one hand on her stomach and another on her cheek. “Sweet Peach, I’ll pay them, but let’s not jump to conclusions.”
“Mrs. Bennett,” one of the officers says softly, and both Bizzy and Grace’s heads whip to his. He directs his conversation to Grace. “It’s a theory we’ll follow, but your husband is right. Don’t jump to conclusions.” His eyes go to her large stomach.
“Okay, right.” She nods.
There’s a sharp knock then my door opens. Another uniformed officer is standing there. “I may have something. You’re going to want to hear this.” He holds up a listening device, his eyes sweeping the room. “In private,” he adds.
“Play it,” I demand.
He hesitates too long. Nick reaches out and snatches the device, handing it to one of the officers questioning us.
The sound starts out stifled, but it’s easy to hear the teary emotions in the woman’s voice.
“I was in the supply closet… um… making out with Clint. Things were getting heated and… um… when he froze. There was a faint vibration against my upper thigh where he was pressed. He moved away and pulled something out of his pocket. I was too confused to see what it was. Without a word, he grabbed a bag stashed in the corner and disappeared. It took me a few minutes to gather my wits, and I went straight to the bathroom. While I was in there, I got angry and sent him a text. Immediately, the message came back as undeliverable. I tried twice more, thinking my service was bad, and the same thing happened. We have been communicating for weeks, and this has never happened.”
“Who’s the woman in the interview?” one of the officers that have been with me for the last twenty minutes asks.
“Her name is Lora. She’s been a nurse here for over a year,” I answer. “Clint’s doing an internship here. They hooked up a while ago, but I was under the impression it ended. She’s wasn’t his only one.” I go on to explain the months of gossip, tears, and finally peace when it came to his playboy ways.
“Might be something, might be nothing, but we’ll talk to him,” the man says.
“We can’t find him. He’s unaccounted for. His badge was swiped at the employee exit thirty seconds before Claire was taken,” the officer at the door declares.
At his announcement, rage explodes inside. I’m on my feet, edging by everyone and sprinting to the area where the staff is being interviewed. Evie is at the nurses’ station, her cheeks tear-stained and face a ghostly white. The few women around her look the same.
“Evie, I need you to speak to every nurse that screwed around with Clint. Have them tell the officers everything they know. Fuck discretion, every detail.”
A few gasps sound out, but I don’t glance to see who. Shaw and Nick flank my side, their presence giving little comfort.
“We can’t be sure it was him,” Nick tries to reason.
“Two minutes ago, he wasn’t on my radar. Now, I feel it in my goddammed soul he’s got her.”
“Why? What is she to him?” Shaw questions roughly.
“That’s what we have to figure out.”
The range of emotions I’ve experienced in the last two hours hits an all-time high as Detective Flores tells me we still have nothing. We’ve prepared for a kidnap-for-ransom situation, but there’s been no contact. It took all of forty-five minutes for him and his team to decide this was an isolated incident, and no one else in the hospital was in immediate danger. The alarm status has been decreased to code two.
My family, including my parents and Claire’s parents, have been through intense questioning as the detectives try to find a reason for Claire’s abduction. So far, there are only theories, speculations, and hypotheticals. All the women are a mess, to say the least, but Kelly has retreated into a shell of agony. Mitch isn’t much better, but he’s trying his best to be strong.
The hospital has been able to keep Claire’s name from the press who are outside waiting for information. It’s been a challenge because of the traffic in our department, but none of the children or parents know it was Claire, and the staff has been sequestered. Since it’s only a matter of time before her name leaks, the legal team and hospital administrator are preparing a press conference with the help of the police captain. They’d like to wait until more information is available. I don’t agree. I want her name and picture plastered everywhere. Lucky for me, my brothers feel the same.
The door to the conference room opens, and Bizzy and Shaw slip through with another officer. At this point, I gave up keeping track of their names.
“Everything was perfect. Nothing was out of place. Legal documents and investments in the safe. No jewelry missing. The cash Mathis mentioned was exactly where he said it would be. We brought photos for Mathis to tell us if anything seems off,” Shaw tells Detective Flores and hands a folder to me.
I glance through the pictures, confirming that the condo is exactly as Claire leaves it. Clint didn’t take her there for anything.
“Mathis, I found this on the dresser, in her jewelry box.” Bizzy holds out her hand, the diamond engagement ring in the middle of her palm. My heart seizes for the hundredth time. I take it, twirling it between my fingers, and swallow the burn in my throat. I chuckle, not with humor, but pain. Claire didn’t want to wear her ring to work because she was terrified it’d get messed up.
“Thanks, Biz.”
“I also brought a chain. A lot of nurses wear their rings around their necks. Maybe you want it—”
“Put it on me,” I cut her off abruptly, handing back the ring.
She slides it on the chain and fastens it around my neck, squeezing my shoulder.
I’m done with this shit. Time to take matters into my own hands. I glare at Shaw, and his eyes flare with understanding. He leaves without a word, going to find Nick. Bizzy gives another squeeze, knowing what’s coming.
Detective Flores’s phone rings, and he brings it to his ear, his gaze trained on me. He listens, with each passing second his eyes growing harder. Bizzy whimpers, and I stand, putting my arm around her shoulder. His head hangs, and he talks in Spanish, too fast and fluent for me to catch any word.
After he hangs up, he turns his back and gives the officers in the room low instructions and they take off.
“Dr. Bennett, would you like to have this conversation in private?”
“Even if he said yes, which for the sake of his future children, he better not, I’m not leaving!” Bizzy fumes, leaning forward. “What has happened?” At this point, I hold her trembling body back.
He looks between us and talks. “Clint Erickson doesn’t exist. At least, not the Clint working in this hospital the last few months. It’s an alias. We’re working now on a full identity and profile. He has moved from a person of interest to the main suspect.”
“I fucking told you that shit hours ago!” Now, Bizzy has to hold me back as I lunge.
“Dr. Bennett, we have protocols, processes, and lines of investigating to follow. No matter what you assumed, we’ve been looking into this ‘Clint’ since his name was mentioned. Details are coming to light, and I’m sharing them now.”
“Sharing them? What the hell are you sharing? We’re all sitting here on our asses when we could be searching for her. The news is downstairs and could have been broadcasting her disappearance! This is the biggest fucking bunch of bullshit I’ve ever heard. Her parents are outside waiting for a call demanding millions of dollars, and my pregnant sister-in-law almost had a nervous breakdown! Don’t you think we should have been let in on your motherfucking lines of investigating?”
He doesn’t flinch, and it hits me hard. There’s more. Someone knows something internally. There’s only one person who it could be. The person who hired him. Bizzy uses all her strength, but it only serves to slow me down as I drag her with me on the way to the door.
“Where is he?” I bark, knowing anyone in thirty feet can hear me.
“The hospital administrator has been retained for questions and lawyered up. He’s been transferred to the station. In the meantime, a judge has granted access to all his files, and my technical team is searching for clues.”
“Tell them to dig fucking deep. This asshole had access to everything on the floor. He met my family. If he’s after money, he knows he’s hit the payload.”
He opens his mouth, but the door slams open and Shaw storms in, Nick and my dad close behind. “What’s happened?”
I spit out what has transpired, and the air in the room changes, Shaw coming to remove Bizzy’s death grip on my arm. Grace breezes in, looking only slightly better than she did a while ago before I insisted she rest in one of our empty rooms. Nick went with her and only left her side when Mom would sit with her while he got updates.
Phones go crazy with dings and alerts, and a piece of me settles knowing what’s happening. Nick and Grace were busy.
A man in a suit barges in, authority and command written all over him. I easily recognize him as the Captain who was supposed to be here an hour ago.
“Detective Flores, time to start the press conference.”
Flores stands straighter. “I thought the conference was delayed through legal.”
“It was, until three minutes ago. Claire Dixon’s story went public and viral. When I say viral, I mean fucking VIRAL. The entire Miami football team roster, coaches, trainers, and management staffs have posted her information on their social media. The news was leaked to the reporters, and the outlets are going insane. We need to give them something official and give them the tip line.”
“What can we do?” I direct my question to the Captain.
“I’d like for you to work with an IT specialist and go over your internal files, see if anything looks out of place. With everything my team has gathered from the staff, we’ve created a profile. If you think of anything to add to that, tell Detective Flores immediately.”
He’s solid and steady, devoid of emotion, but something in his tone is off.
“What aren’t you telling us?”
He exchanges a look with Flores and steps inside, closing the door. The tension in my body strings tighter, threatening to snap.
“I don’t think Claire was kidnapped for ransom. General abductions on wealthy families statistically have contact by now. The details we are getting from the nurses who were involved with who we know as Clint lead me to believe he targeted Claire for reasons other than money.”
“What kind of details?”
“One woman reports, when they met for dinner, he was dressed nicely, nothing out the ordinary for a date, but she noticed he was wearing a Rolex. The nurse, Lora, mentioned after they hooked up again, he would stay at her place. One morning, she picked up his jeans and noticed the Dolce & Gabbana label. Our officers have five women who had sexual encounters with Clint. Each of them reports that the evening started out the same. Meeting for dinner or drinks, light and easy conversation, and his suggestion to go back to their place. He’d always pay with cash, never a credit card. He’d follow them home, and each gave a different automobile description.
“What I’m getting at is that a man who wears a twenty thousand dollar watch, eight hundred dollar jeans, pays with cash, and owns multiple vehicles is not after a payout.”
“What the fuck?”
“We think you can help us figure it out. He wants Claire for a reason.”
“What’s happening with David Wayne?”
“The administrator isn’t cooperating, but he’s beginning to see reason. Our forensics team isn’t having much luck finding a print here in the hospital considering all the employees, but teams are going to each of the women’s houses to try to lift a usable sample. We have officers going to the restaurants the women mentioned, questioning the staff and combing through footage if available. We’re working every angle to find out who this man is. Once we know that, we’ll find him. I’m not throwing the ransom theory out the window, but it’s highly unlikely.”
Bile stirs in my gut thinking about all the time I spent mentoring this son of a bitch. The first time I met him, I knew he was trouble, but somewhere along the line, I chose to ignore my instincts. He may have been a dick to women, but he showed talent in his field. Interested, perceptive, compassionate… taking a personal interest in patients.
Two things hit me at once. “Josh and my car.”
All eyes swing to me. “Josh is a patient of mine who was recently discharged. Clint showed special interest in his case. He never said anything, but I got the impression Josh resembled someone close to Clint. I mentioned him earlier to the officers interviewing me, but now, I wonder if there’s a deeper connection.”
“Take our technology specialist through the file. She may be able to find a missing link. What about your car?”
“He was in my car a few days ago when we went to tell Claire about Josh’s discharge. You will find his fingerprints somewhere.”
Detective Flores types something into his phone and then looks at me. “There’s a forensics technician meeting you at the elevator.”
I dig my keys out of my pocket and toss them to Shaw who catches them, takes Bizzy’s hand, and leaves to meet the tech.
“Mathis, what do you need us to do?” My dad speaks for the first time, his voice loaded with concern.
“Go tell Mom and the Dixons the latest news, so they’re not staring at their phones waiting for a ransom call. When you pass the nurses’ station, send Evie and Dr. Cross to my office. They are familiar with Josh’s case and also worked closely with Clint.”
He takes off, and I turn my attention to Grace and Nick. “Keep her name and picture rolling on social media. Now that we have a tip line number, add it. Put every recent picture you have of her up. Someone had to see something.” They nod, Grace’s eyes welling up again but determination also shining through.
“Dr. Bennett, if you’d like to speak at the conference, it can be arranged,” the Captain offers.
“Thanks, but I’ve got a job to do. And, I’m warning you now, when we find the bastard, there’s a good chance I’m going to kill him.”
The statement hangs in the air as I brush past them. They may think my threat is idle, but they’re wrong.