Chapter 4
Madison stared at her phone.
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Then she started shaking.
“Turn around.”
Daniel kept driving.
“Madison—”
“Turn around!”
“We’re going to your house.”
“No, you’re taking me somewhere safe.”
“We are going to your house.”
She looked confused.
Daniel glanced at the mirror.
“My team is already there.”
I held Madison’s hand.
She looked at me.
“My mom screamed.”
“I know.”
“What if they hurt her?”
“We don’t know that.”
“What if they hurt my dad?”
I had no answer.
Dad’s SUV followed behind us with another security vehicle.
When we reached the Whitmore property, the front gate was open.
That felt wrong immediately.
Mrs. Whitmore never left the gate open.
There were two black security vehicles in the driveway.
Daniel stopped.
“Stay here.”
Madison opened the door before he finished.
I followed her.
“Madison!”
She ran toward the house.
One of Daniel’s men came out.
“She’s okay.”
Madison stopped.
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
She nearly collapsed.
I caught her.
Mrs. Whitmore appeared in the doorway.
Her makeup was smeared.
Her hair was messy.
She looked nothing like the polished woman who had tried to buy me off hours earlier.
“Madison.”
Mother and daughter ran toward each other.
They hugged.
Mrs. Whitmore sobbed.
“He took my phone.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where’s Dad?”
Her mother shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Dad arrived behind us.
Daniel approached him.
“No sign of forced entry.”
Dad frowned.
“Cameras?”
“Disabled.”
“From outside?”
“Looks like the security system was accessed remotely.”
Mrs. Whitmore heard them.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel answered.
“Whoever did this may have had passwords or internal access.”
She stared.
“Our security company?”
“Maybe.”
Madison pulled away.
“Mom, tell us exactly what happened.”
Mrs. Whitmore wiped her face.
“I was upstairs.”
“After Dad told you to go upstairs?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He said he needed to make a call.”
“To who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You didn’t ask?”
“Of course I asked.”
“And?”
“He told me it was business.”
Madison laughed bitterly.
“Everything is business.”
Her mother looked ashamed.
“I went upstairs because we had been fighting.”
“About Ethan?”
Mrs. Whitmore glanced at me.
“No.”
Charles had told her something.
I could see it.
Dad could too.
“Mrs. Whitmore,” he said, “what were you arguing about?”
She hesitated.
Madison stared at her.
“Mom.”
Mrs. Whitmore closed her eyes.
“Your father told me he might lose the company.”
Madison’s face fell.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“It had been ten minutes.”
“What else?”
Her mother shook her head.
“Nothing.”
Dad stepped closer.
“Vivian.”
It was the first time I had heard him use her first name.
She looked at him.
“If Charles is missing, every minute matters.”
Her lips trembled.
“He said someone had betrayed him.”
Daniel became still.
“Who?”
“He wouldn’t tell me.”
“Did he say whether it was an employee?”
“No.”
“A partner?”
“No.”
“A board member?”
She hesitated.
Daniel noticed.
“So he did say something.”
Mrs. Whitmore turned away.
Madison grabbed her arm.
“Mom.”
“He said I had invited the person into our lives.”
Madison frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“You must have some idea.”
“I don’t.”
She said it too quickly.
Dad looked at Daniel.
Daniel nodded once.
They both knew she was hiding something.
Then headlights appeared outside.
A red sports car entered the driveway.
Mrs. Whitmore looked toward the window.
Her face changed.
A young man climbed out.
Expensive suit.
Perfect hair.
Confident walk.
Madison whispered, “Oh, no.”
“Who is that?” I asked.
“My brother.”
I had heard about Logan Whitmore.
Twenty-eight.
Older than Madison by four years.
Former college athlete.
Current vice president at his father’s company.
Madison rarely talked about him.
He burst through the front door.
“Mom?”
Mrs. Whitmore rushed toward him.
“Logan.”
He hugged her.
Then saw Madison.
“What happened?”
Madison stared at him.
“Where have you been?”
“What?”
“Dad is missing.”
His face went blank.
“What are you talking about?”
“Someone came here.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
Logan saw Dad.
Then Daniel.
Then me.
His eyes narrowed.
“Why is he here?”
Madison looked disgusted.
“Seriously?”
“I asked a question.”
Dad answered.
“Because your father asked my company for an investment.”
Logan looked at him.
“And that gives you permission to invade our home?”
Mrs. Whitmore touched his arm.
“Logan, please.”
He pulled away.
“Where’s Dad?”
“We don’t know.”
Logan looked at Daniel.
“Have you called the police?”
Daniel nodded.
“They’re on their way.”
“Good.”
He took out his phone.
Daniel watched him.
“Who are you calling?”
“My lawyer.”
“Why?”
Logan smiled coldly.
“Because when wealthy strangers fill my family’s house with private security, I call a lawyer.”
Madison stepped toward him.
“Someone threatened Dad.”
Logan’s smile disappeared.
“What?”
She told him about the phone calls.
He looked genuinely shocked.
Maybe.
Then Dad asked a simple question.
“Where were you tonight?”
Logan looked at him.
“Excuse me?”
“Your mother said Charles claimed someone betrayed him. You work at the company.”
Logan’s eyes hardened.
“Are you accusing me?”
“I asked where you were.”
“At dinner.”
“With?”
“Friends.”
“Which friends?”
Logan laughed.
“You really think you’re in charge here.”
“No,” Dad said. “But someone should be.”
“Dad was in charge.”
“And your father is missing.”
Madison stepped between them.
“Stop.”
Logan looked at her.
“What did you tell them?”
“Everything I know.”
“You shouldn’t have.”
Her face changed.
“Why?”
“Because family business stays in the family.”
“Dad might have been kidnapped.”
“And your boyfriend’s father is still not family.”
I finally spoke.
“You’re right.”
Logan turned to me.
“I didn’t ask you.”
“No, but you keep looking at me like I broke into your house.”
“You’re here, aren’t you?”
“So are you.”
His jaw tightened.
Madison snapped.
“Enough.”
Sirens approached.
Police arrived.
The next hour became questions.
Statements.
Security footage that showed nothing.
A neighbor’s camera had caught a dark van near the property around the time Charles disappeared.
No license plate.
No clear faces.
Mrs. Whitmore repeated her story.
Logan claimed he had been at a restaurant in West Hollywood.
Dad stayed quiet.
Daniel made calls.
Around midnight, one detective approached us.
“We found Mr. Whitmore’s car.”
Madison stood.
“Where?”
“About five miles away.”
“Was he inside?”
“No.”
“Blood?”
The detective hesitated.
“No visible blood.”
She exhaled.
“But his phone was in the car.”
Daniel frowned.
“Anything else?”
The detective looked at him.
“A note.”
Madison’s mother gasped.
“What note?”
The detective glanced at Dad.
“It had a name on it.”
“Whose?”
“Richard Cole.”
Everyone looked at my father.
“What did it say?” Dad asked.
The detective answered.
“Walk away or Charles pays.”
Mrs. Whitmore started crying again.
Logan turned on Dad.
“You need to cancel the investment.”
Dad didn’t move.
“Immediately,” Logan said.
Madison stared at my father.
“Please.”
Dad looked at her.
“If this is truly about the investment, canceling may not protect him.”
Logan stepped closer.
“They literally told you what they want.”
“And kidnappers don’t always tell the truth.”
“So you’re willing to gamble with my father’s life?”
“No.”
“That’s exactly what you’re doing.”
Dad looked at Daniel.
“What happens if I announce tomorrow that Cole Capital is no longer interested?”
Daniel thought.
“Best case, they got what they wanted.”
“And worst?”
“They kill Charles anyway because he knows too much.”
Mrs. Whitmore covered her mouth.
Madison whispered, “Don’t say that.”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“I’m sorry.”
Logan paced across the room.
“This is insane.”
Then his phone buzzed.
He looked down.
For just one second, something crossed his face.
Fear.
I saw it.
So did Dad.
Logan immediately put the phone in his pocket.
Dad spoke.
“Who was that?”
“No one.”
“Show me.”
Logan laughed.
“Go to hell.”
Daniel stepped forward.
Logan backed away.
“You have no right.”
The detective looked over.
“What’s going on?”
Logan shook his head.
“Nothing.”
Madison stared at him.
“Logan.”
“What?”
“Show us your phone.”
He looked at his sister.
“Not you too.”
“Dad is missing.”
His face tightened.
Then he took out his phone.
“Fine.”
He handed it to Madison.
A text message was open.
Unknown number.
SHE KNOWS TOO MUCH.
Madison stared.
“What does that mean?”
Then another message arrived.
A photograph.
Mrs. Whitmore asleep in bed.
Taken from inside the bedroom.
Tonight.
Her mother screamed.
Daniel grabbed the phone.
The detective called for officers to secure the upstairs.
Logan looked terrified now.
“This person was inside the house?”
Daniel zoomed in.
“Maybe.”
Dad looked at Mrs. Whitmore.
“Vivian, who did Charles mean when he said you invited someone into your lives?”
She shook her head.
“I told you, I don’t know.”
Another text arrived.
Three words.
ASK YOUR MOTHER.
Madison turned slowly.
“Mom.”
Mrs. Whitmore started crying before anyone asked another question.
“I didn’t know.”
“Know what?”
“I swear I didn’t know.”
Logan stared at her.
“Mom, what did you do?”
She sank onto the couch.
“There’s a man.”
Madison looked stunned.
“What man?”
Mrs. Whitmore covered her face.
Dad’s expression changed.
Logan whispered, “Oh my God.”
I already knew what was coming.
May you like
Mrs. Whitmore looked at her children.
“I was having an affair.”
