Chapter 3 - THE SECOND BAG
“What second bag?”
Vivian didn't answer.
Ethan stepped toward her.
“Where is it?”
Emmie shifted weakly against his chest.
“Dad…”
He softened immediately.
“I'm right here.”
Her eyes fluttered.
“Don't let me sleep.”
The words hit him harder than the chain had.
“Why?”
“She said I couldn't sleep.”
Vivian snapped, “Stop talking, Emmie.”
Ethan turned on her.
“Don't speak to her.”
Sirens stopped outside.
Boots hit the driveway.
A paramedic team rushed through the doorway seconds later with two police officers behind them.
“Where's the child?”
“Here.”
Ethan lowered Emmie carefully onto the couch.
A paramedic named Carla knelt beside her.
“Hey, Emmie. My name is Carla. Can you look at me?”
Emmie barely nodded.
Carla checked her pulse.
Her expression changed.
“What has she been given?”
Ethan pointed at Vivian.
“I'm trying to find out.”
Carla examined the tubing.
“This isn't a normal IV setup.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means someone assembled this outside a clinical setting.”
Vivian immediately said, “I'm a licensed practical nurse.”
One police officer turned.
“Name?”
“Vivian Mercer.”
“Identification.”
While Vivian reached for her wallet, Carla looked through the blue bag.
“This vial is a sedating medication.”
Ethan stared.
“Sedating?”
Carla glanced at him.
“I'm not going to speculate on quantity until we know what was administered.”
“Is she in danger?”
“We're taking her in now.”
Ethan looked at Vivian.
“She told me it wasn't dangerous.”
Carla didn't respond.
That silence terrified him.
The second officer walked onto the porch.
“Sir, I need you to step outside for a moment.”
“I'm not leaving my daughter.”
“You can stay where you can see her.”
The officer pointed to the broken chain.
“Who cut this?”
“I did.”
“And who put it there?”
Ethan pointed at Vivian.
Vivian laughed nervously.
“Don't be ridiculous. The chain was already around the post. She wrapped it around herself.”
Emmie's eyes suddenly opened.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
Vivian's face tightened.
Emmie whispered, “She locked it.”
The room went dead quiet.
The officer wrote something down.
“Ms. Mercer, do not leave.”
Vivian folded her arms.
Ethan remembered her words.
Second bag.
He stepped closer.
“You told me there's another bag.”
Vivian looked away.
“She's confused.”
“You said it thirty seconds before they arrived.”
“I was upset.”
“Where is it?”
One officer looked at her.
“What bag?”
Ethan held up the card.
“This says another dose is due at 4:30. She said the medicine wasn't the real problem. She mentioned a second bag.”
Carla looked sharply toward Vivian.
“What second bag?”
Vivian's composure finally cracked.
“I don't know.”
Ethan suddenly noticed muddy footprints leading from the kitchen toward the basement door.
Small footprints.
Child-sized.
He looked at Emmie.
“Were you in the basement?”
Her breathing changed.
“No.”
“Emmie?”
She grabbed his wrist.
“Don't go down there.”
Ethan crouched beside her.
“Why?”
Tears filled her eyes.
May you like
“Because there's another kid.”
---
