Chapter 4
Blue Meadow Holdings had been presented to me as an investment.
That was what Vanessa called it.
A small real-estate company started by an old family friend.
She had asked me to lend it money during the pandemic.
Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
I barely looked at the documents.
That confession made me feel sick now.
At the time, the amount had been small compared to my business holdings.
Vanessa handled most household investments.
I trusted her.
So I signed.
Detective Hayes stared at me.
“You funded the company?”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked like he wanted to hit me.
Maybe I deserved it.
“You paid for the place where she kept my daughter?”
“I didn’t know.”
“You never asked what you were buying?”
“I thought it was an investment property.”
“You thought?”
“I trusted my wife!”
Daniel moved toward me.
Hayes stepped between us.
“Not now.”
Daniel’s hands curled into fists.
Then he looked away.
He knew attacking me would not bring Emma back.
I knew defending myself would not erase what I had enabled.
“What address?” I asked.
Hayes hesitated.
“We have a probable location, but I need you both to remain here.”
“No.”
“Mr. Carter.”
“My daughter is safe with child services and officers in the house. I’m going.”
“You could compromise an active operation.”
“Then put me in a police car.”
“I can’t just—”
Daniel interrupted.
“Detective, Vanessa’s accomplice knows Ethan’s face. If there’s a negotiation, he may be useful.”
Hayes looked at him.
“And you?”
“I’m her father.”
“That does not make you useful in an armed situation.”
“No. It makes me impossible to leave behind.”
Hayes rubbed her forehead.
Then her radio went off again.
A tactical unit was twenty minutes out.
She gave us a hard look.
“You stay behind the perimeter. You do exactly what officers tell you. If either of you ignores one command, you’re removed.”
We agreed.
I went upstairs first.
Lily was awake.
The pediatric social worker sat beside her.
“Daddy?”
I crouched next to the bed.
“I have to go help find Emma.”
Fear instantly filled her face.
“You’re leaving?”
The word hurt.
“I’m coming back.”
“You said that before.”
I understood.
Promises did not mean much to a child whose whole life changed whenever an adult walked out the door.
So I took off my watch.
My father had given it to me when I turned twenty-one.
Lily had always loved playing with the clasp.
I placed it in her palm.
“This stays with you.”
She looked at it.
“You need your watch.”
“I need you to know I’m coming back for it.”
Her fingers closed around it.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
She touched my cheek.
“Find Emma.”
“I will.”
Then she whispered, “She doesn’t like the dark.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“Emma.”
Lily looked toward the doorway.
“When Vanessa put her downstairs, she cried when it got dark.”
I swallowed.
“Anything else you remember?”
“She used to sing.”
“What song?”
Lily shrugged.
“The sunshine one.”
I kissed her forehead.
“I’ll bring her home.”
Outside, Hayes put Daniel and me into an unmarked SUV with another officer.
The tactical team went ahead.
The property sat beyond a narrow road bordered by fields and half-built subdivisions.
Blue Meadow Holdings owned four acres.
An old farmhouse stood in the middle.
There was also a metal barn.
No lights.
No visible vehicles.
We stopped almost half a mile away.
Police surrounded the property from multiple directions.
Hayes spoke through a radio.
Then she turned toward us.
“Stay in the vehicle.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Can you see anything?”
“Thermal shows at least two people inside the house.”
Two.
Emma and M?
Or two adults?
“Any child?”
“Thermal doesn’t tell us age.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Hayes immediately held out her hand.
“Speaker.”
I answered.
“Hello?”
Breathing.
Then a man’s voice.
“You came.”
Daniel’s head snapped toward me.
“Who is this?”
“You know who.”
“I don’t.”
A quiet laugh.
“Vanessa said you weren’t very observant.”
Hayes gestured for me to keep him talking.
“Where’s Emma?”
“You mean the girl?”
Daniel clenched his fists.
“Yes. Emma.”
“She’s expensive.”
My stomach twisted.
“You want money?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“Vanessa owes me.”
“She’s in police custody.”
“I heard.”
“What did she owe you for?”
The man laughed again.
“Services.”
Daniel mouthed, What services?
I shook my head.
“Let Emma go. I’ll pay you.”
“How much?”
“Whatever you want.”
Hayes frowned at me, but I ignored her.
“Five hundred thousand.”
The voice paused.
“Cash?”
“Yes.”
“You carry that around?”
“I can get it.”
“You rich guys always think money fixes everything.”
“It can fix this.”
“No.”
My pulse accelerated.
“Then what do you want?”
“You.”
Hayes’s expression hardened.
“Why?”
“Come to the front door alone.”
Hayes shook her head violently.
I kept talking.
“If I do, Emma walks out.”
“Maybe.”
“No. I need to see her.”
Silence.
Then the line changed.
A video request appeared.
Hayes nodded.
I accepted.
The screen was dark.
Then a light came on.
A child was sitting on the floor.
Thin.
Long brown hair.
Dirty yellow sweatshirt.
Daniel made a sound beside me that I will never forget.
“Emma.”
The child looked toward the camera.
Her face was pale.
Older than the pictures.
But it was her.
Alive.
“Daddy?”
Daniel lunged for the phone.
Hayes held him back.
“Emma!” he shouted.
The child’s eyes widened.
“Daddy!”
The phone moved away.
The man returned.
“You’ve seen her.”
“Let me talk to her.”
“No.”
“What did Vanessa pay you to do?”
“Come inside and maybe I’ll tell you.”
The call ended.
Daniel punched the dashboard.
“She’s alive.”
“Yes.”
“My baby is alive.”
He was crying and smiling at the same time.
Hayes radioed the tactical commander.
I could hear fragments.
Hostage confirmed.
Child.
Unknown suspect.
Negotiation.
Then an officer came running from the perimeter.
“Detective.”
“What?”
“We identified the phone subscriber.”
“Name?”
“Marcus Vale.”
Daniel stopped moving.
I knew that name.
Apparently, so did he.
“Who is Marcus Vale?” Hayes asked.
Daniel whispered, “Vanessa’s brother.”
I stared at him.
“Vanessa doesn’t have a brother.”
“Yes, she does.”
“She told me she was an only child.”
“She lied.”
Of course she did.
Daniel looked toward the dark farmhouse.
“Marcus went to prison when Vanessa was nineteen.”
“For what?”
“Aggravated assault and kidnapping.”
My stomach turned.
Hayes asked, “Who did he kidnap?”
Daniel looked at her.
“A teenage girl.”
Every muscle in my body went cold.
“Why would Vanessa hide him?”
“Because her family blamed Marcus for ruining them. They changed Vanessa’s last name after the case. She wanted nobody to know.”
Hayes immediately relayed the information.
Then her radio crackled.
“Movement at rear door.”
We all looked toward the farmhouse.
A dark figure stepped onto the back porch.
Tactical officers shouted.
The figure ran.
Gunfire cracked through the night.
Daniel reached for the door.
Hayes locked it.
“Stay inside!”
“Was that Marcus?”
“We don’t know.”
More shouting.
Then silence.
Hayes listened to her radio.
“One suspect detained near the barn.”
“Marcus?”
“No identification yet.”
“If someone came out, who’s still inside with Emma?”
That question had barely left my mouth when my phone rang again.
The same number.
I answered.
Marcus whispered, “They shot the wrong man.”
I looked at Hayes.
She signaled officers.
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
Then I heard something outside the SUV.
A tap.
On the rear window.
I turned.
A face stared through the glass.
A man in a dark hoodie.
He held a gun.
Marcus smiled.
“Hello, Ethan.”
He yanked my door open before the officer in front could turn.
The gun pressed against my ribs.
“Out.”
Hayes reached for her weapon.
Marcus pulled me against him.
“Do it and he dies.”
Daniel shouted my name.
Marcus dragged me backward.
Police lights flashed everywhere.
Officers aimed from multiple directions.
“Drop the weapon!”
Marcus laughed.
“You people really don’t listen.”
He forced me toward the tree line.
I tried to slow him down.
The gun dug harder into my side.
“Walk.”
“Where’s Emma?”
“Inside.”
“Alone?”
“For now.”
He dragged me farther.
Hayes followed from a distance.
“Marcus! Let him go!”
Marcus shouted back, “Tell everyone to stay where they are!”
Then he whispered in my ear.
“You married the wrong woman.”
“I figured that out.”
He laughed.
“No.”
His voice dropped.
“You still have no idea who Vanessa is.”
We reached an old utility shed near the edge of the property.
Marcus kicked open the door and shoved me inside.
He followed.
The moment the door closed, he pushed me against the wall.
“You want Emma?”
“Yes.”
“Then listen carefully.”
He took a phone from his pocket.
On the screen was live camera footage.
Emma sat in the farmhouse.
Alone.
I stared at him.
“What do you want?”
“Vanessa built a very comfortable life using people.”
“You included?”
“Especially me.”
He tapped the screen.
“Tonight, someone finally pays.”
“For what?”
He smiled.
“Emma isn’t the only child Vanessa hid.”
I felt cold.
“What does that mean?”
Marcus leaned closer.
“It means before Lily, before Emma, before you, there was another little girl.”
I stared at him.
“Who?”
His smile disappeared.
“Our sister.”
May you like
Then every light on the property went out.
And somewhere in the darkness, Emma began screaming.
