Chapter 5 - Descent into the Embalming Room
Panic surged through Rosalind's veins like liquid ice. She didn't hesitate. She threw open the door to Savannah's hospital room.
The room was empty.
The bed sheets were tossed aside, and the IV pole stood dripping liquid onto the linoleum floor with a steady, maddening rhythm.
“Savannah?!” Rosalind screamed, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.
She rushed into the hallway, looking left and right. The corridor was eerily quiet, bathed in the pale yellow glow of emergency lights. No nurses at the station. No security guards at the desk. It was as if the entire floor had been emptied out in a matter of seconds.
“Detective Lin!” Rosalind yelled at the top of her lungs, sprinting toward the elevator bay.
As she reached the corner, a dark figure stepped out from the utility closet, blocking her path.
Before Rosalind could scream, a heavy hand clamped over her mouth, and a sweet, chemical scent flooded her senses. She fought back, kicking and flailing with every ounce of strength she had left, but the darkness crept in at the edges of her vision, dragging her down into unconsciousness.
When Rosalind finally blinked her eyes open, the bright white lights of the hospital were gone.
Instead, she was greeted by the damp, earthy smell of wet soil, decaying flowers, and polished mahogany.
She was lying on a cold concrete floor, her hands bound behind her back with heavy zip ties. Above her, a dim overhead bulb flickered inside a vast, cavernous basement lined with towering metal shelves filled with urns, floral arrangements, and rows of empty caskets.
The preparation room of Sterling Memorial Funeral Home.
“Ah, the grandmother wakes,” a calm voice echoed from the shadows.
Richard Sterling stepped into the pool of light, dressed in a sharp three-piece suit, looking as pristine as if he were attending a high-society gala rather than holding hostages in his basement. A few feet away, sitting in a metal folding chair with her hands similarly tied and a frightened look in her eyes, was Savannah.
“Grandma!” Savannah cried out, struggling against her bonds.
“Stay away from her!” Rosalind shouted, trying to scramble to her feet, her legs shaking uncontrollably. “If you touch her, you'll never get away with this! The police know you're involved!”
Richard smiled thinly, walking over to a stainless-steel embalming table where a silver syringe lay resting next to a vial of clear liquid.
“Mrs. Rosalind, please. Let's be realistic,” Richard said, picking up the syringe and tapping the side with his fingernail to clear the air bubbles. “Detective Lin is currently sitting in a traffic jam on Interstate 94, responding to a false bomb threat called in anonymously to the precinct. By the time she realizes she's been played, we'll be long gone.”
“Why are you doing this?” Rosalind demanded, trying to buy time, searching the room frantically for an escape route or a heavy object she could use as a weapon. “It was about money for Gavin and Priscilla. What do you get out of a dead child?”
“It's never just about the money, my dear,” Richard said, walking slowly toward Savannah. The little girl shrank back in her chair, whimpering softly. “Money is a byproduct. Control is the true currency. For thirty years, I've managed the departures of the wealthy, the powerful, and the desperate. I know every secret in this city. Gavin came to me begging for a way out of his debt. I gave him a solution, but in exchange, he gave me something far more valuable: absolute leverage.”
“You're a sick psychopath,” Rosalind spat.
“Call it what you like,” Richard replied smoothly, raising the syringe toward Savannah's arm. “Now, unfortunately, since you refused my generous offer, we have to expedite the process. A second funeral is so much harder to explain than a first one, but accidents happen all the time in hospitals during transfers.”
“Stop!” Rosalind screamed, lunging forward despite her bound hands, desperate to shield her granddaughter.
Suddenly, a deafening crash echoed from upstairs.
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The heavy steel security door at the top of the basement stairs burst inward with a thunderous bang, splintering wood and metal echoing through the facility.
“Maplewood Police! Nobody move!”
