Chapter 8
Caleb was alive.
And apparently Vanessa had been working with him for years.
Hayes moved Nora inside immediately.
Police searched her car.
No weapons.
No tracking device they could find.
Still, every word she said was treated as evidence.
Nora sat at the kitchen table with a blanket around her shoulders.
She looked younger than nineteen.
Fear did that to people.
“What does Vanessa want with Lily?” I asked.
Hayes gave me a warning look.
“Let me ask the questions.”
I nodded.
Barely.
Nora stared at the table.
“She thinks Lily belongs with her.”
“Why?” Hayes asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You worked for Vanessa?”
“When I was younger.”
“How young?”
“Fourteen.”
My stomach twisted.
“What did you do?”
“Watched Emma sometimes. Cleaned the lake house. Delivered things.”
“Did you ever watch Lily?”
Nora looked at me.
Once.
Then looked away.
My heart dropped.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Twice.”
I gripped the back of a chair.
Hayes asked, “Where?”
“Here.”
“At the lake house?”
Nora nodded.
“Did Vanessa hurt Lily?”
“She scared her.”
“What does that mean?”
“She made her sit downstairs. She told her Emma had disappeared because Emma didn’t listen.”
I closed my eyes.
Nora began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
“You were a child,” Hayes said.
“I still helped.”
“Yes,” I said before I could stop myself. “You did.”
Hayes looked at me.
I turned away.
I wanted to be compassionate.
But my daughter had cried in that basement.
Compassion was difficult.
Nora continued.
“My dad said Vanessa was just strict.”
“Caleb knew?”
“Yes.”
“Did he help hold Emma?”
Nora hesitated.
“Yes.”
Marcus exploded from the other side of the room.
“I knew it!”
Officers had allowed him to sit nearby while still cuffed.
He leaned forward.
“That coward.”
Hayes turned.
“You stay quiet.”
Nora stared at Marcus.
“Uncle Marcus?”
His face changed.
“You remember me?”
“My dad said you were dangerous.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“Of course he did.”
Hayes asked Nora, “Where is Caleb now?”
“I don’t know.”
“When did you last see him?”
“Yesterday.”
“Where?”
“A motel near Mesquite.”
“What did he say?”
“That we had to leave Texas.”
“Why?”
“He said Ethan was going to find out.”
I turned.
“Find out what?”
Nora looked at me again.
“The money.”
My stomach tightened.
“What money?”
“Vanessa has been stealing from you.”
That did not surprise me anymore.
“How much?”
Nora whispered, “Millions.”
Hayes leaned closer.
“How do you know?”
“My father moved it.”
“Through what?”
“Companies. Accounts. Houses.”
I thought of Blue Meadow Holdings.
Carter Family Ventures.
What else?
“What was the money for?”
Nora rubbed her hands together.
“To disappear.”
Hayes asked, “Who?”
“All of them.”
“Define all.”
“Vanessa. Dad. Emma. Lily. Me.”
I stared at her.
“Why you?”
“Because I know too much.”
“Then why did your father help her?”
Nora’s expression hardened.
“Because Dad thinks Vanessa owes him.”
“For what?”
“For Rachel.”
Marcus stood so fast his chair tipped.
“What about Rachel?”
Officers grabbed him.
Nora flinched.
“My dad says Rachel’s disappearance ruined his life too.”
Marcus shouted, “He was there!”
“I know!”
The room went silent.
Nora covered her face.
Hayes waited.
“What happened to Rachel?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does Caleb?”
Nora whispered, “Yes.”
That answer changed everything.
“Has he told you?”
“Not exactly.”
“What has he said?”
“That Vanessa started it.”
“Started what?”
Nora shook her head.
“He won’t say.”
Marcus’s voice cracked.
“Is Rachel dead?”
Nora looked at him.
“I think so.”
Marcus lowered his head.
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Then Hayes asked, “Why did Vanessa call you tonight?”
“She needs Lily.”
“We know that. Why?”
“She says Emma is ruined.”
I felt sick.
“Ruined?”
“Because Emma saw Daniel again. Because she knows Vanessa lied.”
“And Lily?”
“Vanessa thinks Lily can still be fixed.”
I slammed my palm against the wall.
Nora jumped.
Hayes said my name sharply.
I forced myself to breathe.
“What does fixed mean?”
Nora whispered, “Made loyal.”
Vanessa did not want children.
She wanted possessions.
People who could be shaped until they reflected whatever she needed.
Emma resisted.
Rachel resisted.
Lily was six.
In Vanessa’s mind, that made her salvageable.
Hayes’s phone rang.
She stepped away.
When she returned, she looked at Nora.
“We checked the motel.”
Nora’s face lifted.
“My dad?”
“Gone.”
“Of course.”
“Room was empty except for blood on a towel.”
Nora went pale.
“Blood?”
“We don’t know whose.”
She started shaking.
“Vanessa said she’d kill him.”
Hayes crouched beside her.
“Did she tell you where to bring Lily?”
Nora hesitated.
“Yes.”
Every person in the room became still.
“Where?”
“A bus station downtown.”
“When?”
“Midnight.”
I checked the time.
10:42.
Hayes stood.
“Good.”
Nora panicked.
“No. You don’t understand.”
“We can set up surveillance.”
“She’ll know.”
“How?”
“She always knows.”
“We can handle that.”
“No!”
Nora stood.
“She said I had to bring Lily alone. If she sees police, she kills Dad.”
“We are not bringing Lily.”
Nora looked at me.
“She’ll know if it isn’t her.”
“There is no chance I use my daughter as bait.”
Hayes nodded.
“That is not happening.”
Nora started crying again.
“Then Dad dies.”
I wanted to say I didn’t care about Caleb.
But Nora did.
And no child, even a nineteen-year-old one, should have to choose.
Hayes began building another plan.
Plainclothes officers.
Nora would arrive alone.
She would tell Vanessa she had been unable to get Lily but knew where she was.
The goal was to get Vanessa talking.
Keep her at the location.
Capture her.
It sounded reasonable.
Nothing involving Vanessa had been reasonable so far.
At 11:25, we left the lake house.
I stayed in an unmarked vehicle with Hayes several blocks from the bus station.
Nora wore a concealed microphone.
Officers surrounded the area.
Marcus had been taken into custody elsewhere.
Daniel and Emma were moved to a secure pediatric facility.
Lily was transferred too.
For the first time that night, both girls were inside the same protected building.
I wished I was there.
Instead, I stared through rain at the bus terminal.
Nora walked under the awning.
11:58.
Midnight.
Nothing.
12:04.
A woman approached.
Not Vanessa.
Older.
Gray coat.
She handed Nora an envelope.
Then walked away.
Officers followed her discreetly.
Nora opened the envelope.
Inside was a phone.
It rang immediately.
Nora answered.
“Aunt Vanessa?”
Hayes’s equipment picked up both sides.
“Where is Lily?”
Nora looked exactly as frightened as she was supposed to.
“I couldn’t get her.”
Silence.
“Then why are you here?”
“I know where they moved her.”
Another silence.
“Tell me.”
“I want my dad first.”
Vanessa laughed.
“Your father is fine.”
“Let me talk to him.”
“You don’t make demands.”
“Then I’m leaving.”
Nora turned.
Vanessa’s voice sharpened.
“Stop.”
She stopped.
“Where is Lily?”
“Where’s Dad?”
I almost admired Nora.
She was terrified, but she held her ground.
Then a man’s voice came through the phone.
“Nora.”
She broke.
“Dad?”
“I’m okay.”
Caleb.
Alive.
“Where are you?”
“Do what Vanessa says.”
“What?”
“Give her the location.”
Nora stared ahead.
“You’re helping her?”
“Nora—”
“You said she threatened you!”
“She did.”
“You said she’d kill you!”
“I had to make sure you came.”
Nora’s face went blank.
It had been a lie.
Her father had used her.
Just like Vanessa used everyone.
“Why?”
Caleb spoke carefully.
“Because we need Lily.”
My fists clenched.
Nora whispered, “She’s six.”
“I know.”
“Why do you need her?”
Vanessa took the phone back.
“Because Ethan will do anything for his daughter.”
There it was.
Lily was leverage after all.
Against me.
“What do you want from Ethan?” Nora asked.
“My life back.”
Hayes mouthed, Keep her talking.
Nora said, “What does that mean?”
“It means he signs over what belongs to me.”
I almost laughed from disbelief.
My property.
My company.
My money.
Vanessa had abused children and kidnapped Emma, and still she believed something belonged to her.
“What if he says no?”
“He won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he loves Lily.”
I leaned toward the microphone.
Hayes shook her head.
Not yet.
Nora asked, “Where are you?”
Vanessa laughed.
“You really think I’m stupid?”
The call ended.
We had not located her.
But we had Caleb’s voice.
Hayes immediately ordered the phone traced.
Burner.
Signal bounced.
Then one technician spoke.
“Wait.”
Everyone looked at him.
“The phone call wasn’t cellular.”
“What?”
“Internet-based. But the relay connection briefly exposed a local network identifier.”
“Can you locate it?”
He typed.
Then stopped.
His face changed.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
He turned the laptop.
I stared at the address.
It wasn’t a motel.
Not a warehouse.
Not another hidden property.
It was a place I knew very well.
Carter Tower.
My corporate headquarters.
Vanessa and Caleb were inside my company.
And it was after midnight.
The building should have been nearly empty.
My blood ran cold.
Vanessa hadn’t gone there to hide.
May you like
She had gone there for something.
“Drive,” I said.
