Chapter 6
Police locked down the building.
Emily was moved into an interior conference room with two officers.
I refused to leave her side.
“Chloe can’t get in,” I said.
Emily stared toward the door.
“You said that about our house.”
She was right.
I stopped making promises I couldn’t guarantee.
Detective Harris checked every camera.
Then he found something strange.
“No sign of Chloe.”
“But she sent the picture.”
“Maybe.”
He enlarged the image.
Margaret leaned closer.
“That reflection.”
A black car was visible in the glass doors.
Harris checked traffic cameras.
The vehicle belonged to Victor.
“This isn’t Chloe,” he said.
“Then Victor has her phone.”
“Or access to it.”
My stomach tightened.
Chloe had been released.
Maybe Victor had picked her up.
I called her.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
On the fourth attempt, someone answered.
Breathing.
“Chloe?”
A whisper came through.
“Ryan.”
She sounded terrified.
“Where are you?”
“I messed up.”
“Where are you?”
“He lied to us.”
“Victor?”
“He said the trust should’ve been ours.”
Harris signaled for me to keep her talking.
“Tell me where you are.”
“I don’t know.”
“What can you see?”
“Nothing. I’m in a room.”
She started crying.
I had never heard Chloe sound afraid before.
“He took my phone. He said I failed.”
Despite everything she had done, she was still my sister.
And somebody was holding her.
“Listen to me. Police are looking for you.”
“You called police?”
“I’m standing beside a detective.”
“No!”
Her voice rose.
“He said if police come—”
The call cut off.
Harris immediately traced it.
A warehouse district outside the city.
Police moved fast.
I wanted to go.
Harris refused.
“Stay with your wife.”
For once, I listened.
Three hours passed.
Then Harris called.
They found the room.
They found Chloe’s phone.
They found blood on the floor.
But Chloe and Victor were gone.
Emily sat beside me.
“You’re thinking about going after them.”
“I’m thinking about why Victor took her.”
“Because she knows something.”
Exactly.
Chloe had been greedy.
Cruel.
Violent.
But she wasn’t stupid.
She had spent months working with Keller.
She might know where money had gone.
That evening, my mother called from jail.
I almost ignored her.
Then I answered.
“Where is Chloe?”
Mom started sobbing.
“You have to help her.”
“You defended her when she attacked Emily.”
“I know.”
“That doesn’t disappear because she’s in trouble now.”
“I know!”
Her voice cracked.
I had never heard Mom admit wrongdoing so quickly.
“Tell me what you know.”
She hesitated.
“Chloe discovered an account.”
“What account?”
“One your father used.”
“For Victor?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Almost thirty million.”
I nearly dropped the phone.
“Where did it come from?”
“Lakewood.”
Grandpa had been right.
Dad and Victor had stolen for years.
“Does Chloe have access?”
“She copied everything.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
I closed my eyes.
That was why Victor took her.
He needed the evidence.
“Mom, listen carefully. If you know anything else, now is the time.”
Silence.
Then she whispered, “There is a safe in our basement.”
“What’s inside?”
“Your father’s records.”
I gave Harris the address.
Police searched my parents’ home.
Inside the safe, they found ledgers proving decades of theft.
And one recent document.
A life insurance policy.
The insured person was Emily.
The beneficiary wasn’t me.
It wasn’t our baby.
It was a shell corporation controlled by Victor.
The policy had been purchased six weeks earlier.
Emily stared at the paper.
“Six weeks?”
That was when Chloe had started threatening her.
Harris’s face turned grim.
“This may never have been only about forcing a signature.”
My hands went cold.
If Emily signed, they got the trust.
If she didn’t—
They had another plan.
My phone buzzed.
A video from Chloe’s number.
She appeared on screen.
Her face was bruised.
Behind her stood Victor.
“Ryan,” Victor said calmly, “bring Margaret and the original trust documents.”
May you like
He placed a hand on Chloe’s shoulder.
“Or your sister won’t come home.”
