Chapter 7 - When the Only Witness Vanished, the Rookie Nurse Became the Next TargetHannah Mercer had disappeared from her student residence that morning.
Her roommate said Hannah had received a message about a hospital placement interview.
She left wearing a blue sweater and carrying a canvas bag.
She never arrived at the interview.
Paige sat across from Hannah's mother, Sarah Mercer, in a quiet conference room.
Sarah had aged considerably since Paige last saw her.
Her dark hair was streaked with gray.
She looked exhausted.
But when Paige entered, Sarah rose immediately.
For several seconds, neither woman spoke.
Then Sarah embraced her.
“Thomas told me about you,” she whispered.
Paige closed her eyes.
“He was a good man.”
“He believed you would tell the truth.”
Paige felt tears rise.
“I tried.”
Sarah stepped back.
“I know you did.”
Those four words nearly broke her.
For eight years, Paige had carried the fear that Mercer's family blamed her for his death.
Now Sarah was standing before her, offering the forgiveness Paige had never dared request.
But there was no time to grieve.
Hannah was missing.
Vale discovered that the placement message had been sent from a hospital administrative account.
The account belonged to a department supervised by Hollander.
When questioned, Hollander denied knowing Hannah.
He claimed his credentials had been compromised.
Then he requested legal representation.
Investigators obtained security footage showing Hannah entering a parking garage near the hospital.
A dark vehicle stopped beside her.
A man stepped out.
The image was too distant to identify him.
Hannah appeared to recognize the man.
She entered the vehicle voluntarily.
Paige studied the footage.
“Play it again.”
Vale replayed the recording.
Paige leaned forward.
The man wore a dark jacket.
His face was obscured.
But when he opened the door, his sleeve pulled back.
A silver watch flashed beneath the garage lights.
Paige recognized it.
She had seen the same watch during her military investigation.
Captain Leonard Voss.
Now retired from operational command, Voss remained influential within the naval medical administration.
He had also been the last person to question Thomas Mercer before his death.
Vale immediately requested an arrest warrant based on the developing evidence.
But Voss had already disappeared.
Hours later, Paige received a message from an unknown number.
YOU WANT THE GIRL ALIVE? COME TO THE OLD MARITIME CLINIC. NO POLICE.
A photograph followed.
Hannah sat in a chair with her wrists bound.
Her face was pale.
Beside her stood Rebecca Shaw.
Rebecca appeared frightened but unharmed.
Paige showed the message to Vale.
“We're not letting you walk into a trap,” he said.
“I know.”
“Then what are you thinking?”
Paige studied the photograph.
Behind Hannah was a medical supply cabinet.
On the wall hung a faded emergency evacuation diagram.
She recognized the building.
The old maritime clinic had been closed for years.
It stood near the southern harbor, overlooking an abandoned service pier.
Paige pointed toward the photograph.
“There's a lower access corridor beneath that building. It connects to the old pier.”
Vale looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“I trained there before it closed.”
He studied the map.
Then he nodded.
“We can approach from two directions.”
Paige took a breath.
“I need to speak to Hannah.”
“No.”
“She may trust me if I tell her who I am.”
Vale considered the request.
Then he said, “Only if we can do it safely.”
Paige looked at Sarah Mercer through the conference room window.
The woman was sitting alone, holding her daughter's childhood photograph.
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Eight years earlier, Paige had been unable to save Thomas.
She refused to abandon his daughter now.
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