Ethan’s attention sharpened.
“Who?”
“She wouldn’t say.”
“Why not?”
Michael looked ashamed.
“Because I told her I couldn’t deal with the property people from three counties away.”
“What exactly did she say?”
Michael closed his eyes.
“She said, ‘They came again. I told them no. I need you home.’”
“And what did you say?”
“That I’d be there Friday.”
Michael’s voice cracked.
“I told her one more night wouldn’t matter.”
At 2:16 a.m., Noah Carter stopped breathing.
The NICU alarm brought three nurses running.
Emily was asleep in a family room down the hallway with Angela sitting beside her.
Rachel had refused to go home.
Noah had initially responded to fluids and warming, but prolonged dehydration had destabilized him.
The neonatologist began resuscitation.
Lucy cried inside the neighboring warmer.
Rachel stood frozen outside the room until another nurse pulled her away.
“Don’t let Emily hear.”
For twelve minutes, the team worked.
Then Noah’s heart rate strengthened.
His chest rose.
He breathed again.
Rachel covered her mouth.
When she returned to the family room, Emily was awake.
“You said they were okay.”
Rachel stopped.
Emily was sitting upright beneath a blanket.
“How did you know?”
“I heard people running.”
Rachel sat beside her.
“Noah had a problem.”
Emily’s eyes filled instantly.
“But they helped him.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
The child pressed both hands against her face.
Rachel pulled her close.
Emily cried into her shoulder.
“I tried giving him milk.”
“I know.”
“He wouldn’t drink.”
“You did everything you could.”
“No.”
“Yes, Emily.”
“I should’ve gone sooner.”
Rachel tightened her arms around her.
“You are six years old.”
Emily whispered something so quietly Rachel almost missed it.
“Mommy told me not to open the door.”
Rachel pulled back.
“What?”
Emily looked frightened.
“After Mommy fell asleep, somebody knocked.”
“When?”
“The first night.”
Rachel’s heart began pounding.
“What did they say?”
Emily stared toward the dark hallway.
“He said Mommy told him to come.”
“Did you open it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Mommy told me before she slept.”
Rachel remembered what Lena had already learned.
Hide the babies.
“Did the person leave?”
Emily shook her head.
“What did he do?”
“He walked around the house.”
Rachel’s skin went cold.
“Did you see him?”
Emily nodded.
“Where?”
“At Mommy’s window.”
Police obtained security footage from a gas station three miles from the Carter home.
At 9:42 p.m. Thursday, a black SUV drove toward the farmhouse road.
At 10:19 p.m., the same SUV drove back.
At 11:07 p.m., it returned.
It did not appear again traveling toward town until Saturday morning.
The plates were partially obscured by mud.
But one frame captured enough numbers for investigators to narrow the registration.
The vehicle belonged to Weston Creek Development Group.
Lena called David Rourke.
He answered on the fourth ring.
“Detective Ortiz?”
“You know why I’m calling?”
“No.”
“Sarah Carter.”
Silence.
Then, “Is she all right?”
Lena’s grip tightened.
“I didn’t tell you she was injured.”
Another silence.
“I heard there was an ambulance at the property.”
“When?”
“Today.”
“From whom?”
“People talk.”
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“I’d like you to come to the station.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“No.”
“Then tomorrow.”
Lena smiled without humor.
“Mr. Rourke, investigators are currently processing a property connected to an attempted land acquisition by your company. Your company vehicle was recorded near that property while three children were inside and both parents were incapacitated.”
Rourke’s breathing changed.
“I’ll call my lawyer.”
The line disconnected.
Sarah opened her eyes thirty hours after Emily entered the hospital.
Michael was beside her.
He had fallen asleep in a chair with his injured arm strapped across his chest.
Sarah made a sound.
His head snapped up.
“Sarah?”
Her lips moved.
He stood so fast the chair scraped backward.
“Sarah.”
Her eyes struggled to focus.
“Babies.”
