Chapter 8 - THE MOLE
I stared at the photograph until my hands began to shake. They had been inside the suite. They had been close enough to photograph my daughter while she slept. Past my guards. Past my locks. Past every security measure I had put in place.
Which meant one of two things — either my security team had been compromised, or someone had given them access.
I drove back to the hotel in silence, the photograph burning in my pocket. When I arrived, I did not go to Mia immediately. Instead, I went to the security control room. I reviewed the footage from the previous night.
Nothing. No one had entered or left the room. No strange movements. No unauthorized access.
Which meant the person who took the photo was already inside.
I walked down the hall to Mia’s room. Two guards stood outside. Both men I had known for years. Both men I had trusted.
“Any visitors?” I asked.
“No, sir. All quiet.”
I nodded and stepped inside. Mia was awake, sitting by the window, reading. She looked up and smiled when she saw me.
“Daddy! You’re back!”
I walked over and knelt beside her bed. “Mia, did anyone come in last night? Anyone at all? Even for a moment?”
Mia thought carefully. “No. Except —”
“Except who?”
“Officer Carter. He came in to check the locks. He said he was making sure everything was safe.”
My blood ran cold. “What time was this?”
“Late. When I was half asleep. He shone a light around. Told me to go back to sleep.”
I stood up slowly. “Did he touch anything, Mia? Move anything?”
She hesitated. “He leaned over my bed. Adjusted my blanket. And he looked at me for a long time. Like he was making sure I was really asleep.”
I gripped the bedpost until my knuckles turned white. “Thank you, Mia. Go back to your book. I’ll be right outside.”
I stepped into the hallway and called Elena and David immediately. Ten minutes later, they stood with me in the corridor.
“Officer Carter,” David said quietly. “He’s been assigned to the case since the beginning. He was at the lake house. He was at Evelyn’s arrest.”
“And he was the one who told us Vanessa had vanished without a trace,” Elena added.
I pulled the photograph from my pocket. “He was in Mia’s room last night. He took this.”
Elena’s face hardened. “Grace’s warning. Never trust the police.”
“Carter isn’t just a bad cop,” David said. “Look at his file. He has connections. His wife’s family — they work for the very same legal firm that represents the Halewood interests.”
“The family that fathered Mia,” I said. “The family that wants her dead.”
“Exactly. Carter was placed there months ago. Before Vanessa even arrived. He’s been waiting. Watching. Reporting back.”
“And when we got too close,” Elena said, “he helped Vanessa escape. He gave her information. He protected her. And now — he’s been inside Mia’s room.”
I pulled out my phone and called the head of security. “Lock down the entire building. Seal every exit. Do not let Officer Carter leave. And do not let him know you are looking for him.”
I hung up and looked at them. “He has been inside her room. He knows where she sleeps. He knows her habits. He could have killed her last night. But he didn’t.”
“Because he doesn’t want her dead — not yet,” David said. “He wants her alive until she signs over what belongs to her.”
“Which means,” Elena said, “he will try again. And next time — he won’t just take a photograph.”
My phone buzzed. A message from security: Carter is gone. His service weapon is missing. A window on the ground floor was forced open.
I ran to the window and looked out. The street was quiet. The darkness hid everything.
“He’s gone,” I said. “And he knows we’re onto him.”
“Then he’ll run to Vanessa,” Elena said. “They’ll hide together. Plan together.”
“Or,” I said quietly, “they’ll decide to finish this quickly. Before we can arrest him.”
I turned back toward Mia’s room. “We move her. Tonight. Now. Somewhere no one knows. Somewhere even Carter can’t find her.”
“My estate,” Elena said. “The one outside the city. It’s secure. No one knows it belongs to me. Not even Evelyn.”
“Pack what you need,” I told Elena. “David — you handle the paperwork. Make sure no one traces us. And David — if anyone asks — we are gone. Vanished.”
I walked back into Mia’s room. She looked up at me, sensing the change in the air.
“Mia,” I said gently, “we’re going on a trip. A surprise. But we have to leave right now. Quietly. Can you do that for me?”
Mia stood up and began gathering her things. She did not ask where we were going. She did not complain. She simply trusted me. That trust was the most precious thing I had — and the thing I had failed to protect.
May you like
As we walked out of the hotel through the underground garage, I thought of the photograph. Of the man who had stood over her bed while she slept. Of the people who had been watching us all along.
We were running. And for the first time, I did not know if we would ever be safe again.
