Chapter 3
For several seconds, I could only stare at Michael’s face.
My brother-in-law.
The man who had hugged me at Christmas.
The man who bought Sophie a bicycle for her fourth birthday.
The man who once told me I was the brother he never had.
“He’s helping her,” I whispered.
Maria stood behind me.
“Who?”
I held up the photograph.
Her face changed.
“That’s him.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
My stomach twisted.
Michael lived less than twenty miles away.
I immediately called him.
The phone rang once.
Then disconnected.
I called again.
Straight to voicemail.
The officer beside me took the photograph.
“We’ll put out an alert on the vehicle.”
“They could be at Michael’s house.”
“We already have officers heading there.”
I grabbed my keys.
The officer blocked me.
“You need to stay here.”
“That is my daughter.”
“And if they’re armed?”
I froze.
“Armed?”
“We don’t know what we’re dealing with.”
Neither did I.
That terrified me more than anything.
The officer asked me question after question.
Did Lauren have family out of state?
Did she have access to cash?
Passports?
Second vehicles?
Friends I didn’t know?
I suddenly realized how little I knew about my own wife’s private life.
We had been married seven years.
But during the last two, Lauren had changed.
Slowly.
At first, I blamed stress.
Then grief after her father died.
Then motherhood.
Then my work schedule.
There was always an explanation.
Maybe I had wanted explanations because they were easier than admitting something was wrong.
My phone vibrated.
A text from an unknown number.
STOP THE POLICE.
My pulse jumped.
Another message came.
YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES.
I showed the officer.
He told me not to answer yet.
Then another message.
CALL OFF THE SEARCH OR YOU WILL NOT SEE SOPHIE TONIGHT.
I stopped listening to the officer.
I typed.
LET ME TALK TO HER.
Three dots appeared.
Then disappeared.
Then appeared again.
A video call came through.
Unknown number.
The officer whispered, “Answer.”
I did.
Lauren appeared on the screen.
She was sitting somewhere dark.
I could only see part of her face.
“Call them off.”
“Let me see Sophie.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
Her expression hardened.
“You always have to control everything.”
“Where is our daughter?”
“Our daughter?”
She gave a bitter laugh.
“You suddenly remember she’s ours?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You spend more time in airports than you spend with her.”
“You told me those trips were necessary for us.”
“You believed everything I told you.”
The sentence hit differently now.
“Lauren, show me Sophie.”
She moved the phone.
Sophie was asleep on a couch.
Her face looked pale.
Too pale.
“Sophie!”
She didn’t move.
I felt the room tilt.
“What did you give her?”
Lauren turned the camera back.
“Nothing dangerous.”
“What did you give her?”
“Stop shouting.”
“Wake her up.”
“She needs to sleep.”
“Lauren!”
The officer gestured for me to keep her talking.
I forced myself to breathe.
“Tell me what you want.”
Her eyes softened slightly.
“There. That’s better.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to stop the police.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ve already made this bigger than it needed to be.”
“You took Sophie.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“You drugged her.”
Lauren’s face changed.
“Maria showed you the videos.”
“Yes.”
“That woman destroyed our family.”
“No. You did.”
Lauren leaned toward the camera.
“You have no idea what your family did to mine.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
For the first time, she looked uncertain.
Then a male voice came from somewhere near her.
“Lauren.”
Michael.
She glanced sideways.
He said something I couldn’t hear.
Then Lauren looked back at me.
“Withdraw the complaint.”
“I can’t.”
“Then fix it.”
“Bring Sophie home.”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
Her lips tightened.
“Because your mother is coming.”
I froze.
“My mother?”
The call ended.
I immediately called Mom.
She answered on the second ring.
“Daniel?”
“Where are you?”
“At home. Why?”
“Stay there.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Daniel, you’re frightening me.”
“Has Lauren contacted you?”
Silence.
My stomach dropped.
“Mom.”
“She called twenty minutes ago.”
“What did she say?”
“She asked if I still had the blue file.”
“What blue file?”
My mother didn’t answer.
“Mom, what blue file?”
“I thought this was over.”
I looked at the officer.
“What was over?”
My mother began crying.
Not quietly.
Not politely.
The raw sound of someone who had been afraid for years.
“Daniel, I should have told you.”
“Told me what?”
“Before you married Lauren.”
My legs suddenly felt weak.
“Tell me now.”
There was another long silence.
Then she said, “Lauren’s father used to work for your father.”
I knew that.
Everyone did.
My father had owned a commercial construction company before selling it.
Lauren and I had technically met through our families, though we hadn’t started dating until years later.
“What does that have to do with Sophie?”
“Everything.”
My mother took a shaking breath.
“Lauren’s father, Richard, accused your father of stealing from him.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“No.”
Her answer was immediate.
“It wasn’t.”
I stopped.
My mother continued.
“Richard discovered financial records showing someone was moving money through subcontractor accounts.”
“Dad?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“Your father denied it. Richard threatened to report him. Two weeks later, Richard was fired.”
I remembered Lauren’s father telling stories about losing his job during a company restructuring.
“He said he was laid off.”
“That was the story everyone agreed to tell.”
My mouth went dry.
“Why?”
“Because Richard accepted a settlement.”
“How much?”
“Two million dollars.”
I stared at the wall.
“Dad paid him?”
“The company did.”
“What’s in the blue file?”
“Copies of documents Richard gave me years later.”
“Why you?”
“Because he said if anything happened to him, someone from your family needed to know the truth.”
Richard died eighteen months ago.
A heart attack.
At least that was what we were told.
“Mom, where is the file?”
“In my safe.”
“Do not give it to Lauren.”
“She said she’ll come here.”
“Leave the house.”
“I’m not letting her frighten me out of my own home.”
“Mom, she has Sophie.”
Silence.
“What?”
“She took Sophie.”
My mother gasped.
I heard something fall.
“Oh my God.”
“Leave now.”
“I’m coming to you.”
“No. Go to Aunt Karen’s. I’ll call you.”
The officer was already taking notes.
Another officer entered the kitchen.
“We found the SUV.”
I spun around.
“Where?”
“Abandoned behind a shopping center six miles from Michael’s house.”
“Was Sophie there?”
“No.”
“Cameras?”
“We’re checking.”
My phone buzzed again.
This time it was Michael.
One sentence.
Your wife is losing control.
I stared at it.
Then another message appeared.
I can help you get Sophie back.
The officer told me not to answer until they traced the number.
But Michael sent another message.
Lauren thinks this is about revenge.
It isn’t anymore.
I typed before anyone could stop me.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
His answer came almost immediately.
Money.
Then:
A lot of it.
Then:
And Sophie is the only person standing between Lauren and everything she thinks belongs to her.
My skin went cold.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Michael took almost a minute to respond.
When the text finally appeared, I read it twice.
Then a third time.
Lauren changed your will six months ago.
I looked up at the officer.
“That’s impossible.”
“What?”
“My will.”
I opened the secure folder on my phone.
My estate documents were handled by our attorney, Charles Benson.
My original will left most of my assets in trust for Sophie.
Lauren would receive the house and a percentage of the estate.
Sophie would inherit everything else when she became an adult.
I called Charles.
No answer.
I called again.
Still nothing.
Then Michael sent one final message.
Ask your lawyer why the new version says Lauren inherits everything if Sophie dies before you.
My fingers went numb.
I reread the sentence.
If Sophie dies before you.
I felt something inside me turn from panic into terror.
This was no longer about Lauren taking Sophie.
This was no longer about a custody fight.
My wife had been secretly giving our daughter an unknown substance.
She had changed my estate documents.
And now my four-year-old child was unconscious somewhere I couldn’t find.
I typed one question.
WHERE IS SHE?
Michael replied.
I’ll tell you.
But first, you need to understand something.
May you like
Lauren didn’t start drugging Sophie when you left for Boston.
She started months ago.
