Chapter 7
My body moved before my mind did.
I ran into the hallway.
“Lily!”
Hotel guests opened doors.
A housekeeper pointed toward the stairwell.
“A little girl went that way with a woman.”
“What woman?”
“Dark hair. Blue jacket.”
Hannah.
I sprinted toward the stairs.
Agent Price followed.
We reached the lobby.
The front doors were closing.
Outside, a gray sedan pulled away.
I saw Lily’s face through the rear window.
“LILY!”
She hit the glass with both hands.
“Mommy!”
I ran into traffic.
Agent Price grabbed my vest and yanked me back as a delivery truck blasted its horn.
The sedan turned the corner.
Gone.
I nearly collapsed.
“Get every camera!” Price shouted.
Federal agents flooded the lobby.
The hotel went into lockdown.
I was shaking so hard I couldn’t hold the phone.
Claire was crying.
“I looked away for thirty seconds.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“I went to get her juice.”
“It’s not your fault.”
But inside, I blamed everyone.
Ryan.
Diane.
Victor.
Hannah.
My mother.
Myself.
Especially myself.
I had known we were being hunted.
I had still believed armed agents and locked doors meant safety.
Agent Price pulled me into a conference room.
“We have traffic cameras.”
“Where are they going?”
“We’re tracking.”
“Tell me.”
“East.”
“Toward the Walsh building?”
“Maybe.”
I stood.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“She is my daughter.”
“And every person involved knows you’ll chase her.”
“I don’t care.”
“You need to care. They may be using Lily to move you.”
“I’m still going.”
Price looked at me for several seconds.
Then she nodded once.
“You ride with me. You follow orders.”
“Fine.”
Claire grabbed my arm.
“Bring her home.”
“I will.”
We raced through the city with sirens on.
Traffic cameras picked up the gray sedan twice.
Then it disappeared near the river.
The same area as Victor’s storage facility.
A helicopter joined the search.
Price received another update.
“Vehicle located.”
“Where?”
“Warehouse district.”
“Lily?”
“Unknown.”
We reached the car.
Empty.
One rear door open.
Lily’s pink sneaker lay on the pavement.
I picked it up.
My heart cracked.
“She left this.”
Price crouched.
“Or dropped it.”
I looked around.
Warehouses.
Chain-link fences.
Rail lines.
River beyond them.
Then I saw chalk.
A tiny white arrow drawn on a wall.
Lily loved drawing arrows.
We had taught her to use them during hiking trips if she ever got separated.
I pointed.
“She did that.”
Price called tactical units.
Another arrow appeared twenty yards away.
Then another.
Lily was leaving a trail.
My brave little girl.
We followed.
The arrows ended beside Warehouse 18.
Price ordered me behind cover.
Agents approached.
The building was locked.
They breached.
“FBI!”
Shouting.
Movement.
I waited outside, dying inside.
Then someone yelled.
“Clear!”
Price entered.
I followed despite being told not to.
Inside were folding tables.
Computers.
Boxes.
No Lily.
No Hannah.
But on a chair sat Lily’s other shoe.
Beside it was her yellow hair clip.
Price looked around.
“They were here.”
An agent found a tunnel access door at the rear.
It led to an old maintenance corridor beneath the rail yard.
We went down.
The passage smelled like rust and river water.
Another chalk arrow.
Then another.
At a junction, the arrows stopped.
Two paths.
I stared.
Which one?
Then I noticed something on the ground.
A purple bead.
From Lily’s bracelet.
Right tunnel.
“Here.”
We moved.
Fifty yards later, voices echoed.
A woman.
A child crying.
I ran.
Price grabbed me.
“Wait.”
“That’s Lily.”
Tactical agents moved ahead.
“FBI! Hands where we can see them!”
A scream.
Then a door slammed.
We rushed around the corner.
Hannah stood at the far end of the tunnel holding Lily.
Not violently.
But tightly.
A gun was in her other hand.
My blood froze.
“Don’t!”
Hannah pointed the weapon toward the ceiling.
“Stay back.”
Lily saw me.
“Mommy!”
“I’m here, baby.”
Hannah’s eyes were wild.
She looked younger than I expected.
Maybe thirty.
Terrified.
Not calm like Victor.
Price raised her weapon.
“Put the gun down.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
“My father will kill me.”
“Victor?”
Hannah laughed bitterly.
“You think Victor is my father?”
Price’s eyes narrowed.
“Then who is he?”
“My employer.”
I stepped forward.
Price warned me back.
I ignored her.
“Hannah, Lily is five.”
“I know.”
“She’s scared.”
“I know.”
“Let her come to me.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re watching.”
“Who?”
Hannah glanced toward a camera mounted in the tunnel.
Price signaled to an agent.
The camera was disabled.
Hannah panicked.
“No!”
“Who is watching?”
“Victor.”
“You said he’ll kill you.”
“He will.”
“Then help us.”
“I already did.”
My pulse jumped.
“The flash drive?”
She nodded.
“You sent it?”
“Yes.”
“The passport?”
“I made it.”
“You went to the preschool?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“I don’t know.”
I believed her.
That meant another woman was involved.
Hannah looked at Lily.
“I wasn’t going to hurt her.”
“Then let her go.”
“I need protection.”
“You’ll get it.”
“You can’t promise that.”
Price spoke.
“I can arrange federal protection if you cooperate.”
Hannah stared at her.
“Full immunity?”
“No.”
“Then no.”
I stepped closer.
“You kidnapped my daughter. You don’t get to negotiate as if you’re innocent.”
Hannah flinched.
“I know.”
“Then do one decent thing.”
Lily cried.
“Please, Miss Hannah.”
Hannah looked down.
That broke something in her.
Her gun lowered slightly.
Price remained steady.
“Put it on the floor.”
Hannah whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Then she released Lily.
My daughter ran.
I dropped to my knees and caught her.
She slammed into me so hard we both fell.
“Mommy!”
“I’ve got you.”
“I left arrows.”
“I saw them.”
“I left my shoes.”
“You were so smart.”
She sobbed into my neck.
Behind us, Hannah placed the gun down.
Agents arrested her.
Price crouched beside me.
“Is Lily hurt?”
I checked her.
No visible injuries.
Just fear.
Hannah spoke while being cuffed.
“Victor has Emily’s mother.”
Price turned.
“Where?”
“Walsh building.”
“We know.”
“No.”
Hannah shook her head.
“Not the old office.”
“Then where?”
“The research campus.”
My heart jumped.
Walsh Medical Systems had a private research campus forty miles outside town.
My father used to take us there when we were children.
I remembered long hallways.
Security gates.
A lake.
“Why there?”
Hannah looked at me.
“Because tonight is the shareholder vote.”
Laura had mentioned the acquisition.
But I didn’t know the vote was tonight.
“Victor needs the trust’s shares.”
Hannah nodded.
“And he needs you.”
“Why?”
“Because your father changed the proxy rules.”
“What rules?”
“Victor can become trustee if everyone above him is disqualified.”
“That includes me.”
“Yes.”
“So all of this was to make me lose guardianship.”
“Yes.”
“Then why kidnap Lily?”
“To force you to sign a temporary delegation.”
My stomach twisted.
“He needs my signature.”
“Or proof that you’re incapable.”
Price asked, “What does Victor plan to do with Emily’s mother?”
Hannah looked at me.
“Use her as leverage.”
Lily tightened her arms around me.
I stood.
“We go now.”
Price nodded.
This time she didn’t argue.
Hannah called after us.
“Emily!”
I turned.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Victor isn’t alone at Walsh.”
“Who is?”
“Ryan.”
I stared at her.
“Ryan is in custody.”
Hannah shook her head.
“Not anymore.”
Price immediately checked with local authorities.
Two minutes later, the answer came.
Ryan had been transported to the hospital after complaining of chest pain.
His transport vehicle had been hit by another car.
During the confusion, someone in paramedic clothing removed him.
Ryan was gone.
Diane remained jailed.
But Ryan was free.
Hannah whispered, “Victor told him he could still get everything.”
I held Lily’s hand.
“No.”
Not anymore.
We reached the research campus just after sunset.
Police blocked surrounding roads.
Federal agents prepared to enter.
Then my phone rang.
Victor.
I answered.
“Where is my mother?”
“Inside.”
“Ryan?”
“With me.”
“What do you want?”
“Come to Building C.”
Agent Price shook her head.
I ignored her.
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Victor sighed.
“Emily, your father designed this entire mess because he trusted legal documents more than people.”
“Don’t talk about my father.”
“He trusted me once.”
“And you betrayed him.”
“Did I?”
“Yes.”
“You still haven’t seen the final file.”
“What file?”
“Come inside.”
“I’m not leaving Lily.”
“You already lost Lily once today.”
My anger surged.
“Say that again.”
He laughed softly.
“That fire. That anger. Ryan documented it beautifully.”
I clenched my jaw.
“You made him provoke me.”
“I gave him a method. He supplied enthusiasm.”
“You’re finished.”
“Maybe.”
Then Victor said the words that changed everything.
“But before you arrest me, ask why your father signed half the documents himself.”
The call ended.
Price looked at me.
“He’s manipulating you.”
“I know.”
But doubt had entered anyway.
Because Victor had known my father.
Diane had known my father.
Mom had hidden things.
Everyone had secrets.
We entered Building C.
The hallways were dark.
Emergency lights glowed red.
At the end of the main corridor stood Ryan.
No handcuffs.
No bruised weakness.
A gun in his hand.
My mother knelt beside him.
Victor stood behind them.
May you like
Ryan looked at me and smiled.
“I knew you’d come.”
