Chapter 13 - Monster
By morning, Hunter’s condition had stabilized.
He was weak and confused, but conscious.
Doctors warned Abigail not to press him with questions.
Detective Richards waited outside the room.
Diane and Rachel stood near the far wall under police supervision.
Rachel had surrendered the smartwatch.
Its damaged files were being recovered.
Diane kept whispering that she needed to explain.
Abigail ignored her.
She sat beside Hunter and stroked his hair.
“You’re safe.”
His eyes moved toward the door.
“Mom?”
“I’m here.”
“You came back.”
“I came as fast as I could.”
Hunter’s lower lip trembled.
“I tried to call.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t leave me?”
“Never.”
A tear slipped down his cheek.
Then his gaze shifted across the room.
Diane had moved closer.
Hunter stiffened.
His heart rate increased.
A nurse asked everyone to step back.
Hunter lifted one shaking hand.
He pointed toward Diane and Rachel.
“Monster.”
Diane covered her mouth.
Rachel began crying.
Abigail leaned close.
“Baby, who hurt you?”
Hunter struggled to breathe.
His finger moved away from the women.
Toward the glass.
“Not them…” he whispered. “The man.”
Richards turned.
A man in a dark jacket stood among the nurses outside.
Mason.
He had changed his hair and covered the scar beside his jaw with makeup, but Abigail recognized him instantly.
He had come to discover whether Hunter could speak.
When Mason saw Richards moving, he ran.
“Lock every exit,” Richards ordered.
Hospital security sealed the elevators.
Mason reached the stairwell.
An officer followed.
He raced down three flights, crossed the maternity floor, and attempted to leave through a service corridor.
A security guard blocked the door.
Mason struck him and turned back.
Richards appeared at the opposite end of the hallway.
Mason froze.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Instead, Mason reached inside his jacket.
Richards raised his weapon.
“Do not do it.”
Mason slowly removed a set of car keys.
Then he dropped them.
Officers forced him to the floor and handcuffed him.
Back inside the ICU, Hunter clung weakly to Abigail’s hand.
The alarm stopped.
The hallway became quiet again.
But Mason’s arrest did not answer the question that mattered most.
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Why had Diane risked Hunter’s life to protect him?
👉 The answer was hidden in a bank transfer Mason made three days before Abigail left town.
