Chapter 5
Daniel could not speak.
Naomi took the phone from his hand and put it on speaker.
“Marlene, where is Lucy?”
“First tell the police Andrew took her.”
“You just said you hid her.”
“I had someone move her.”
“Who?”
“My son.”
Daniel grabbed the phone.
“Tyler was with Detective Hale twenty minutes ago.”
Marlene stopped breathing.
Naomi exchanged a frightened look with Daniel.
“If Tyler doesn’t have Lucy,” Marlene whispered, “then Andrew got there first.”
“Where?”
“The old Mercer cabin near Lake Harding.”
Daniel remembered the cabin.
His father had taken both brothers there as boys.
It had been empty for fifteen years.
Daniel ran for the door.
Naomi blocked him.
“You cannot drive into an ambush.”
“My daughter is there.”
“And she needs you alive.”
Detective Hale organized two teams.
Daniel rode with him despite every objection.
During the forty-minute drive, Marlene explained what she had done.
She knew Andrew would use the custody petition to control Lucy.
After her arrest, she called a cousin and asked him to take Lucy from Daniel’s home.
The cousin was supposed to bring her to Tyler.
“But Andrew must have heard the call,” Marlene said.
“How?” Hale asked.
“He has someone inside the jail.”
“Who is your cousin?”
“Ray Sloan.”
Police traced Ray’s phone.
It had stopped moving near Lake Harding.
They found his truck abandoned two miles from the cabin.
There was blood on the steering wheel, but no body.
Daniel’s fear became unbearable.
He pictured Lucy calling for him.
He pictured her believing he had broken his promise.
Hale placed a hand on his shoulder.
“We’re going to find her.”
The police stopped their vehicles away from the cabin.
Officers moved through the trees.
Daniel was ordered to remain behind.
Then he heard Lucy scream.
He ran.
Hale cursed and followed.
The cabin door was open.
A lamp burned inside.
Lucy sat on the floor with her hands tied loosely in front of her.
A man in a hood stood behind her.
Daniel stopped at the doorway.
“Let her go.”
The man pulled off the hood.
It was Frank Dobbins, the missing mechanic.
He held no visible weapon, but his hand remained inside his coat.
“Your brother says you’re stubborn,” Frank said.
“Andrew sent you?”
“Andrew doesn’t send anyone anywhere.”
“You sabotaged Claire’s car.”
Frank smiled.
“You should choose your accusations carefully.”
Lucy sobbed.
“Daddy.”
Daniel took one step forward.
Frank’s hand moved.
“Stay there.”
“Take me instead.”
“This isn’t a movie.”
“No. It’s my daughter.”
Frank looked toward the back window.
He was waiting for someone.
Daniel realized the cabin was only a transfer point.
“Where is Andrew?”
Frank laughed.
“You still think your brother gets his own hands dirty?”
Outside, a branch cracked.
Frank turned his head.
Daniel lunged.
They struck the floor hard.
Frank reached inside his coat.
Daniel grabbed his wrist.
A gun slid across the wooden boards.
Hale entered and kicked it away.
Officers pulled Frank off Daniel.
Lucy screamed until Daniel reached her.
He tore the loose cord from her wrists and held her.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
“I knew you’d come.”
Those words nearly destroyed him.
Ray Sloan was found alive in a drainage ditch near his truck.
Frank had attacked him and taken Lucy.
The police recovered a second vehicle behind the cabin.
Inside were false passports, cash, and a child’s coat in Lucy’s size.
Andrew had planned to move her across the border.
But Frank refused to name him.
He claimed a stranger hired him through encrypted messages.
Daniel and Lucy returned home under police protection.
The custody hearing was postponed for twenty-four hours because of the abduction.
Naomi asked the judge to dismiss Andrew’s petition entirely.
Andrew’s attorneys argued that Daniel’s home had failed to protect Lucy.
The cruelty of the argument stunned Daniel.
Andrew had arranged the kidnapping.
Now he wanted to use it as proof that Daniel was an unsafe father.
Marlene was brought to the courthouse in handcuffs.
She agreed to testify in exchange for consideration from prosecutors.
Daniel saw her in a side room before the hearing.
She looked smaller without her expensive clothes and perfect hair.
“You saved Lucy’s location,” Daniel said. “That does not erase what you did to her.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Marlene stared at her cuffed hands.
“I told myself I was strict because you spoiled her. Then she found Claire’s box, and I panicked.”
“You grabbed her.”
“Yes.”
“You starved her.”
“I withheld one meal.”
Daniel struck the table with his palm.
“She is four years old.”
Marlene flinched.
Naomi stepped between them.
“Daniel.”
He forced himself to sit.
Marlene began crying.
“I became someone I don’t recognize.”
“No. You became someone Lucy recognized very well. That’s why she was afraid of you.”
Marlene had no answer.
Daniel leaned forward.
“Tell me everything about Andrew.”
“He started coming to the house after Claire died. At first, he said he was helping with company papers. Then he asked me to put something in your tea.”
“What?”
“Prescription sleep medication.”
“Where did you get it?”
“Andrew.”
“Why agree?”
“He had paid Tyler’s debt. He said if I refused, Tyler would disappear.”
“But you kept doing it for a year.”
“He paid me.”
The honesty was ugly, but Daniel preferred it to excuses.
“Did Andrew admit killing Claire?”
“No.”
“Did he say anything about the crash?”
“Once. He said Claire should have stayed in her lane.”
Naomi wrote down the exact words.
Marlene continued.
“The night she died, Andrew came to the house after midnight. His sleeve was torn. There was red dirt on his shoes.”
“Did he have anything with him?”
“Claire’s laptop.”
Daniel’s stomach turned.
“What did he do with it?”
“He gave it to your mother.”
Daniel stood.
“Evelyn had Claire’s computer?”
Marlene nodded.
“She hid it.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
The hearing began at two.
Andrew sat beside Evelyn on the opposite side of the courtroom.
Daniel could not tell whether his mother was supporting Andrew or had simply been ordered to appear.
The judge reviewed the abduction, the suspected financial crimes, and the recordings.
Andrew’s lawyer presented Daniel’s toxicology report.
He claimed Daniel voluntarily misused sedatives.
Then he called a company executive who testified that Daniel had behaved unpredictably for months.
Naomi exposed that the executive had received a promotion from Andrew that morning.
The judge was not impressed.
Marlene took the witness stand.
She admitted drugging Daniel.
She admitted helping Andrew access his office.
She admitted that the guardianship petition was part of a plan to remove Daniel from the company.
Andrew stared at her without emotion.
Then his lawyer asked about Lucy’s treatment.
“Did Daniel ever ask you how Lucy spent her days?”
“Sometimes.”
“Did he inspect her meals?”
“No.”
“Did he notice the marks on her wrist before the bank document appeared?”
“No.”
“Did he leave his child in your care for twelve hours at a time?”
Marlene looked at Daniel.
“Yes.”
Every answer cut him.
The lawyer did not need to prove Daniel was cruel.
He only needed to prove Daniel had failed to see what was happening.
And Daniel had.
Naomi repaired some of the damage by showing that Marlene had sent false daily reports, staged cheerful photographs, and deleted messages from Lucy’s preschool.
Still, Daniel could not escape his own guilt.
He had trusted the wrong person.
Lucy had paid the price.
During a recess, Evelyn approached him.
“I have Claire’s laptop.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Where?”
“In a storage unit under Rebecca’s name.”
“Why didn’t you tell the police?”
“Andrew said it contained private information that would hurt you.”
“And you believed him?”
“I was afraid to know the truth.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“No. You were afraid the truth would make you choose between your sons.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I made that choice every time I stayed silent.”
“Then choose again.”
Evelyn looked toward Andrew.
He was watching them.
“I’ll take Detective Hale to the unit,” she whispered.
Andrew stood.
Evelyn walked straight to Hale and asked for protection.
His face changed when she mentioned the laptop.
Andrew left the courtroom during the recess.
By the time officers reached the parking garage, he was gone.
The judge issued an order preventing him from contacting Lucy.
Daniel was allowed to keep temporary custody under security supervision.
It felt like a victory, but Naomi warned him it was only temporary.
They drove to the storage facility with Evelyn and Detective Hale.
The unit contained boxes from Claire’s office.
Her laptop sat inside a locked suitcase.
Evelyn handed Daniel the key.
“I never opened it.”
Hale photographed everything before removing the computer.
A forensic specialist powered it on.
Most files were encrypted.
One video opened without a password.
Claire appeared on-screen inside her car.
Rain struck the windshield.
“I’m recording because Andrew is following me,” she said.
Daniel gripped the table.
Headlights appeared through Claire’s rear window.
A dark car moved closer.
Claire looked into the camera.
“If this reaches Daniel, tell him I tried to get home.”
The image shook.
A horn sounded.
Claire gasped.
Then the video went dark.
The file continued with audio.
Metal groaned.
Claire cried out.
Another car door opened.
Footsteps approached.
A man’s voice spoke outside the wreckage.
“You should have given me the key.”
Daniel recognized his brother.
Then Claire answered in a weak whisper.
“Lucy will remember you.”
May you like
Andrew said four final words.
“Then Lucy goes too.”
