Chapter 10 - THE APOLOGY AT THE HOSPITAL
Linda woke beneath fluorescent hospital lights.
Toby was asleep in a chair beside her bed with Captain tucked under his chin.
Someone had cleaned the dirt from his face.
His missing sneaker had been replaced with a pair of hospital socks.
Linda touched his hair.
He opened his eyes instantly.
“Mom?”
“I’m here.”
He climbed carefully onto the bed.
“I tried to make them listen.”
“You did more than try.”
“The lady at the bread stall said I was making it up.”
“She was wrong.”
“The guard said you left me.”
Linda held his face between her hands.
“I would never leave you.”
Toby began crying.
He had stayed brave through the market, the police questions, and the ambulance ride.
Now his fear finally reached him.
Linda let him cry against her shoulder.
Desmond arrived that evening.
He carried no flowers.
No expensive gift.
Only Toby’s cleaned sneaker and the blue button that had fallen from Captain’s eye.
Toby took both without thanking him.
Desmond stood near the door.
“May I speak with your mother?”
“She doesn’t have to talk to you.”
Linda looked at her son.
“It’s okay.”
Toby remained beside her.
Desmond did not ask him to leave.
“I owe you both an apology,” he began.
Linda’s expression remained still.
“I fired you without investigating. I allowed Celeste to destroy your reputation. Today I almost dismissed Toby for the same reason.”
“Because he was dirty.”
“Because I decided what kind of person he was before hearing him.”
Toby looked down at Captain.
Desmond continued.
“You saved my life.”
Toby answered quietly.
“I was trying to save my mom.”
That correction struck Desmond.
The boy had not wanted praise.
He wanted someone to open a dumpster.
Desmond placed the blue button on the bedside table.
“Prescott recovered most of the recording.”
Linda’s hand moved protectively around Toby.
“What did Celeste say about him?”
“The final section is still damaged.”
“Then she’s still dangerous.”
“Yes.”
Desmond offered to move Linda and Toby into a private secure residence.
Linda refused at first.
“I don’t want to owe you.”
“You won’t.”
“You said that company assistance was generous when you fired me. Then your public-relations office told everyone I was a thief.”
Desmond lowered his eyes.
“I understand why you don’t trust me.”
“No. You understand why I shouldn’t.”
Detective Vance entered with new information.
Owen’s vehicle had been found near a train station.
Inside were plastic restraints, tools matching marks on the brake line, and a folder containing photographs of Linda’s house.
The most recent photograph showed Toby leaving school.
On the back, someone had written:
Use the child if she refuses.
Linda pulled Toby closer.
Desmond looked at Vance.
“Find them.”
“We will.”
But Vance’s voice remained grave.
“Owen left the car because he knew we identified it. That means he has another plan.”
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👉 Celeste had failed to silence Linda at the market—and her accomplice now possessed everything needed to reach Toby again.
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