Chapter 8 - The Woman in the MirrorVanessa disappeared for nine days.
That was how she knew it was good.
They would announce that Claire had been readmitted to St. Augustine because of pregnancy complications.
The story would leak naturally.
A carefully selected nurse would mention a possible early delivery.
Security would appear reduced.
Vanessa would believe she had another opportunity.
Alexander hated every part of it.
“No.”
Claire sat across from him.
“You asked what I was thinking.”
“I regret it.”
“She won’t stop.”
“Then police arrest her.”
“For what? Harassment? Surveillance? A jammer? She’ll make bail.”
“She tried to drug you.”
“We can’t prove she personally replaced the pills.”
Alexander stood.
“We are not using you as bait.”
Claire stood too.
At seven months pregnant, she was considerably less intimidating.
She tried anyway.
“She already made me bait.”
“No.”
“Our daughter deserves to be born without this woman waiting outside.”
Alexander looked away.
Claire touched his arm.
“We control the environment.”
Ortiz supported the plan reluctantly.
Vanessa was becoming desperate.
Her finances were deteriorating.
Investigators had interviewed former employees.
Dr. Pike was negotiating immunity.
The walls were closing.
Desperate people made mistakes.
So three days later, an ambulance carried Claire publicly into St. Augustine.
Photographers captured everything.
Alexander followed.
The media reported premature labor within the hour.
Vanessa saw it from her penthouse.
She smiled.
At 11:20 p.m., a woman wearing hospital scrubs entered the employee parking garage.
She carried an identification badge.
It was fake.
Cameras followed her through a service elevator.
She reached the seventeenth floor.
Entered a storage room.
Changed wigs.
Changed badges.
Then walked toward Claire’s suite.
Police watched from hidden observation rooms.
Ortiz spoke into her radio.
“Do not move until she enters.”
Alexander watched a monitor.
His fists clenched.
Claire was inside the suite.
Not alone.
Two armed officers occupied the adjoining room.
Dr. Bennett waited nearby.
Everything had been planned.
Still, Alexander hated it.
The disguised woman reached Claire’s door.
She hesitated.
Then entered.
Claire was lying in bed.
The room lights were dim.
The woman approached.
Claire recognized her immediately.
Not Vanessa.
Vanessa’s missing assistant.
Madison Cole.
The woman who had disappeared after the first attack.
Madison pulled a syringe from her pocket.
Claire’s heart raced.
“Ms. Holloway?”
Claire pretended to wake.
“Who are you?”
“Night nurse.”
“I don’t know you.”
“We changed shifts.”
Madison moved closer.
“This will help your contractions.”
Claire looked at the syringe.
“What is it?”
“Magnesium.”
She reached for Claire’s IV.
Claire said the agreed code phrase.
“I’d like my husband.”
The adjoining door exploded open.
Madison dropped the syringe.
Police tackled her.
She screamed.
Within minutes, she was handcuffed.
The syringe contained a powerful sedative.
Not enough to kill Claire.
Enough to render her unconscious.
Ortiz questioned Madison through the night.
At first she refused to speak.
Then prosecutors explained the charges.
Attempted kidnapping.
Conspiracy.
Tampering with medication.
Potential federal crimes.
Madison began crying.
“I never wanted anyone hurt.”
Ortiz placed photographs of Claire’s bruises on the table.
“You helped the woman who did this.”
“She told me Claire was dangerous.”
“And you believed her?”
Madison looked away.
“No.”
That single word broke the case open.
Vanessa had instructed Madison to sedate Claire.
Then another person was supposed to trigger an emergency alarm.
During the confusion, Claire would be moved using a fake medical transport team.
“What about the baby?” Ortiz asked.
Madison cried harder.
“Vanessa had documents prepared.”
“What documents?”
“Stillbirth records.”
Claire heard the confession later.
She couldn’t speak.
Alexander walked outside and punched a concrete wall.
He fractured two knuckles.
Claire scolded him.
He didn’t care.
Madison gave police addresses.
Accounts.
Passwords.
Storage units.
One storage unit contained maternity clothing in Claire’s size.
A duplicate Holloway Foundation identification badge.
Hospital forms.
Medical equipment.
And dozens of photographs of Claire.
Some crossed out.
Others marked with handwritten notes.
Hair shorter.
Gain 8 lbs.
Learn signature.
Practice voice.
Alexander stared at the evidence.
Vanessa hadn’t been planning merely to steal their child.
She had been rehearsing Claire.
Becoming Claire.
Then investigators opened a locked case.
Inside were three passports.
All with Vanessa’s photograph.
Each used a different name.
One name made Alexander’s blood run cold.
Claire Elizabeth Holloway.
An arrest warrant was issued immediately.
Police stormed Vanessa’s penthouse.
Empty.
Her closets had been cleared.
Cash was gone.
Car gone.
Passport gone.
But on the dining table sat a single red envelope addressed to Claire.
May you like
Inside:
You always were temporary.
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