Chapter 11 - Seven Empty Beds
By sunrise, Brooklyn knew something had happened at St. Gabriel's.
News helicopters circled.
Police blocked neighboring streets.
Reporters stood behind barricades repeating the few facts federal authorities had released.
A private criminal operation.
Multiple arrests.
An ongoing investigation.
No names yet.
No explanation for why the city's most feared organized-crime figure had been seen leaving a church beside federal agents, a rescued nurse, a seven-year-old girl, and a man the Mercer family had declared dead nine years earlier.
Andrew hated cameras.
Ivy waved at them.
"Stop."
"Why?"
"Because we're not on television."
"We are."
She pointed.
A reporter was speaking live behind them.
Andrew looked.
They were absolutely on television.
He turned Ivy around.
"Car."
"But—"
"Car."
Claire laughed softly for the first time since her kidnapping.
Andrew looked at her.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"It was something."
"You sound like a dad."
Andrew nearly walked into the vehicle door.
Claire's smile disappeared.
"Sorry."
Andrew said nothing.
Daniel heard.
He smiled.
Andrew glared.
"Not one word."
Daniel lifted both hands.
"I've been unconscious nine years. Let me enjoy things."
They were taken to a secure federal property outside the city.
Daniel went directly to a hospital.
This time a real one.
Doctors confirmed what Claire already knew.
Long-term sedative exposure.
Severe muscle weakness.
Malnutrition.
But no irreversible organ damage.
Recovery would take months.
Possibly years.
Daniel's first question after waking from his first proper sleep was:
"Where's Ivy?"
Andrew stared.
"Why?"
"She saved us."
"She threw a key."
"Exactly."
"She's seven."
"Heroism has no height requirement."
Andrew sighed.
Ivy entered carrying a sandwich.
"I brought you food."
Daniel looked at Andrew triumphantly.
"See?"
Ivy placed it on the table.
"Mom says you need protein."
Daniel opened the wrapper.
"Turkey?"
"Yes."
"No mustard?"
"No."
"I like her."
Andrew sat near the window.
For one moment, the room felt almost normal.
Then Rebecca Shaw arrived.
Her face ended it.
"We found the Long Island facility."
Andrew stood.
"The children?"
"Gone."
"Vehicles?"
"Two vans."
"Cameras?"
"Wiped."
"Road?"
"Traffic footage picked one up heading north."
"Other?"
"Unknown."
Claire pulled Ivy closer.
Rebecca continued.
"We think Vale ordered evacuation before the church confrontation."
"Why children?" Daniel asked.
Rebecca looked at him.
"Parents."
"What?"
"Most appear connected to witnesses."
Andrew's jaw tightened.
"Leverage."
"Yes."
"Names?"
"Seven confirmed."
She placed photographs on the table.
School portraits.
Birthday pictures.
Children between four and twelve.
Andrew couldn't look long.
"Vale talks?"
"No."
"Thomas?"
"Even less."
"Ethan?"
Rebecca's mouth tightened.
"He talks constantly. Nothing useful."
Daniel smiled faintly.
"Sounds right."
Rebecca continued.
"We recovered one phrase from Vale's burner phone."
"What?"
"North Harbor."
Andrew frowned.
"Place?"
"Could be."
"Company?"
"Could be."
"Ship?"
"We're searching."
Andrew pulled out his phone.
Rebecca stared.
"You are not joining this investigation."
Andrew looked at her.
"You think I need permission?"
"Yes."
"That's adorable."
Daniel laughed.
Rebecca did not.
"I can arrest you."
"For?"
She gave him a look that suggested they both knew she could find something.
Andrew put the phone away.
"Fine."
"Thank you."
"I'll investigate separately."
"That's not what fine means."
"It does in Brooklyn."
Claire covered a smile.
Rebecca pointed at him.
"Do not interfere."
Andrew nodded.
The moment she left, he looked at Marco.
"North Harbor."
Marco stood.
"Already searching."
Claire stared.
"She just told you not to."
Andrew looked confused.
"I didn't interfere."
"You immediately—"
"Marco is searching."
Marco nodded seriously.
"I'm interfering."
Daniel laughed harder, then winced because his ribs hurt.
Ivy whispered:
"Are you bad guys?"
The room went quiet.
Andrew looked at her.
Children again.
Questions nobody wanted.
Marco scratched his jaw.
Daniel looked interested in the ceiling.
Claire waited.
Andrew finally answered:
"Sometimes I've done bad things."
Ivy frowned.
"But you saved Mommy."
"That doesn't erase the other things."
"Are you going to do bad things now?"
"No."
"Then you're getting better."
Andrew stared.
Claire looked away because her eyes had filled.
Daniel smiled.
"Kid's got a point."
Andrew didn't answer.
Marco's laptop chimed.
"Found something."
Everyone turned.
North Harbor Shipping LLC.
Small logistics company.
Registered in Delaware.
Owned through six layers of holding companies.
Final beneficial owner hidden.
But one address appeared repeatedly.
A marina in Connecticut.
Rebecca had restricted Andrew from the investigation.
She hadn't restricted Marco from reading public records.
"Boats?" Andrew asked.
"Three."
"Names?"
Marco read them.
"Sea Wren. Calista. Mercy Bell."
Daniel sat upright.
"What?"
Andrew looked at him.
"You know one?"
"Mercy Bell."
"How?"
Daniel's face drained.
"When I first disappeared, before Ashwood, they moved me on a boat."
"Which?"
"Mercy Bell."
Andrew and Marco exchanged a look.
"Where?"
Daniel closed his eyes.
"North."
"Connecticut?"
"Maybe."
"How long?"
"I was sedated."
"Anything you remember."
Daniel concentrated.
"Bell sound."
"What?"
"A buoy. Every few minutes."
"Anything else?"
"Diesel."
"Daniel."
"I know, very useful."
Ivy approached the map.
"What color was the boat?"
Everyone looked at her.
Daniel blinked.
"White."
"Big?"
"Medium."
"Did it have letters?"
"I was drugged, Ivy."
"Oh."
She studied the screen.
Then pointed to the marina photograph.
"What's that?"
A sign near one dock.
Blue anchor logo.
Claire leaned closer.
Her face changed.
"I've seen that."
"Where?"
"Ashwood."
Andrew turned.
"Where?"
"Supply boxes."
"Medical supplies?"
"Yes."
Marco began searching the logo.
Within minutes:
North Harbor Medical Logistics.
A subsidiary connected to the marina.
They weren't just transporting people.
They were transporting medical sedatives, equipment, and patients between hidden facilities.
Rebecca returned ten minutes later because Marco had wisely sent her the discovery instead of pretending they could handle seven missing children alone.
She stared at the screen.
"How did you find this?"
Andrew pointed at Ivy.
"Consultant."
Rebecca looked at Ivy.
"She's seven."
"I've been told."
Ivy smiled.
Rebecca rubbed her forehead.
"All right. We move officially."
Andrew stood.
"We?"
"No."
"Rebecca."
"No."
"They'll recognize federal vehicles."
"We have undercover teams."
"Vale's network has law enforcement contacts."
"Which is why you're not coming."
Andrew looked at Daniel.
Daniel shrugged.
"She's right."
"Betrayal."
"I'm recovering."
Rebecca turned to Claire.
"You and Ivy stay here."
Claire nodded.
Ivy did not.
"I want to help."
"No," four adults said simultaneously.
Ivy folded her arms.
Rebecca almost smiled.
Then her phone rang.
She listened.
Her face hardened.
"Mercy Bell just filed an emergency departure clearance."
"For where?" Andrew asked.
Rebecca answered:
"Canada."
"When?"
"Twenty minutes."
Andrew looked toward Marco.
Marco looked toward the helicopter pad outside.
Rebecca saw both.
"No."
Andrew buttoned his coat.
"That's becoming your favorite word."
"If you step onto that helicopter—"
"I'm not."
Rebecca relaxed slightly.
Andrew continued:
"I'm taking the faster one."
Marco smiled.
Rebecca closed her eyes.
Daniel called after him.
"Andrew."
He stopped.
Daniel's expression became serious.
"Bring them home."
Andrew looked toward Ivy.
Five dollars.
A promise.
A contract.
"That's the job."
But as Andrew and the federal team raced toward Connecticut, nobody noticed that one of the seven children's photographs had disappeared from Rebecca's folder.
Ivy had taken it.
Because she recognized the girl.
She had seen her before.
At Mrs. Elellanar's corner store.
Standing beside the man everyone believed was only a delivery driver.
The same man who had been watching Ivy's apartment for weeks.
And for the first time, Ivy realized her mother's kidnapping might not have started with Daniel.
May you like
It might have started with her.
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