Chapter 6
I was out of the interview room before Detective Harper caught me.
“Mr. Carter!”
“My daughter has been kidnapped.”
“We know.”
“How do you know?”
“Your sister called 911. Units are responding.”
“Then let go of me.”
“If you run out there without information, you could make this worse.”
I turned on him.
“She is four years old.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
He looked directly at me.
“My son was six when he disappeared at a county fair for forty minutes.”
That stopped me.
“Worst forty minutes of my life.”
His voice stayed quiet.
“We found him. I’m going to do everything I can to find your daughter.”
I swallowed hard.
“Then find her.”
Within minutes, the station changed.
Officers moved quickly.
Phones rang.
A photograph of Lily appeared on screens.
The black SUV Rachel had seen was caught on a traffic camera leaving the pediatrician’s lot.
No visible plate.
Tinted windows.
It headed west.
Toward the interstate.
I called Vanessa.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
Voicemail.
Again.
Detective Harper said, “Stop.”
“What?”
“If she has Lily, we don’t want you flooding her phone.”
“She needs to know I’ll give her anything.”
“That may be exactly what she wants.”
“I don’t care.”
“You will if giving her what she wants puts Lily in more danger.”
I hated every word.
Because he was right.
Again.
I called Ethan instead.
The phone rang once.
Then disconnected.
Harper’s eyes sharpened.
“He declined it.”
“He has his phone.”
“Good.”
“How is that good?”
“Phones can be found.”
The police obtained emergency location data.
Ethan’s phone was moving west.
Same direction as the SUV.
For twenty-three minutes, hope and terror fought inside me.
Then the signal stopped.
Phone powered off.
Last location: a gas station near Interstate 82.
Police pulled surveillance.
Ethan appeared on camera.
Alone.
He bought bottled water and a prepaid phone.
The black SUV was visible outside.
But Lily was not.
“Where is Vanessa?” I asked.
Nobody answered.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
Harper held up a hand.
“Don’t answer yet.”
He motioned to a technician.
The call kept ringing.
They connected monitoring equipment.
Harper nodded.
I answered.
“Hello?”
“Daddy?”
My knees almost buckled.
“Lily!”
Her voice was tiny.
“Daddy, I want to come home.”
“I know, baby. I’m coming.”
A woman grabbed the phone.
Vanessa.
“You always were terrible at following instructions.”
My whole body tightened.
“Put Lily back on.”
“She’s fine.”
“You took my daughter.”
“Your sister practically handed her to me.”
“Vanessa.”
“I need you to listen.”
“I’ll give you whatever you want.”
Across the room, Harper shook his head sharply.
Too late.
Vanessa laughed.
“I know.”
“What do you want?”
“Your company.”
I stared at the detective.
“You can’t have my company.”
“I don’t need all of it.”
“Then what?”
“Sign temporary voting proxy authority to Ethan.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re unstable.”
“Where is Lily?”
“Safe.”
“Let me talk to her.”
“You already did.”
“Vanessa, she’s scared.”
“She cries a lot.”
My fists tightened.
Harper mouthed, KEEP HER TALKING.
I forced my voice to stay calm.
“Why are you doing this?”
“You know why.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Because I’m tired of being poor while men like you inherit everything.”
“I didn’t inherit you.”
Her voice sharpened.
“You think that’s funny?”
“No.”
“You came home early and ruined months of work.”
“Was abusing Lily part of the work?”
Silence.
Then, “She was difficult.”
“She is four.”
“She wouldn’t cooperate.”
“With what?”
“Stop.”
“With lying about me?”
“I said stop.”
The anger in her voice was real now.
Good.
Angry people talked.
“Did Ethan tell you to hurt her?”
“Ethan doesn’t tell me anything.”
Behind me, a technician raised three fingers.
Trace progressing.
I continued.
“He told you to marry me.”
Vanessa went quiet.
Then she laughed.
“So you saw the footage.”
“Yes.”
“Then you know more than you should.”
“What happened to Sarah?”
Harper’s eyes widened.
Vanessa inhaled.
“That’s not my story.”
“It’s Ethan’s?”
“I didn’t know him then.”
“Did Ethan kill Sarah?”
“Daniel—”
“Did he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said Sarah was different.”
Silence.
The technician pointed at a screen.
Signal bouncing.
Not enough.
I pushed harder.
“What happened to my father?”
Vanessa whispered, “You should worry about your daughter.”
“I am.”
“Then sign.”
“I need proof Lily is okay.”
“You heard her.”
“I need to see her.”
“No.”
“Video call.”
“No.”
“Then no signature.”
Harper nodded.
Good.
Vanessa cursed.
“You think you have leverage?”
“Yes.”
“What leverage?”
“You need my signature.”
She became quiet.
I leaned closer to the phone.
“And if you hurt Lily, there is no deal.”
For several seconds, nothing.
Then she said, “Check your email.”
The call ended.
A message arrived immediately.
Attached was a video.
Lily sat on a motel bed.
She was holding her stuffed rabbit.
A television played behind her.
Vanessa’s voice said, “Say hello to Daddy.”
Lily looked at the camera.
“I love you, Daddy.”
The clip ended.
I replayed it.
Harper grabbed my wrist.
“Stop.”
“What?”
“The television.”
He took my phone.
In the background, a local weather report was playing.
A logo appeared in the corner.
KXRM Mountain News.
One of the detectives searched.
“Regional affiliate.”
“What area?” Harper asked.
“Three counties west.”
Harper smiled for the first time.
“Good girl.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Vanessa just narrowed the search.”
Teams contacted every motel within the broadcast region.
Meanwhile, Melissa arrived.
She brought documents.
“Daniel, Ethan sent these to your board.”
I looked.
A proposed emergency resolution.
Temporary suspension of my executive authority.
Appointment of Ethan as acting chief executive.
Transfer of my voting proxy.
They were moving fast.
“Does the board know Lily was kidnapped?”
“They do now.”
“Who still supports Ethan?”
“Two members.”
“Who?”
“Charles Whitmore and Anita Hale.”
My chest tightened.
Charles had been my father’s oldest friend.
“He supported Dad.”
“Maybe.”
Melissa placed another paper down.
“I found something in old corporate filings.”
“What?”
“Eleven years ago, a consulting company received nearly two million dollars from Carter Biomedical.”
“What company?”
“Northstar Strategic Holdings.”
“Never heard of it.”
“It dissolved eight years ago.”
“Owner?”
She looked at me.
“Charles Whitmore.”
My stomach dropped.
“And who approved the payments?”
“Ethan.”
I stared at her.
Sarah.
She had found irregular payments.
Maybe these.
“Get the old records.”
“I already requested them.”
A detective called Harper across the room.
He listened.
Then turned.
“We have a motel clerk who recognizes Vanessa’s picture.”
My heart exploded.
“Where?”
“Pine Ridge Motor Lodge.”
“Is Lily there?”
“We don’t know.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“And if this is a hostage situation, you stay away.”
“I’m not sitting here.”
Harper stepped close.
“You want your daughter home?”
“Yes.”
“Then let trained people bring her home.”
The motel was seventy-three miles away.
Tactical units reached it first.
Vanessa’s SUV was parked outside room 214.
But Ethan’s car was gone.
Police surrounded the building.
No response from inside.
Harper kept me on a secure video feed from the station.
I watched officers approach.
My entire body shook.
A negotiator called Vanessa’s prepaid number.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Then the motel door opened.
A small figure stepped outside.
Lily.
Alone.
Barefoot.
My breath disappeared.
An officer rushed forward and grabbed her.
I fell into a chair.
“She’s out,” Harper said.
I started crying.
I didn’t care who saw.
“My baby.”
Then gunfire cracked through the video feed.
The screen jerked.
People shouted.
I stood.
“What happened?”
Harper grabbed a radio.
More shouting.
Then silence.
A minute later, one of the team leaders came on.
“Room clear.”
“Vanessa?” Harper asked.
“Not here.”
I stared.
“What?”
They searched the room.
Vanessa had disappeared.
There was an open bathroom window.
Behind the motel ran a service road.
A second vehicle had probably been waiting.
But Lily was safe.
That was all I cared about.
Two hours later, I held her at the hospital.
She wrapped both arms around me.
“Daddy, I ran when she went to the bathroom.”
“You were so brave.”
“She said you were going away.”
“I’m right here.”
“Forever?”
I kissed her forehead.
“As long as I possibly can.”
She looked at me.
“Vanessa was talking to Uncle Ethan.”
My blood went cold.
Lily had always called him Uncle Ethan.
“What did they say?”
Harper, standing nearby, became still.
Lily frowned as she tried to remember.
“She said they had to go get the red box.”
“What red box?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where?”
Lily hugged her rabbit.
“At Grandpa’s house.”
My father’s house had been empty since his death.
We had never sold it.
Harper was already calling officers.
I looked at Lily.
“Anything else?”
She nodded.
“Uncle Ethan said the box had the thing Mommy Sarah made.”
My heart stopped.
“Sarah?”
May you like
Lily nodded.
“He said if Daddy gets it, everybody goes to jail.”
