Chapter 5
I thought I had misunderstood.
“What do you mean she never arrived?”
Detective Morales remained standing.
“The transport vehicle stopped at Harbor Medical Center shortly after two this morning.”
“So?”
“Claire was transferred inside.”
“Then she arrived.”
“She entered the emergency department.”
Morales paused.
“Twenty-three minutes later, she left through an employee exit.”
I stared at her.
“How?”
“She told a staff member she needed a restroom. Surveillance shows her walking into a restricted hallway and changing clothes.”
“Changing into what?”
“Scrubs.”
My hands went numb.
“She planned it.”
“We don’t know that.”
“She had clothes waiting?”
“We’re reviewing footage.”
“Did someone help her?”
“We’re investigating that.”
Nathan.
The answer screamed inside my head.
“Where is Nathan Cole?”
“Unknown.”
“You lost him too?”
Morales didn’t react.
“We were not holding Mr. Cole.”
“Why not?”
“Because until several hours ago, we had no evidence establishing his role in a crime.”
I laughed bitterly.
“He tells my wife to scare me. She pushes my baby toward stairs. He helps her hide money. What exactly do you need?”
“Evidence we can use.”
I leaned over the table.
“Then get it.”
Officer Harris stepped closer.
“Daniel.”
“My wife is missing.”
“We know.”
“She knows where my daughter is.”
That made both officers silent.
I pulled out my phone.
“She texted me at my mother’s house.”
Morales took the phone.
“Show me.”
I opened the messages.
Ask your mother what she did on April 11.
Morales read it twice.
“When did this arrive?”
“Last night.”
“Did you tell Claire you were at Linda’s?”
“No.”
“Does Claire know your mother’s address?”
“Of course.”
“Any reason she would assume you’d stay there?”
“No.”
Morales looked at Harris.
Then back at me.
“Call your mother.”
I did.
No answer.
I called again.
Nothing.
My heartbeat sped up.
“She always answers.”
I called a third time.
Straight to voicemail.
I grabbed my keys.
Harris stepped in front of me.
“You’re not going alone.”
“That’s my daughter.”
“We’re coming.”
I didn’t argue.
The drive felt endless.
Rain streaked across the windshield.
Detective Morales followed in an unmarked SUV.
I called Mom seven more times.
Nothing.
When we reached her street, a patrol car was already approaching from the other direction.
Mom’s front door was open.
I jumped out before Harris fully stopped.
He yelled at me to wait.
I didn’t.
“Sophie!”
I ran inside.
The living room was empty.
A lamp lay on the floor.
One couch cushion was torn away.
“Mom!”
Harris caught my shoulder.
“Daniel, behind me.”
“No!”
“Behind me.”
The officers cleared the downstairs.
Then the second floor.
I stood at the bottom of the stairs, unable to breathe.
Finally Morales appeared above me.
“She’s here.”
My knees almost folded.
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
“And Sophie?”
Morales looked at Harris.
That look nearly killed me.
“Where is my daughter?”
“Daniel—”
“Where is Sophie?”
I ran upstairs.
Mom was sitting on the guest-room floor.
There was blood near her hairline.
Not much.
Enough.
She looked dazed.
I dropped beside her.
“Mom.”
Her eyes found mine.
Then panic flooded her face.
“Sophie.”
“Where is she?”
“Claire.”
My entire body went cold.
“Claire was here?”
Mom grabbed my sleeve.
“She took her.”
I couldn’t hear anything for a second.
Not the officers.
Not the rain.
Not Mom.
Then the world snapped back into focus.
“How?”
“I heard Sophie crying.”
Mom struggled to sit straighter.
“I went into the nursery.”
“Then what?”
“Claire was standing there.”
“How did she get inside?”
“She still had a key.”
“No. We changed the locks.”
Mom froze.
I remembered something.
Claire had arranged the locksmith.
Of course she had a key.
“What happened?”
“I tried to reach Sophie.”
Mom touched her head.
“Someone hit me from behind.”
“Nathan?”
“I didn’t see.”
“Did Claire say anything?”
Mom closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“She said, ‘He’ll finally understand now.’”
I looked at Morales.
“What does that mean?”
“We’re going to find out.”
I stood.
“What are you doing right now?”
“An AMBER Alert request is already being processed.”
“Processed?”
“We have officers checking traffic cameras, vehicle records, airports—”
“She could be anywhere!”
Morales stepped directly in front of me.
“And every minute matters, which is why I need you focused.”
I wanted to scream.
Instead I forced myself to listen.
“What do you need?”
“Vehicles.”
“Claire drives a white Volvo XC60.”
“Plate?”
I gave it.
“Any other vehicles she could access?”
“No.”
“Friends?”
I started naming people.
Her college roommate.
A neighbor she occasionally had coffee with.
Two women from a new-mothers group.
Then I stopped.
“Her sister.”
Morales looked up.
“Claire has a sister?”
“Yes. Melanie.”
“Where does she live?”
“Portland.”
“Phone number?”
I found it.
Morales immediately stepped away to make the call.
Harris knelt beside Mom.
Paramedics arrived.
I paced through the bedroom.
Sophie’s blanket was gone.
Her diaper bag was gone.
So was the stuffed elephant she slept with.
That meant Claire had packed.
This wasn’t panic.
It was planned.
I entered the hallway.
A small black object lay near the baseboard.
I bent down.
“Harris.”
He came over.
“What?”
I pointed.
A tiny plastic device.
He crouched.
“Don’t touch it.”
“What is it?”
“Could be a tracker.”
I stared.
“On my mother?”
“Maybe on the diaper bag.”
My chest tightened.
That explained how Claire knew where we were.
She didn’t guess.
She tracked us.
Morales returned.
“Melanie says she hasn’t heard from Claire in six months.”
“Do you believe her?”
“We’ll verify.”
My phone buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
A photograph appeared.
Sophie.
Strapped into a car seat.
Alive.
My knees nearly gave out.
Under the photo were six words.
STOP THE POLICE OR SHE DISAPPEARS.
I showed Morales.
Her expression sharpened.
“Don’t respond yet.”
“That’s my daughter.”
“I know.”
“What if Claire thinks I’m ignoring her?”
“We need to preserve—”
Another message arrived.
I KNOW THEY ARE WITH YOU.
Morales looked around.
“Everyone away from the windows.”
Officers moved immediately.
I stared toward the street.
“Is she watching?”
“Possibly.”
My phone buzzed again.
SEND LINDA OUTSIDE ALONE.
Mom heard.
“No.”
She pushed herself up despite the paramedic.
“I’ll go.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Daniel, if it gets Sophie back—”
“No.”
Morales took control.
“Nobody is going outside.”
Another message.
TEN MINUTES.
I typed before Morales could stop me.
Let me speak to Sophie.
She grabbed my wrist.
“Daniel.”
“I need to know she’s okay.”
Three dots appeared.
Then disappeared.
Then appeared again.
Finally another photo.
Sophie holding her elephant.
Behind her was a gray wall.
Nothing identifiable.
But there was a window.
And through the window, I could see a red sign.
Only part of it.
WAY.
Harris leaned in.
“Could be Safeway.”
Morales enlarged the image.
Beyond the glass was something blue.
A fuel price sign.
“Gas station,” she said.
“There are hundreds.”
My mind raced.
Then I saw something else.
A reflection in the car window.
A mountain-shaped logo.
I knew that logo.
I had seen it on road signs during trips east.
Cascade Fuel.
A small regional chain.
Morales immediately called it in.
“There are nine Cascade Fuel locations within fifty miles.”
“Check all of them.”
“We are.”
The phone buzzed again.
FIVE MINUTES.
I typed.
What do you want?
The answer came instantly.
THE TRUTH.
What truth?
YOUR MOTHER KNOWS.
I looked at Mom.
She looked terrified.
“What truth?”
“I don’t know.”
I shoved the phone toward her.
“She thinks you do.”
Mom stared at the message.
Then something changed in her face.
Recognition.
“Mom.”
She didn’t answer.
“What?”
Her eyes filled.
“There is something.”
My stomach dropped.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing to Sophie.”
“Then tell me.”
She looked at the officers.
Then at me.
“Your father.”
I stared.
“What about Dad?”
Mom’s lips trembled.
“Claire knew him.”
The room went silent.
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
“She met me after he died.”
“I know.”
“Then how did she know him?”
Mom whispered, “Because Nathan worked for him.”
I felt cold spread across my back.
“What?”
“Your father hired Nathan six months before he died.”
“To do what?”
“Investigate someone stealing from the company.”
I stared.
“Who?”
May you like
Mom looked directly at me.
“Claire.”
