Chapter 7
The North Bend Cascade Fuel station sat beside a highway wrapped by dark trees and low mountains.
Police arrived first.
Nathan and Claire were gone.
But surveillance showed their vehicle pulling into the lot nineteen minutes before Claire called me.
The footage showed Nathan driving.
Claire in the passenger seat.
Sophie in the back.
They stayed eight minutes.
Then Nathan walked inside.
Claire made the video call.
A minute later, Nathan returned quickly.
They drove east.
Nobody knew exactly where.
I watched the security footage from inside a police command vehicle.
Every time Sophie’s tiny face appeared through the back window, my chest hurt.
Detective Morales stood beside me.
“We have the Volvo plate in the system.”
“What about traffic cameras?”
“Working on it.”
“What roads could they take?”
“Several.”
“Canada?”
“Possible.”
“Eastern Washington?”
“Possible.”
“Idaho?”
“Eventually.”
I stared at her.
“So you don’t know.”
“Not yet.”
Mom had been taken to the hospital.
She hated leaving.
I forced her.
Before she left, she gave Morales the name of Dad’s attorney.
George Halpern.
He was seventy-three now.
Retired.
And currently on vacation in Arizona.
The flash drive was somewhere in transit.
Maybe.
Assuming Mom told the truth.
I wasn’t sure what truth meant anymore.
My phone rang.
Claire.
Not video this time.
Morales nodded for me to answer.
“Hello?”
“Are police tracing this?”
“Yes.”
Morales stared at me.
I had ignored her instructions.
Claire gave a tired laugh.
“At least you’re finally honest.”
“Where is Sophie?”
“Sleeping.”
“Bring her to me.”
“I’m trying.”
“What does that mean?”
“He won’t let me.”
My heart pounded.
“Where is Nathan?”
“Getting gas.”
“Again?”
“Different car.”
I looked at Morales.
She began typing.
“What car?”
Claire didn’t answer.
“Claire.”
“He says you ruined everything.”
“I don’t care what he says.”
“He says Linda has the drive.”
“She mailed it.”
Silence.
“To whom?”
I looked at Morales.
She shook her head sharply.
“Claire, listen to me. You need to leave Nathan.”
“I know.”
“Take Sophie and walk into any store.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then tell me.”
Her breathing trembled.
“He has a gun.”
I closed my eyes.
Morales immediately sent another message.
“Is Sophie near him?”
“No.”
“Are you?”
“No. He’s outside.”
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“Look around.”
“Daniel—”
“Look.”
A pause.
“I see mountains.”
“That doesn’t help.”
“A motel.”
“What name?”
“I can’t see the full sign.”
“Anything else?”
“A diner. Red roof. There’s a giant lumberjack statue.”
Morales’s head snapped up.
She started searching.
I kept Claire talking.
“Why did you go with him?”
“He came to the hospital.”
“He helped you escape?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He said Linda attacked him.”
“What?”
“He told me she had the drive and was going to give it to police. He said if the police saw what was on it, they would blame me too.”
“Why would you believe him?”
“Because some of the accounts are in my name.”
“So the money—”
“I didn’t steal it.”
“You hid eighty-four thousand dollars with him.”
“I was trying to give it back.”
I almost shouted.
“For fourteen months?”
“He controlled the account.”
“Your name is on it.”
“He controlled me.”
The words came out so quietly I almost missed them.
I looked at Morales.
Her expression changed.
Not sympathy.
Attention.
“Claire, did Nathan make you stage the stroller incident?”
Silence.
“Did he?”
“He said Linda needed to look dangerous.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“So if she accused us of anything later, nobody would believe her.”
“You used Sophie.”
“I know.”
“You pushed our baby toward stairs.”
“I thought Linda was around the corner.”
“You couldn’t see her.”
“Nathan had a camera.”
I froze.
“What camera?”
“He had been watching the house.”
I looked at Morales.
“Tracker,” she whispered.
Claire continued.
“He told me Linda was in the laundry room.”
“And if he was wrong?”
“I know.”
“You risked Sophie’s life.”
Her voice broke.
“I know!”
Sophie stirred in the background.
Claire immediately lowered her voice.
“I hate myself.”
“Then fix it.”
“I’m trying.”
“You fix it by getting Sophie away from him.”
“I can’t run while he has the keys.”
“Where is the gun?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does he keep it on him?”
“Usually.”
“Then do nothing dangerous.”
Morales pointed at me and mouthed, Good.
She had found something.
On her phone was a photograph of a roadside diner in Cle Elum.
Red roof.
Large lumberjack statue.
I nodded.
Morales started directing units.
I continued.
“Claire, tell me about April 11.”
She went silent.
“The fire.”
“I didn’t start it.”
“Then who did?”
“Nathan.”
My stomach turned.
“He was inside our house?”
“Yes.”
“You let him in?”
“I didn’t know he was coming.”
“What happened?”
“He wanted papers from your office.”
“What papers?”
“Your father’s financial records.”
“I don’t have Dad’s records.”
“He thought Linda gave you copies.”
“So he broke into our house?”
“He used the old garage code.”
“How did he get it?”
“I told him months earlier.”
“Why?”
“He said he wanted to leave something for me.”
“What?”
“Money.”
I clenched my jaw.
Claire continued.
“When I came home that day, he was still there. We argued. He turned the stove on before leaving.”
“Why?”
“He said a small fire would destroy anything he missed.”
“And Sophie was in the house.”
“You were with her.”
“In the house.”
“I told him that.”
“But you didn’t tell me.”
“I was afraid.”
“You could have killed us by keeping quiet.”
“I know.”
My anger almost exploded.
Then I heard a car door.
Claire whispered, “He’s coming back.”
Morales motioned for silence.
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t hang up.”
“If I don’t—”
“Claire.”
“Take care of Sophie.”
My heart stopped.
“Claire!”
The call ended.
Morales shouted orders.
The command vehicle erupted in movement.
Units were less than ten minutes from the diner.
I stared at the phone.
Call ended.
I called back.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
Again.
Voicemail.
Morales grabbed her jacket.
“We’re moving.”
I followed.
She turned.
“You stay here.”
“No.”
“You are not going into an active armed situation.”
“I’m not staying.”
“Daniel.”
“If Sophie comes out crying and I’m five miles away because you told me to stay here, I’ll never forgive myself.”
Morales stared at me.
Then she pointed to a patrol SUV.
“You stay in that vehicle until I say otherwise.”
I nodded.
The drive took nine minutes.
It felt like nine hours.
We reached the motel.
Police surrounded the lot quietly.
No sirens.
No lights.
The diner sat across the street.
The lumberjack statue towered over the parking lot.
I scanned every vehicle.
No white Volvo.
Then Morales pointed.
A black pickup.
One plate was hanging crooked.
Officers checked the registration.
Stolen.
My stomach dropped.
“That’s them.”
A motel clerk confirmed a man and woman with a baby had checked into room 12.
Cash.
Twenty minutes earlier.
Police established positions.
I sat inside the SUV.
Every part of me wanted to run toward room 12.
Instead I stared at the closed door.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Then a negotiator called the room.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Morales approached the door with officers behind cover.
She knocked.
“Seattle Police. Nathan, we need to talk.”
Nothing.
Another knock.
Then movement behind the curtain.
My breath stopped.
The door opened three inches.
Claire appeared.
Her face was white.
She held Sophie.
I grabbed the SUV handle.
An officer outside stopped me through the window.
Claire stepped into the doorway.
Then Nathan appeared behind her.
One arm around her waist.
The other hand hidden.
Police shouted.
“Show us your hands!”
Claire screamed.
Nathan pulled her backward.
The door slammed.
I lost control.
I opened the SUV door.
The officer shoved it closed.
“Stay inside!”
“That’s my daughter!”
“We know.”
A gunshot cracked.
I froze.
Every sound disappeared.
Then Claire screamed from inside the motel room.
My entire world shattered.
I slammed against the door.
“SOPHIE!”
Another sound.
Glass breaking.
Officers rushed toward the side of the building.
Morales shouted.
“Back window!”
I saw movement behind the motel.
Claire stumbled out.
Sophie was in her arms.
She ran barefoot across wet pavement.
Nathan climbed through after her.
He grabbed the back of her shirt.
Claire fell.
Sophie cried.
I stopped thinking.
I ran.
Someone shouted my name.
I didn’t hear anything else.
Nathan reached for Claire.
I reached Sophie first.
I pulled my daughter into my arms.
Nathan turned toward me.
His eyes met mine.
And I recognized something terrifying.
He wasn’t panicked.
He was smiling.
“You’re Daniel.”
Police screamed for him to raise his hands.
Nathan ignored them.
He looked at Sophie.
Then at me.
“Ask Linda who your daughter really belongs to.”
Officers tackled him.
I stood frozen.
Sophie screamed against my chest.
Claire lay on the pavement.
May you like
And Nathan’s sentence echoed inside my head.
Who your daughter really belongs to.
