Chapter 5 - The Secret Inside Mr. Teddy
"She doesn't belong to you!" Aaron yelled, swinging the heavy iron IV pole with all his strength.
The pole struck Gregory across the shoulder with a loud CLANG, sending him staggering back into the doorframe. But Gregory was a massive man, driven by desperate greed. He lunged forward, grabbing the pole and ripping it out of Aaron’s hands, shoving Aaron violently against the medical equipment rack.
Aaron hit the floor hard, his breath exploding from his lungs.
Gregory turned toward the bed. Ruby was huddled against the headboard, weeping in terror, her hands pressed tightly over her ears.
"Come here, Clara!" Gregory snapped, reaching out his thick, gloved hand to grab her ankle. "We're leaving!"
"NO!" Ruby screamed.
Suddenly, Kelly charged into the room from the hallway, dropping her weight directly into a sweeping tackle that knocked Gregory off his feet. They crashed onto the floor together, rolling across the linoleum amidst scattered medical supplies.
Kelly struck Gregory across the jaw with her forearm, but Gregory managed to roll over, grabbing a heavy glass water pitcher from the bedside table and shattering it against Kelly’s helmet, stunning her momentarily.
Gregory scrambled to his feet, panting heavily. He looked toward Ruby, then heard the thunderous sound of heavy tactical boots sprinting up the stairwell—Agent Croft and the FBI strike team were seconds away.
"You ruined everything!" Gregory spat at Ruby, pointing a trembling finger at her. He reached into his coat, pulled out a small remote device, pressed a red button, and fled out the window into the fire escape, disappearing into the torrential rain outside.
A second later, a loud electronic hum echoed from the small stuffed dog lying on the bed.
Aaron scrambled up from the floor, wiping blood from his forehead. "Kelly! Look!"
Mr. Teddy was vibrating. A tiny red LED light was blinking through the worn brown fur of the toy's chest.
"It's a tracker!" Kelly gasped, pulling herself up from the floor. "He wasn't just keeping her with a toy... he had an RF locator chip sewn inside it!"
Aaron carefully picked up the stuffed dog. Using a small pair of surgical scissors from the tray, he cut open the thick, hand-sewn stitches along Mr. Teddy's back.
Inside, nestled among the gray cotton stuffing, was a small waterproof tracking beacon. But wrapped around the beacon was something else: a small, silver locket on a delicate chain, and a tiny, micro-SD flash drive wrapped in plastic.
Ruby reached out trembling hands. "Mr. Teddy..."
"It's okay, Ruby," Aaron said softly, handing her the stuffed animal while Kelly took the silver locket and the drive.
Kelly popped open the silver locket. Inside was a tiny, faded photograph of a beautiful young woman with bright blue eyes—the exact same eyes as Ruby. On the opposite side of the locket was a simple inscription: To my darling Clara. Mommy will always find you.
"He kept her mother's locket as a trophy," Kelly whispered, her eyes burning with tears.
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Agent Croft burst into the room with four heavily armed SWAT officers, their weapons raised. "Status?!"
"Suspect fled down the east fire escape into the storm," Kelly reported quickly, handing Croft the flash drive. "And we just found his master key. Get this drive to forensics right now. Whatever is on here will tell us where he's running."
