Chapter 10
We moved Lily to a secure hospital wing.
Two officers at the door.
One outside the nursery.
Dad slept in a chair with his boots on.
Sarah slept never.
Patricia disappeared after the failed custody hearing.
Harrison claimed he did not know where she went.
Nobody believed him.
Detective Ellis traced Patricia’s phone to an abandoned Vance property outside Asheville.
Then it went dark.
Marcus asked for a deal.
Not through his lawyer.
Through mine.
Sarah read the message aloud.
He will give evidence on Victor if Emily allows supervised visitation someday.
I laughed.
It hurt my stitches.
“No.”
Sarah nodded.
“I assumed.”
Dad looked grim.
“He knows where Victor is.”
“Then he can tell police without using Lily as currency.”
That afternoon, Marcus finally talked.
Victor was alive.
Living under the name Vincent Vale.
He had spent decades controlling family courts, private clinics, and estate lawyers.
He believed my mother’s diary contained evidence that could destroy him.
He also believed Lily might be his biological great-grandchild.
That made my daughter valuable in his sick mind.
Not loved.
Valuable.
Rage steadied me.
Detective Ellis raided the Asheville property.
They found Patricia.
Alive.
Bound in a locked pantry.
She claimed Victor took her after she failed to get custody.
In the basement, officers found a wall covered with photos.
Rebecca.
Me.
Lily.
And one current photo of the hospital.
Taken through my window.
I looked at Sarah.
May you like
“He knows where we are.”
Then the hospital alarms went off.
