Chapter 6
Adrian ran after the vehicle until his lungs burned.
It disappeared beyond the trees.
Ruiz grabbed him before he stumbled into the road.
“We have the plate.”
“It was probably stolen.”
“We’ll find her.”
“She was under police protection, and Vanessa still took her!”
Ruiz did not defend himself.
Noah cried in Adrian’s arms.
Claire regained consciousness minutes later. A medic treated a cut above her eyebrow.
“She was hiding under a blanket behind the rear seats,” Claire said. “I never saw her.”
“What did she use on you?”
“Something sharp hit my neck.”
The medic found a tiny puncture mark.
Vanessa had planned every second.
Lily’s stuffed rabbit lay on the floor of the vehicle.
Its camera was still recording.
Ruiz reviewed the last clip.
Vanessa held Lily against her side while steering with one hand.
“You caused this,” Vanessa told the girl.
“No,” Lily whispered. “You did.”
Vanessa slapped the camera away, but the recording continued from the floor.
A second voice came through the car’s speakers.
Eleanor.
“Bring her to the old house. Marcus says she must change her statement.”
Adrian stared at Ruiz.
“My mother was released?”
“She agreed to cooperate with investigators.”
“She lied.”
Ruiz immediately ordered officers to find Eleanor.
Her home was empty.
Her phone was turned off.
Adrian studied the map of Hale family properties.
“What old house?”
Claire looked at him.
“The house where Dad grew up.”
Their grandfather’s farmhouse had been abandoned for almost thirty years. It stood near the state line, surrounded by dead fields and empty barns.
Police raced toward it.
Adrian rode with Ruiz while Claire stayed behind with Noah.
During the drive, Adrian received another video call.
Lily sat in a wooden chair.
Her hands were tied with a scarf.
Vanessa stood behind her.
“Tell your father the truth,” Vanessa ordered.
Lily’s face was wet with tears.
“I lied about the doghouse,” she said.
Adrian closed his eyes.
“It’s okay, sweetheart.”
“No,” Vanessa snapped. “Tell him he made you record those videos.”
Lily looked directly into the camera.
Then she said, “Daddy told me never to lie for bad people.”
Vanessa’s hand moved.
The screen went black before Adrian saw what happened.
He nearly tore the phone apart.
Ruiz spoke firmly.
“Stay with me. She wants you angry and careless.”
“They have my daughter.”
“And we are going to bring her home.”
The farmhouse appeared after midnight.
No lights were visible.
Officers surrounded the property.
Thermal cameras detected three people inside.
Vanessa.
Eleanor.
Lily.
Ruiz wanted to wait for a tactical team.
Then smoke began pouring from an upstairs window.
“They set the house on fire,” Adrian said.
He jumped from the car.
Ruiz shouted after him, but Adrian ran through the front door.
Heat rolled across the ceiling.
“Lily!”
“Daddy!”
Her voice came from upstairs.
Adrian climbed through the smoke.
He found Eleanor in the hallway, coughing on the floor.
“Where is she?”
Eleanor pointed toward a bedroom.
Adrian kicked open the door.
Lily was still tied to the chair.
Flames climbed the curtains.
He freed her and lifted her into his arms.
“Vanessa?” he asked.
“She went through the little door.”
A narrow door in the wall opened onto an old servants’ staircase.
Adrian carried Lily downstairs.
Outside, paramedics surrounded her.
She refused to release his hand.
Eleanor was taken into custody.
Vanessa had escaped through a cellar tunnel leading into the fields.
Police searched until sunrise.
They found her coat beside a river.
There were footprints near the water, but none on the opposite bank.
Ruiz believed she might have drowned.
Adrian did not.
Neither did Lily.
At the hospital, she whispered, “She told Grandma she had another plan.”
“What plan?”
Lily reached into her pajama pocket.
She had stolen a key from Vanessa during the fire.
A brass tag hung from it.
May you like
On the tag were two words.
SAFE DEPOSIT.
