Chapter 2 - THE MAN WATCHING FROM THE HOSPITAL HALL
Norah stopped shivering halfway to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
That frightened Gideon more than the shaking had.
He sat beside her in the rear seat of the town car while his driver, Marcus Bell, ignored every traffic law that could safely be ignored.
“Norah?”
The little girl’s gray-blue eyes opened slowly.
“I’m tired.”
“I know.”
“Can I sleep?”
Gideon remembered doctors saying almost the same thing three years earlier.
Keep Juniper awake for another minute, Mr. Vale.
Ask her something.
Anything.
Don’t let her drift yet.
His throat closed.
“Tell me about your rabbit.”
Norah looked down.
The battered toy remained trapped against her chest beneath Gideon’s coat.
“His name is Button.”
“Button?”
“He used to have two buttons.”
Gideon inspected the rabbit.
Only one black button remained for an eye.
“What happened to the other one?”
“Mama said he became a pirate.”
Gideon almost smiled.
“Seems reasonable.”
“She sewed his ear too.”
“With pink thread?”
Norah nodded.
The stitching was ugly.
Uneven.
Not the careful repair of someone experienced with sewing.
It looked rushed.
That detail would matter later.
At that moment, Gideon cared only about keeping the girl awake.
“What’s your mother’s name?”
“Mama.”
“That is an excellent mother name. Does she have another one?”
Norah thought.
“Lena.”
“Lena what?”
“Hart.”
Gideon repeated it.
Lena Hart.
Something about the name touched a distant memory, but grief and adrenaline had turned his mind into static.
“Where do you live?”
“On Pine Grove.”
“In Chicago?”
A nod.
“Do you know the number?”
Norah whispered it.
Gideon immediately texted the information to Marcus, who passed it to police dispatch through the car’s hands-free system.
By the time they reached the emergency entrance, officers had already been sent to the address.
A pediatric trauma team took Norah from Gideon’s arms.
The loss of her weight against his chest felt strangely immediate.
“Where are you taking her?”
A nurse looked over her shoulder.
“Treatment room four.”
“I’m coming.”
“Are you family?”
The question stopped him.
No.
He was a stranger.
A man in a thousand-dollar suit carrying a child he had found beneath snow.
“I found her.”
“Then we need you to wait here until police arrive.”
Norah heard.
Her head lifted from the stretcher.
“No.”
The nurse stopped.
Norah reached one hand toward Gideon.
“Please.”
It was one word.
It destroyed him.
Gideon stepped forward.
“She doesn’t want to be alone.”
The nurse studied Norah.
Then him.
“Stay out of the way.”
“I can do that.”
He followed.
Norah’s temperature was ninety-four degrees.
Mild hypothermia.
Her fingertips were reddened but showed no serious frostbite. She was dehydrated, exhausted, and frighteningly hungry.
The hunger disturbed Gideon.
“How long were you outside?” he asked while a nurse wrapped heated blankets around her.
Norah shrugged.
“It was light before.”
“What time did your mother leave?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was the sun up?”
“A little.”
Gideon looked at the physician.
Nearly ten hours.
Maybe longer.
A seven-year-old had remained on a park bench through most of Christmas Eve because her mother had told her not to move.
“Why didn’t you ask somebody for help?” Gideon asked gently.
Norah’s eyes moved toward the door.
“Mama said not everybody who looks nice is nice.”
The words changed the room.
The pediatrician looked at Gideon.
Gideon lowered himself beside the bed.
“Why did she say that?”
Norah hugged Button tighter.
No answer.
The physician intervened.
“We don’t need to push tonight.”
Gideon nodded.
Police arrived twenty minutes later.
Detective Marisol Vega was not wearing a uniform.
She introduced herself as a violent-crimes detective temporarily assisting because several patrol units were tied up with Christmas Eve emergencies.
Her partner, Detective Andrew Keller, was younger and looked considerably less patient.
They confirmed the Pine Grove address existed.
The apartment door had been unlocked.
Lights were on.
A purse sat on the kitchen counter.
Lena Hart was nowhere inside.
“No obvious disturbance?” Gideon asked.
Vega looked at him.
“This part of the conversation is usually with family.”
“I’m aware.”
“Then why are you still here?”
Before Gideon could answer, Norah spoke.
“He found me.”
Everyone turned.
The girl looked at Vega.
“He can stay.”
Vega studied her for several seconds.
“All right.”
Keller did not look pleased.
Vega sat.
“Norah, I’m Marisol.”
Norah said nothing.
“I’m trying to find your mom.”
That got her attention.
“Did she get lost?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“She said she’d come back.”
“What happened before she left you?”
Norah’s fingers tightened around Button.
“We were in Mama’s car.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did anything scary happen?”
Silence.
Vega waited.
That impressed Gideon.
She did not fill the silence.
She allowed Norah to decide whether to speak.
Finally, Norah whispered, “Mama was crying.”
“Why?”
“She said she made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“She trusted somebody.”
Gideon’s eyes narrowed.
Vega remained still.
“Who?”
Norah shook her head.
“Did she say a name?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
“We drove.”
“Where?”
“Lots of buildings.”
Downtown.
Possibly.
“She stopped by the park?”
Norah nodded.
“She gave me Button.”
“Was Button already yours?”
“Yes.”
“She told you to wait?”
“She said, ‘Sit underneath the blue lights. Don’t move until I come back.’”
Vega glanced at Gideon.
“Anything else?”
Norah hesitated.
“She said if she didn’t come…”
The little girl stopped.
Gideon felt the air change.
“If she didn’t come, what?” Vega asked.
Norah looked directly at Gideon.
“She said Mr. Vale would.”
Gideon stopped breathing.
Nobody spoke.
Detective Keller broke the silence first.
“Mr. Vale?”
Norah nodded toward Gideon.
“That’s him.”
Gideon stood slowly.
“You knew my name?”
Norah’s eyes filled with uncertainty.
“Mama showed me your picture.”
His heartbeat started pounding.
“What picture?”
“On her computer.”
Detective Vega turned toward Gideon.
“You told us you’ve never met this child.”
“I haven’t.”
“Do you know Lena Hart?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You don’t think so?”
“I run companies employing thousands of people. The name sounds familiar.”
Keller crossed his arms.
“That’s convenient.”
Gideon ignored him.
“Norah, why did your mother show you my picture?”
Norah’s lips trembled.
“She said if something bad happened, I had to find the man with the sad eyes.”
The sentence hit harder than Gideon expected.
Sad eyes.
Not millionaire.
Not businessman.
Not foundation chairman.
Sad eyes.
Juniper used to say his eyes looked tired when he worked too late.
“What else did she tell you?”
Norah looked toward the stuffed rabbit.
Then whispered, “She said you would understand Button.”
Gideon stared at the toy.
A worn gray rabbit.
One missing eye.
Pink thread across the ear.
“I don’t understand.”
“She said you would.”
Vega carefully leaned forward.
“Norah, did your mother tell you why she was afraid?”
Norah’s face changed.
All childhood disappeared from it.
For one second she looked much older than seven.
“I saw him.”
“Who?”
“The man.”
“What man?”
Norah stared at the doorway.
“He hurt Mama.”
Every muscle in Gideon’s body tightened.
“Where?”
“By the garage.”
“What garage?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he do?”
Norah’s eyes filled with tears.
“He grabbed her hair.”
Gideon felt sick.
“She told me to stay in the car. But I got out because she screamed.”
Vega’s voice softened.
“What did you see?”
Norah looked down.
“He hit her.”
“With his hand?”
“Something black.”
“Then what?”
“She fell.”
“Did you see his face?”
Norah nodded.
Keller and Vega exchanged a glance.
“Would you recognize him?”
Another nod.
Vega stood.
“We need a forensic child interviewer before we go further.”
Keller stepped toward the hallway.
His phone rang before he reached the door.
He answered.
Listened.
Then turned.
His expression had changed.
“What?”
Vega asked.
Keller covered the receiver.
“Patrol found blood near the lower level of the Grant Street parking garage.”
Norah made a tiny sound.
“The Christmas trees?”
Keller stared at her.
“There are decorated trees near the entrance.”
“That’s where Mama fell.”
Vega was already reaching for her coat.
“Get crime scene there now.”
Keller returned to the phone.
Gideon sat beside Norah.
“We’re going to find her.”
“You don’t know.”
“No.”
He refused to lie.
“But we’re going to look.”
Norah studied him.
Then something beyond his shoulder caught her attention.
Her face went white.
The hospital room had a glass panel beside the door.
A man stood at the nurses’ station.
Tall.
Dark coat.
Silver hair at the temples.
He appeared to be speaking casually with a nurse.
Norah began shaking.
Not from cold.
Gideon saw the change instantly.
“What?”
She pulled the blankets to her chin.
“Norah?”
Her voice became nearly silent.
“That’s him.”
Gideon turned toward the hallway.
The man looked directly into the room.
Their eyes met.
For half a second, he seemed surprised.
Then he smiled.
May you like
And walked away.
Gideon was on his feet before anyone could stop him.
