Chapter 3 - THE VOICE FROM THE HALLWAY
A sharp, crisp female voice shattered the chaotic noise of the nursery from the doorway.
"Move."
The command was not raised to a shout, yet it possessed a piercing, undeniable clarity that sliced straight through the sound of the monitor's flatline and the thunder outside.
The lead paramedic jerked his head around in anger, frustrated by the intrusion into a high-stakes trauma scene.
Standing in the threshold of the nursery was Emily Parker.
At twenty-three, Emily was a quiet mansion maid who had spent the last eight months moving like a phantom through the halls of Michael’s heavily guarded estate. She wore the standard black-and-white mansion maid uniform—a clean black dress with a crisp white apron, her dark brown hair pinned back into a loose, functional bun at the nape of her neck. To everyone in the household, she had always been soft-spoken, invisible, and completely timid, ducking her head whenever Michael or his armed associates passed her in the corridors.
Tonight, however, her posture was entirely different. Her shoulders were set, her posture rigid, and her blue eyes held a cold, razor-sharp focus that belonged in a trauma bay rather than a domestic quarters.
She pushed past two towering, armed security guards standing at the entrance, ignoring the heavy hands that reached out instinctively to block her path. She walked straight into the center of the room, her rubber-soled shoes making quiet, rapid contact with the Persian rug, and dropped heavily onto her knees beside Noah’s table, shoving the secondary paramedic aside with her shoulder.
The lead paramedic turned on her furiously, his hands still holding the ineffective oxygen mask over the baby's face.
"Who the hell are you?" he barked, his face red with frustration. "Get her out of here! Security, clear the room!"
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Emily never looked up at the paramedic. Her eyes were fixed entirely on the infant’s face, taking in every microscopic detail with terrifying efficiency.
"The person who knows what you’re missing," Emily replied flatly.
