Chapter 9
I had never run so fast in my life.
“Donovan!”
The mansion was dark except for emergency lights near the floor.
Marcus shouted into his radio.
“Lock down all exterior access!”
Caden was right behind me.
“Where’s his room?”
“Upstairs!”
We reached the foyer.
Rosa appeared at the top of the staircase holding Donovan.
Relief hit me so hard my knees nearly gave out.
“Mommy!”
I ran up.
I grabbed him from Rosa.
“You’re okay.”
He wrapped himself around me.
“The lights went bye-bye.”
“I know.”
Rosa looked frightened.
“I heard the back door alarm.”
Marcus came inside.
“Backup generator should engage.”
The lights flickered back on.
I held Donovan tighter.
“Where’s Mom?”
“In her room.”
“Stay with Donovan.”
I turned toward Caden.
He looked horrified.
“I swear, if my mother—”
“Don’t.”
We followed Marcus toward the rear hallway.
Two security officers were already there.
The service door stood open.
Cold air rushed inside.
A red alarm light blinked above the frame.
Marcus crouched.
“No forced entry.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Someone used a code.”
My stomach dropped.
“How many people have codes?”
“Staff. You. Rosa. Your mother.”
He paused.
“And any legacy codes that were never removed.”
I closed my eyes.
“When was this system installed?”
“Seven years ago.”
Caden whispered, “Did my mother ever know the code?”
I looked at him.
“How would she?”
He looked sick.
“Your father’s documents.”
“That wouldn’t include security codes.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“But I gave her something else.”
My anger surged.
“What now?”
“Last Christmas, you asked me to drop off boxes here.”
I remembered.
Estate files.
Holiday decorations.
A few pieces of furniture.
“I used the service entrance.”
Marcus stared at him.
“You had a temporary code.”
Caden nodded slowly.
“My mother was with me.”
I almost screamed.
“Did she see you enter it?”
“I don’t know.”
Marcus stood.
“We need to search the property.”
The police arrived within minutes.
This time, nobody questioned whether the threat was serious.
Bonnie was missing.
A gate had opened with a valid code.
And the power interruption was traced to an exterior utility panel that someone had deliberately accessed.
Mom sat in the library while officers searched every room.
Donovan fell asleep in my arms.
Caden stood near the fireplace, staring at nothing.
Detective Ortiz arrived twenty minutes later.
She walked directly toward us.
“We found something outside.”
My heart jumped.
“What?”
“Footprints near the service entrance.”
“Bonnie?”
“We don’t know.”
She looked at Caden.
“Your mother’s vehicle was found six blocks away.”
His face tightened.
“Abandoned?”
“Yes.”
“Was she hurt?”
“No sign of injury.”
Despite everything, fear crossed his face.
She was still his mother.
Detective Ortiz continued.
“We also reviewed preliminary data from the flash drive you turned over.”
I sat straighter.
“You opened it already?”
“Our digital unit made a forensic image.”
“What’s on it?”
Her expression became serious.
“Financial records.”
Nathan, who had rushed over after Marcus called him, stepped closer.
“What kind?”
“Scans of trust documents. Insurance forms. Property deeds. Copies of identification.”
My stomach turned.
“What identification?”
“Emily’s.”
Mom whispered, “Oh Lord.”
The detective continued.
“There are also draft documents.”
“What drafts?”
She looked at Caden.
“A postnuptial agreement.”
He frowned.
“I never saw that.”
“It appears unfinished.”
Nathan asked, “What terms?”
Detective Ortiz handed him a printed summary.
He read.
Then looked at me.
“This is absurd.”
“What?”
He handed it over.
The document would have converted significant portions of my separate assets into marital property.
Including future trust distributions.
I looked at Caden.
“I never saw this,” he said.
I believed him.
Not because I trusted him.
Because the document was too extreme.
Even at his worst, Caden had talked to a lawyer about his rights.
This looked like Bonnie’s fantasy put on paper.
Detective Ortiz continued.
“There’s something else.”
Of course there was.
“A folder labeled EC.”
“My initials.”
“Yes.”
“What’s inside?”
“Personal schedules.”
I froze.
“What schedules?”
“Flights. Work travel. medical appointments.”
Caden stared at her.
“My mother tracked Emily?”
“It appears so.”
My mouth went dry.
“What else?”
“Photographs of the mansion’s entrances.”
Marcus cursed quietly.
“Security notes.”
He turned to me.
“She was planning access.”
Detective Ortiz raised a hand.
“We don’t know what she was planning.”
Nathan nodded.
“Correct.”
The detective looked at me.
“But because she is currently missing, we are treating this seriously.”
A radio sounded.
One officer spoke quietly into it.
Then looked at Detective Ortiz.
“Ma’am.”
She walked over.
They whispered.
Her posture changed.
“What happened?” I asked.
She turned.
“A neighbor’s camera captured someone walking toward the canal road.”
“Bonnie?”
“Possibly.”
Caden immediately moved.
“I’m going.”
“No,” Ortiz said.
“She’s my mother.”
“And there are officers searching.”
“She could be hurt.”
“Or she could be avoiding us.”
Caden looked torn apart.
For the first time, I felt something for him that wasn’t anger.
Grief.
He had spent months allowing Bonnie to poison his marriage because believing her felt easier than challenging her.
Now he was discovering that his mother had been keeping secrets from him too.
Maybe bigger ones.
I walked toward him.
“Stay.”
He looked at me.
“For Donovan.”
His eyes filled.
“I don’t deserve you saying that.”
“This isn’t about what you deserve.”
That had become my new rule.
We waited.
Forty minutes.
Then an hour.
Finally Detective Ortiz received another call.
She listened for nearly a minute.
Then looked at us.
“They found her.”
Caden stood.
“Where?”
“A motel near Interstate 17.”
“Is she okay?”
“She appears physically fine.”
He exhaled.
“Can I see her?”
“Not right now.”
His expression changed.
“Why?”
“She had several bags with her.”
“What kind of bags?”
“Documents. Cash.”
My heart began pounding.
“How much cash?”
“Approximately forty-six thousand dollars.”
Caden stared.
“I don’t have forty-six thousand dollars.”
Detective Ortiz looked at him.
“That’s one reason we need to determine where it came from.”
Nathan asked, “What documents?”
“Some appear connected to Lawson Property Solutions.”
She looked at me.
“Others appear to belong to you.”
My skin went cold.
“What exactly?”
“Copies of property deeds.”
My hands started shaking.
“Anything else?”
The detective hesitated.
I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer.
“Two passports.”
“Whose?”
“One is Bonnie’s.”
“And the other?”
Detective Ortiz looked toward the staircase.
My heart stopped before she said it.
“Donovan’s.”
Caden made a sound like he had been punched.
I could not breathe.
“No.”
The detective moved closer.
“The passport appears to be authentic.”
“It was locked in our home office.”
Caden stared at the floor.
His whole body went rigid.
“My mother had my son’s passport?”
“Yes.”
I turned on him.
“Did you give it to her?”
“No!”
His answer was immediate.
“No. Emily, I swear.”
Detective Ortiz said, “At this point we have no evidence Caden knew she had it.”
My anger had nowhere to go.
It turned into fear.
“What was she going to do?”
“We don’t know.”
I looked at Donovan sleeping on the sofa.
His little hand rested beneath his cheek.
My mother started crying silently.
Caden walked toward the window.
Then he slammed both hands against the wall.
“Why?”
His voice cracked.
“Why would she take his passport?”
No one answered.
Then Nathan noticed something in the list Detective Ortiz had given him.
“Wait.”
He pointed.
“What is this?”
Ortiz looked.
“One-way airline itinerary.”
My stomach dropped.
“For whom?”
She read the line.
“Bonnie Lawson.”
“And?”
The detective’s face tightened.
“Donovan Lawson.”
Caden turned around.
“No.”
Departure city: Phoenix.
Destination: Guadalajara.
The same city I had just returned from.
The flight was scheduled for the next morning.
My knees weakened.
Mom whispered my name.
I looked at Detective Ortiz.
“Why Guadalajara?”
She shook her head.
“We don’t know.”
But suddenly I remembered my work trip.
Bonnie knew I had been there.
She knew I had business contacts there.
She knew I had returned early.
Then another thought hit me.
“Who purchased the tickets?”
The detective checked.
“They were paid for with a corporate card.”
“Which corporation?”
A pause.
“Lawson Property Solutions.”
Caden slowly lowered himself into a chair.
“I didn’t buy those.”
Nathan looked at him.
“Who had the company card?”
Caden answered without looking up.
“My mother.”
The room fell silent.
Then my phone vibrated.
A new email.
No sender name I recognized.
Subject line:
YOU STILL DON’T KNOW THE WHOLE TRUTH ABOUT CADEN.
I opened it.
There was no message.
Only one attachment.
A photograph.
Caden standing outside a bank.
Bonnie beside him.
And between them, a woman I had never seen before.
The timestamp was eight months old.
I turned the screen toward Caden.
“Who is she?”
May you like
He looked at the photograph.
And every bit of color disappeared from his face.
