Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN IN THE AMBULANCE The ambulance license plate led them to Erin Cole.
Former paramedic.
Maine.
She had resigned two weeks after Claire's disappearance.
When Erin saw Daniel on the video call, she went pale.
"I knew this day would come."
Daniel leaned toward the screen.
"Was my sister alive?"
Erin closed her eyes.
"Yes."
One word.
It almost destroyed him.
"Where is she?"
"I don't know now."
That night, Claire had been unconscious when paramedics loaded her into the ambulance.
No major visible trauma.
No hospital order.
Marcus told Erin that Claire had suffered a neurological episode.
The ambulance was diverted to a private facility.
North Pines Neurological Recovery.
"What name did they use?"
Erin hesitated.
"Caroline Mason."
A fake woman.
For a real prisoner.
Records showed Caroline Mason remained at North Pines for five months.
Diagnosis:
Severe dissociative disorder.
Memory disturbance.
Paranoia.
Every major document signed by Marcus Hale.
Then she was transferred to Willow Crest Residential Center.
Pennsylvania.
Rebecca called.
Claire had been there.
She was discharged three months earlier.
"To whom?"
Rebecca listened.
Her face hardened.
Then she looked at Daniel.
"Vanessa Carter."
Daniel felt the room tilt.
Vanessa had known.
Not suspected.
Known.
She had physically collected Claire from the facility.
When confronted with security photographs, Vanessa finally broke.
"Marcus made me take her."
"Where?"
"A farmhouse."
"Where?"
She gave them the address.
The FBI searched it.
Broken window.
Old blood.
Women's clothing.
And a notebook.
Daniel recognized Claire's handwriting immediately.
Pages were filled with fragmented words.
Daniel.
Noah.
Carter.
Dad.
One page read:
Vanessa says Daniel thinks I'm dead.
Another:
I don't know what is true anymore.
Then:
If I get out, find the road.
The final entry:
Marcus said Buffalo.
Police searched shelters.
Hospitals.
Transit centers.
Finally, one shelter responded.
A woman had arrived with no identification.
Thin.
Confused.
Calling herself Claire.
She remembered only one surname.
Carter.
But she disappeared one week earlier.
A man had come looking for her.
Security footage identified him.
Marcus Hale.
Daniel stared at the screen.
His sister had escaped.
She had reached help.
May you like
And Marcus had found her first.
Again.
Related Stories
