“It was raining when you were born, Emma. Your parents wanted you so much. Your mother… she didn’t want to call anyone. She thought she had more time before you came. Someone was waiting for her, and she wanted to go, but your father and I stopped her. If we hadn’t, you would’ve been born on a plane. You came so fast. I heard your first cries. The midwife said it would be a few hours, but it was only minutes. You started making your own rules then, and you never stopped, just like your mother. She was more amazing than you ever knew. You are her only child, the only person on this Earth she created. But there are so many lives that exist because of her.”
That brought him to the bottom of the steps. His voice was faint now, riding out on breaths he could barely bring in anymore. They were taking the air from his fingertips, from deep in his toes.
“The woman that was waiting for her only had to wait three more days. Just long enough to get your birth certificate.”
He forced himself up the first step.
“She had a daughter two years later. That girl has three children now. They exist because of your mother.”
He made it up the second step and gripped the wooden handrail so hard a splinter cut into his skin. But the new pain kept him awake.
“She loved you so much. She did everything to protect you. That’s why she didn’t tell you. To protect you. She knew it confused you, and she hated that. She was going to tell you everything when you turned eighteen.”
He made it onto the third step. The words were just thoughts now.
“She was looking forward to Easter. She was taking a sabbatical. I should have been there. I was waiting where she told me. I should have been there.”
His fist came out of his pocket, gripping the paper and lifted to knock. One more breath drained from his lungs. Her face was the last thing he saw. She looked so much like her mother. But her eyes. They were just like her father’s.
Chapter One Now
“A few hours after breakfast. That’s the last time I saw Martin,” I say.
I’m on the couch in Greg’s room, still mulling over what happened earlier today with Sam, Eric, Bellamy, and Dean. The hospital staff keeps wanting to check on me, but I’m fine. This is the first time we’ve been able to talk about this in hours without someone butting in.
“Start from the beginning. Did he seem agitated at all?“ Sam asks.
“No. When I first saw him around breakfast time, he was perfectly calm. He was already there when I woke up and had breakfast waiting for me. I asked him some questions about Greg and how they’ve been keeping the floor under control. There’s still a lot of questions about how the two agents who were supposed to be with Greg ended up being relieved of their duties the day my father’s brother showed up here. The only thing Martin could think of is the head nurse made the call. He told me about the agents sitting with Greg, and camping out on the cots in the break room for a few hours in between shifts when they are short staffed. He was fine. He wasn’t acting any differently than he had been since the first day I came here. Always helpful and friendly. I’m sure he would have stood around and answered more questions if I wanted him to, but I knew he needed to go see to other patients. He was totally calm when he walked out.”
“Then you showered?” Sam asks.
“Yes. I showered and then sat down and started talking to Eric about a cold case I had him look into for me. We poured over the case for a couple of hours before Eric left, and Martin brought me a cup of coffee. But I made it too sweet and couldn’t drink it all, so when Agent Jones got here, I went to get another cup of coffee and grabbed a turkey sandwich. I told Agent Jones he could go home and sat down to start eating when Dean called. He was just telling me what he found in Feathered Nest, and I started to feel really strange. I couldn’t focus and was so tired I couldn’t keep my eyes open. The next thing I knew, I was on a gurney. I could feel it rolling, but I couldn’t see anything,” I continue. “I don’t know when that was or how I got out of the room. Wait… what about the camera? Has anyone checked the feed from the camera?”
“It’s gone,” Dean says, pointing up to the corner of the room where the camera is.
“What do you mean, gone?” I frown and turn to Eric. “I specifically told you to put it back when you checked it out.”
“I did,” he offers. “The camera is there, but the stream was disconnected.”
“It seems Catch Me got bored with that particular game,” sighs Dean.
“When?” I ask. “When did the feed stop?”
“Not sure exactly. It’s just not available,” Eric replies. “I’ll get working on that.”
“You think Martin has been Catch Me all this time?” Sam asks.
I shake my head, still thinking and trying to figure out what happened. “No. It’s not him.”
“What do you mean, it’s not him? He obviously drugged you and stuffed you in the morgue. You think it’s just a coincidence you get half-frozen right at the same time he disappears?”
“Exactly.”
“That… isn’t actually an answer to the question he asked,” Dean points out.
“Yes, it is,” Bellamy tells him. “She’s thinking. You haven’t been around her enough to recognize that.”
I roll my eyes. “If we could focus on this right now, it would be great. We can reschedule the… spitting contest for later.”
“Nice censorship,” Sam mutters.
“I’m in public.” I let out a sigh. “Martin isn’t Catch Me. I know it.”
“Why?” Sam frowns. “It
