Chapter 185
Marcus’s POV
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The drive to Mount Sinai took eight minutes that felt like eight years. Marcus gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white, weaving through traffic while Elara sat frozen in the passenger seat with her phone pressed to her ear.
“Mom, tell me exactly what happened,” Elara said for the third time. “Every single detail from the beginning”
Marcus could hear the shaking in her voice, could see her free hand trembling in her lap. He reached over and grabbed it, squeezing hard enough to hurt, needing the contact as much as she did.
“We left the vow renewal around nine,” her mother said through the speaker. “The twins were asleep in their car seats. The driver was taking us home when another car hit us from behind at a red light on Madison Avenue.”
“How hard?” Marcus demanded.
“Not hard. Just a bump. But it was enough that the driver pulled over to check for damage. The other driver got out too, very apologetic, said he’d tapped his brakes too late.”
Elara’s grip on Marcus’s hand tightened. “What happened then?”
“The driver went to look at the bumper. I stayed in the back with the babies. But the impact had been just enough that Alexander and Catherine bumped their heads together in their car seats. Not violently, just a little knock. But they both started crying.”
Marcus’s chest constricted. He could picture it perfectly. The twins startled awake, crying, Elara’s mother trying to comfort them both at once.
“Were they bleeding?” Elara asked.
“No. No blood, no visible injuries. Just crying the way babies do when they’re scared. I was checking them over when the ambulance pulled up.”
“How fast did it arrive?”
“Maybe two minutes after the accident? I remember thinking it was remarkably quick but I was focused on the babies and didn’t question it.”
Marcus pulled up to the ER entrance and threw the car into park. They ran inside while Elara’s mother kept talking through the phone.
“The paramedics came over immediately. Two of them, a man and a woman. They had badges and uniforms and a fully equipped ambulance. They asked if everyone was okay and I said the babies had bumped heads.”
Elara’s mother was at the reception desk, her face streaked with tears and mascara. She looked ten years older than she had at the vow renewal two hours ago.
Elara pulled her into a fierce hug. “Keep going. What did the paramedics say?”
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“They asked to examine the twins. I let them because they looked professional and I was worried about concussions. The woman checked Catherine while the man checked Alexander. They used those little flashlights in their eyes, felt their heads, asked me questions about whether they’d lost consciousness.”
“And?” Marcus pressed.
“They said both babies were showing signs of possible head trauma. Pupils slightly dilated, soft spots seemed swollen. They recommended immediate transport to the hospital for CT scans to rule out internal bleeding.”
Marcus felt his stomach drop. “Did you see these signs yourself?”
Elara’s mother shook her head miserably. “I don’t know what dilated pupils look like in a six-month-old. I don’t know how swollen is too swollen. They were the medical professionals and they sounded so certain and I just wanted my grandchildren to be safe.”
“It’s not your fault,” Elara said quickly. “You did what anyone would do. What happened next?”
“They said we needed to move fast. That head injuries in infants can deteriorate quickly. The woman took Catherine to the ambulance while the man took Alexander. They told me to follow in the car, that they were going to Mount Sinai because it has the best pediatric neurology department.”
“Did you see them put the babies in the ambulance?” Marcus asked.
“I saw them walk toward it. The ambulance was parked maybe twenty feet away with the back doors open. But our driver was still dealing with the other driver and the insurance information and I was trying to grab the diaper bag and my purse. By the time I got out of the car the ambulance doors were closed.”
“Did you hear sirens when they left?”
Elara’s mother paused. “No. I thought that was strange but I assumed they only use sirens in heavy traffic. The streets were relatively empty.”
Marcus was already pulling out his phone, calling Dante. “I need you to pull security footage from Madison Avenue between 72nd and 73rd. Timestamp around nine-fifteen. Look for a car accident and an ambulance.”
“On it,” Dante said without asking questions. “I’m also calling the police to file a missing persons report.”
Marcus hung up and looked at the hospital security guard who’d been listening to the entire conversation. “We need to speak to whoever handles your ambulance arrivals. Right now.”
The guard made a call and within minutes a harried-looking woman in scrubs appeared. “I’m Dr. Patterson, head of the ER. You’re the parents of the missing infants?”
“Our children were supposedly brought here by ambulance forty-five minutes ago,” Elara said. “Twin six- month-olds, possible head injuries. Where are they?”
Dr. Patterson pulled out a tablet and scrolled through screens. “We have no record of any pediatric ambulance arrivals in the last two hours. I’ve checked with radiology, with our NICU, with every department that would handle infant head trauma. Nothing.”
“Could they have gone to a different hospital?” Elara’s mother asked desperately. “Maybe the paramedics
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Chapter 185
changed their minds about Mount Sinai?”
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“I’ve already called every hospital in Manhattan,” Dr. Patterson said gently. “No one has admitted twin infants tonight. I’m so sorry.”
Elara made a sound like she’d been punched. Marcus wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her upright.
“The ambulance was fake,” Marcus said flatly. “Someone staged an accident to get access to our children.”
“We need to see the footage from your security cameras,” Elara said to Dr. Patterson. “Your entrance cameras would have caught any real ambulance arriving.”
“I’ll have security pull everything from the past two hours.”
While they waited, Marcus called his head of security. “I need every camera on Madison Avenue checked. Look for a minor car accident around nine-fifteen. I need the license plate of the car that hit our driver, the ambulance that responded, everything.”
Dante called back. “I found the accident footage. Definitely staged. The car that hit your driver had covered plates. The ambulance has no visible company markings. They knew exactly where your cameras were and parked to avoid the best angles.”
“Can you track where the ambulance went?”
“Working on it. Traffic cameras are spotty but I’m pulling everything in a five-block radius.”
Marcus felt rage building in his chest, hot and vicious. Someone had planned this. Had watched his family closely enough to know their routines, had waited for the perfect moment when the twins would be vulnerable.
“Mr. Thorne?” A police detective appeared, young and serious-looking. “I’m Detective Rivera. I understand your children have been taken.”
Marcus explained everything while the detective took notes. The staged accident, the fake paramedics, the ambulance that never arrived at any hospital.
“This is an abduction,” Detective Rivera said. “We’re issuing an Amber Alert immediately. Do you have recent photos of the twins?”
Elara pulled out her phone with shaking hands and showed him pictures. Alexander grinning with his two bottom teeth visible. Catherine serious and beautiful with Marcus’s blue eyes.
“We’ll get these distributed to every police department in the tristate area. In the meantime, I need you to think about anyone who might want to harm your family. Anyone with a grudge, anyone who’s made threats.”
Marcus looked at Elara. The list was too long. Penelope was in prison but she had connections. Aurora was supposedly out of the picture but she had family. There were business rivals, investors who’d lost money, people who’d been hurt by decisions Marcus had made.
“We’ll make a list,” Marcus said. “But right now I need to focus on finding my children.”
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Chapter 185
His phone buzzed with a text from Dante.
Dante. Found the ambulance on traffic cameras Heading north toward the Bronx. Lost the trail near Hunts Point. Sending you the last known coordinates.
“The Bronx.” Marcus said aloud. “They took my children to the Bronx.”
Detective Rivera was already on his radio calling for units to canvas the area. More police arrived, more questions were asked, but Marcus barely heard any of it.
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