Chapter 10
Every door locked.
Every gate closed.
The security officers moved us to an interior room with no exterior windows.
Adrian carried Noah.
I carried a diaper bag, two bottles, and a fear so heavy I could barely breathe.
Vanessa had vanished.
Her ankle monitor had been cut off and left in Celeste’s guest bathroom.
A vehicle belonging to one of Celeste’s employees was missing.
Police issued an alert.
For two hours, nothing happened.
Then three.
Then four.
Every sound made me jump.
Noah didn’t understand any of it.
He crawled across the carpet, grabbed Adrian’s shoe, and laughed.
Adrian smiled at him.
Then turned his face away.
I knew he didn’t want Noah to see him cry.
At six that evening, Detective Harris called.
“They found the vehicle.”
Adrian put the call on speaker.
“Where?”
“Abandoned near a bus station.”
My stomach tightened.
“Was Vanessa there?”
“No.”
“Camera footage?”
“We’re reviewing it.”
Adrian paced.
“What about Celeste?”
“She’s in custody.”
I froze.
“For Thomas Reed?”
“Conspiracy related to the Reed homicide investigation and financial crimes. More charges may follow.”
Adrian exhaled.
“And Julian?”
“Still missing.”
One monster caught.
Two still loose.
It did not feel like victory.
Harris continued.
“We searched Celeste’s home.”
“What did you find?”
“Cash. Travel documents. Three prepaid phones.”
He paused.
“And photographs of Noah.”
My stomach dropped.
“What kind of photographs?”
“Surveillance.”
Adrian stopped pacing.
“How recent?”
“Some were taken yesterday.”
I felt cold.
Yesterday.
While we were hiding.
“They knew where we were.”
“Possibly.”
“Who took them?”
“We don’t know yet.”
I looked toward the security officers.
Someone had followed us from the hotel.
Someone had known our location.
Then a thought hit me.
“The house.”
Adrian looked at me.
“What?”
“How did you choose this house?”
“My business partner offered it.”
“Who knew?”
He frowned.
“Helen. Claire. Security.”
“And?”
“My executive assistant arranged some supplies.”
“What’s her name?”
“Lydia.”
I knew Lydia Chen.
She had worked for Adrian for nine years.
Reliable.
Quiet.
Impossible to imagine betraying him.
But impossible had become a useless word.
Adrian called her.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
His face changed.
“She always answers.”
Security immediately tried to locate her.
Twenty minutes later, they found her car at the Whitmore corporate office.
Her purse was inside.
Her phone was on the floor.
Lydia was gone.
That frightened me in a completely different way.
“Maybe she didn’t betray you,” I whispered.
Adrian looked at me.
“Maybe someone took her.”
Police arrived at the office.
The parking garage cameras answered the question.
Lydia had been forced into another vehicle by a man.
The man was Julian Cross.
My stomach turned.
He had Lydia.
And Vanessa was still missing.
Adrian looked like he wanted to tear the walls apart.
“This is because of me.”
“No,” I said.
He looked at me.
“It is.”
“Then use that feeling later.”
“What?”
“When Lydia is safe.”
I hated how sharp my voice sounded.
But he needed to hear it.
“Right now, guilt doesn’t help her.”
He stared at me.
Then nodded.
“You’re right.”
Detective Harris called again.
“We have a demand.”
Adrian went still.
“What?”
“A video was sent to your corporate email.”
Security opened it on a protected laptop.
Lydia appeared on-screen.
She was sitting in a chair.
Her hands were tied.
Her face was bruised.
Behind her stood Julian Cross.
I had only met him a few times.
He had always seemed polished.
Professional.
Now he looked exhausted and dangerous.
“Adrian,” he said into the camera, “you have something that belongs to my clients.”
Adrian whispered, “What?”
Julian continued.
“The blue folder.”
My skin prickled.
Of course.
Evidence connecting Celeste to Thomas Reed.
“Bring it to the old Whitmore distribution warehouse by midnight.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
Julian smiled.
“Come alone.”
Then Lydia spoke.
“Don’t.”
Julian slapped her.
Adrian lunged toward the screen as if he could reach through it.
I covered my mouth.
“If police appear,” Julian said, “Lydia dies.”
The video ended.
The room exploded into movement.
Detective Harris ordered Adrian not to leave.
The tactical team began planning.
Adrian argued.
“They’ll kill her if I don’t go.”
“They may kill you if you do.”
“Then put a tracker on me.”
“No.”
“Detective—”
“No.”
I watched them fight.
Then something in the video bothered me.
“Play it again.”
Nobody heard me.
“Play it again!”
Adrian turned.
Security restarted the recording.
I watched Lydia.
Not Julian.
Her eyes.
Her hands.
The wall behind her.
Then I saw it.
“Stop.”
The video paused.
I pointed toward the corner.
A yellow safety sign.
Adrian frowned.
“What?”
“That warehouse was closed six years ago, right?”
“Yes.”
“Would it have that sign?”
He leaned closer.
The sign mentioned lithium battery charging.
Adrian stared.
“We never stored lithium batteries there.”
Detective Harris looked at him.
“Which facility does?”
Adrian’s face changed.
“The new logistics center in Garland.”
The detective immediately radioed the tactical team.
Julian had lied about the location.
The old warehouse was a trap.
Lydia was somewhere else.
Police rushed toward Garland.
Adrian was ordered to stay put.
Forty-seven minutes later, Harris called.
“We found her.”
Adrian nearly collapsed with relief.
“Alive?”
“Alive.”
I closed my eyes.
Thank God.
“Julian?”
“Gone.”
Of course.
“He escaped through a rear loading area before officers entered.”
“Was Vanessa there?”
“No.”
Lydia was taken to the hospital.
She told police Julian had kidnapped her because he believed she knew where Adrian had hidden evidence.
She didn’t.
He had beaten her anyway.
Then she revealed something else.
Vanessa had been with Julian when Lydia was abducted.
That meant they were together.
And running.
At nine that night, police traced another prepaid phone.
A call had been made from it to a private airfield north of Dallas.
Adrian looked at Harris.
“They’re leaving.”
“Maybe.”
“Where?”
“We don’t know.”
Then Harris’s phone buzzed.
He read the message.
His eyes widened.
“What?”
He looked toward me.
“A charter pilot just reported two passengers attempting to board under false names.”
My heart pounded.
“Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“And Julian?”
Harris nodded.
Police units were already moving.
For the first time all day, hope flashed through me.
Then the detective kept reading.
His face changed.
“What is it?”
“The pilot says Vanessa has a baby carrier.”
The room went silent.
I looked down.
Noah was asleep safely in Adrian’s arms.
“Then whose baby?” I whispered.
Harris stared at the message.
“It’s empty.”
Adrian frowned.
“Why carry an empty baby carrier?”
Nobody understood.
Until I remembered the threatening message.
The camera saved him once.
There won’t always be a camera.
My blood went cold.
“It’s a distraction.”
Adrian looked at me.
“What?”
“They want police looking at the airfield.”
The realization hit Harris too.
He grabbed his radio.
“Check every unit around this location now.”
A security officer suddenly shouted from the hallway.
The lights went out.
May you like
Complete darkness swallowed the house.
Then somewhere near the back door, glass shattered.
