Finding Her Son(57)

“What did you do to Vanessa?” Her forehead damp with sweat and her face streaked with tears, Kayla cried out as another contraction began.

“She’s not your concern anymore. Just push the brat out, or I’ll cut it out,” he said, nodding to the tray of instruments at his side.

“No. Don’t hurt my baby.” Kayla’s plea echoed through the speaker.

“That’s it. No more time. We’re getting her out of there now.” Mitch updated Decker and turned to Emily. “The room is soundproofed, so I’ll knock loudly. You announce yourself, then move aside. That’ll get the doctor away from her. Greggson, you go for the doctor. I’ll get the girl.”

They moved into position, and Mitch knocked on the door. He nodded at Emily.

“Doctor. I’m here,” she shouted and flattened herself against the opposite wall.

The door slid open. “It’s about time.”

“Go!” Greggson’s voice sounded in Mitch’s ear.

They rushed through the door side by side. Mitch reached Kayla just as Greggson slammed the doctor against the wall and restrained his wrists.

Once Greggson had the doctor secure with zip ties, Emily raced into the room and covered Kayla with a sheet, then knelt beside her, whispering words of comfort, holding her as the teen sobbed in her arms.

“How’s she doing?” Mitch asked, his concern for the girl growing as she cried out in pain.

“Her contractions are coming fast. She needs a hospital.”

Mitch barked out an order. Greggson communicated with Lieutenant Decker. Minutes later, paramedics were loading Kayla onto a gurney. She clutched Mitch’s arm. “Coach? Can you call my grandma? I need her.”

Mitch pushed back the blond hair from Kayla’s damp forehead. “You got it, honey. I’ll let Ricky know, too.”

She shook her head against the pillow on the gurney. “I let him down.”

“He loves you. He had faith in you. He knew something was wrong. That’s why he searched for you.”

A tear slipped down her cheek. “The doctor took Vanessa, and I haven’t seen her since. Have you found her?”

Mitch met Emily’s sorrowful gaze. “Let’s get you to the hospital, Kayla. Then we can fill you in.”

Kayla wiped the tears away. “Don’t bother. He killed her, didn’t he?” She looked at the doctor, now sitting in the corner of the room being questioned by Greggson. “It’s all my fault.”

Emily leaned in closer. “No, Kayla. You can’t control what other people do.”

“You don’t understand. Vanessa and I changed our minds about giving up our babies, but we were stupid. We came back to tell the doctor. He was really mad and told us we had no choice.” Kayla rubbed her eyes and raised a haunted gaze to them. “I told Vanessa we should pretend to change our minds and wait for an opportunity to sneak out. It was working. Until the night I wanted some milk from the kitchen. We were halfway down the stairs when we saw him.”

Mitch instincts trilled in his mind. “Who? Vance? The cop?”

“Not him. A man. With a tattoo. He was yelling about needing a signature. He threatened the doctor. Scared him. Bad. Then Vanessa gasped. A contraction. The doctor saw us.” Kayla wiped her eyes. “I never saw her again.”

Mitch leaned over Kayla. “What kind of tattoo did this guy have?”

“The same gang tat as Ghost—a red and green devil on his wrist—but with a pink ribbon wrapped around it. Like those breast-cancer ribbons. Weird.”

“Knife!” Greggson gave a shout as a loud crash reverberated through the room.

Mitch whirled toward the noise, shoving Emily behind him to protect her. The doctor knocked the surgical tray into them as he bolted from the corner and out the door.

“He stabbed me with a syringe.” Greggson held the side of his neck. “Careful! He must’ve palmed a scalpel. He cut the zip ties.”

Mitch cursed and bolted down the hall after the doctor, all the while relaying a message to Reynolds. How had a secure scene gone downhill so fast?

The doctor grabbed the banister and tried to rush down the stairs, but by the time he reached the second floor, he was panting and doubled over. Mitch took the stairs two at a time, each jolt slamming up his leg like a firebrand. He’d pay for it later, but right now he didn’t care. He’d seen Vanessa’s crime-scene photos. Mitch was taking this murderer down.

He was just feet behind the doctor when the man frantically looked around and veered into the same bedroom Mitch and Emily escaped from earlier. Mitch followed. The missing window slats allowed the sun to bathe the room in light.

“Don’t come any closer.” The doctor paced frantically, brandishing the scalpel and searching for an escape.

“Mitch, find out what was in that syringe,” Reynolds said through the earpiece. “Fast.”

Mitch closed him and the doctor into the room. Alone. “There’s nowhere to go, and I’m not feeling friendly. So, Doc, what was in that syringe?”

“Nothing but air,” the doctor snapped. “If done right, it’s the perfect crime.”

“You catch that?” Mitch said through his earpiece.

“Air embolus,” the EMT said sharply. “Get Greggson to the hospital.”