My son was seven days old when I found him burning with fever beside his unconscious mother. The doctor took one look at them and said, “Call the police.”

I reached into the crashed SUV and grabbed Ashley by the collar of her jacket.

“Where is my son?” I screamed, shaking her violently.

Ashley laughed, a hollow, chilling sound that echoed in the empty garage.

“He is already gone,” she spat, blood trickling down her chin.

“We needed a distraction to get past the police blockade.”

“I was just the bait.”

Vance pulled me back before I could do something I would regret.

He slapped handcuffs on my sister and hauled her out of the vehicle.

“Check the back seat!” Vance ordered.

I ripped the back door open, hoping to find Noah hidden on the floorboards.

Instead, I found a pile of blue hospital blankets.

Inside the blankets was a heavy bag of saline solution, meant to mimic the weight of a baby.

I fell to my knees on the cold concrete, my hands clutching the empty blankets.

They had outsmarted us.

The man with the scar had handed off the dummy bundle to Ashley and escaped another way.

“How did he get out?” Vance demanded, pulling Ashley to her feet.

Ashley just smirked, refusing to answer.

Suddenly, Vance’s radio crackled to life.

“Detective, we have a breach on the hospital roof.”

“A medical transport helicopter just took off without clearance.”

I looked up at the concrete ceiling of the garage in utter despair.

They hadn't gone down; they had gone up.

“Can you track it?” Vance yelled into his radio.

“Negative, their transponder is turned off,” the dispatcher replied.

I stood up, my mind racing through the chaos to find a single thread of logic.

A helicopter required money, logistics, and serious connections.

My mother and sister didn't have that kind of power.

“Who is backing you?” I demanded, stepping into Ashley’s face.

“Who paid for the chopper?”

Ashley’s smile faded, and a flicker of genuine fear crossed her eyes.

“You really think this is about Mom’s debt?” she whispered.

“We sold the baby to someone who has been waiting a very long time for Emily to give birth.”

I stared at her in horror.

Before I could ask another question, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

It was a text message from an unknown number.

It contained a live video link.

When my newborn 'passed away,' my mother-in-law leaned in and said

My Husband Left Me Alone in My Car While I Was in Labor

“You’re Dead When We Get Home,” He Snapped

I clicked it, and my breath hitched.

The video showed Emily, still in her hospital bed, but a gloved hand was holding a scalpel to her throat.

Chapter 7 - The Diversion