Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8 — CONFRONTATION AT HAVEN RIDGE
The rain poured heavily against the black SUV, blurring the headlights as Alexander and Eleanor drove through the imposing iron gates of Haven Ridge Institute. They hadn't called ahead. They didn't want to give the Lanes a single second to move her or alter the records.
The facility director, a sterile, unbothered man named Dr. Joshua, met them in the grand, marble-floored lobby. "Mrs. Whitmore, Mr. Whitmore. This is a surprise. We don't have any patients registered under your family name. Our client privacy is absolute."
"Don't play games with me, Doctor," Eleanor said, her voice dripping with pure venom as she signaled the three massive private security guards standing right behind her. "We know about the Lane Foundation accounts. We know about the monthly transfers. And we know about patient 404. Take us to her right now, or the state police will be here in ten minutes with a federal warrant for human trafficking and kidnapping."
Dr. Joshua swallowed hard, his professional composure shattering as he looked from Eleanor’s icy glare to the imposing security detail. Without a word, he turned his keycard in the private elevator and led them down a long, sterile, white corridor to a heavy, steel-reinforced door at the very end of the hall.
The electronic lock clicked open with a sound that felt like a gunshot.
Inside the softly lit room sat a woman. Her hair was long, streaked with premature gray, and her eyes were fixed blankly on the rain hitting the windowpane. She looked fragile, a hollow ghost of the vibrant, rebellious Claire Whitmore who had vanished eight years ago.
"Claire?" Alexander whispered, stepping forward, his voice breaking as tears welling in his eyes.
May you like
The woman didn't move at first. Then, she turned her head slowly, painfully. When her eyes landed on Eleanor’s face, a spark of sudden, violent recognition flickered through the heavy sedation clouding her pupils.
"Mother?" she whispered, her voice cracked and raspy from years of disuse. She stood up unsteadily, knocking her chair back. Her eyes suddenly widened in frantic, breathless terror. "Lily... did they find Lily? You can't let Victoria near the baby! She said she'd make her disappear too!"
