Chapter 6
I forced the elevator doors open again.
“What did you say?”
Diane stepped inside.
“Lily has been sending messages.”
“She’s eight years old.”
“She used Ryan’s tablet.”
“That does not make her an accomplice.”
“I didn’t say she knew what she was doing.”
My anger rose.
“Then explain.”
“Ryan created a game for her. He told her it was a treasure hunt.”
The elevator began moving.
“What kind of game?”
“He sent clues to her tablet. She answered questions about where Charles went, who visited him, and where Marcus kept spare keys.”
My stomach turned.
“Ryan used her to spy on us?”
“He told her he was planning a surprise for you.”
“How do you know?”
“I helped him set up the first messages.”
I stared at her.
“You involved Lily?”
“I thought it was harmless.”
“You always think harm is harmless when you’re not the one suffering.”
Diane lowered her eyes.
“Vanessa can still send messages through the game.”
“Lily is at my father’s house.”
“I know.”
The elevator doors opened to the lobby.
Police and hospital security were searching for Vanessa.
Marcus appeared at the end of the hall.
His forehead was bleeding.
“She got away,” he said.
I told him about the tablet.
His face changed.
He immediately called the security team at my father’s house.
No one answered.
We ran outside.
My father’s home was twenty minutes away.
It felt like hours.
Marcus drove while I called Lily’s tablet.
No answer.
Then I called my father.
His phone rang from the back seat.
He had left it in Marcus’s vehicle before entering the hospital.
“Drive faster,” I said.
Marcus already was.
Diane sat beside me.
“Vanessa won’t hurt Lily.”
“You don’t know that.”
“She needs her.”
“For what?”
“To get into Charles’s private safe.”
“My father’s safe requires his fingerprint.”
“And the emergency code.”
“What emergency code?”
“One Charles gave Lily.”
I remembered the day my father installed the safe.
He had laughed while letting Lily choose a six-digit number she would remember.
Her birthday.
Vanessa knew that because Ryan knew it.
We reached the estate.
The front gate stood open.
One security guard lay beside the driveway.
He was conscious but dazed.
“Woman in scrubs,” he said. “She sprayed something in my face.”
The front door was unlocked.
I ran inside.
“Lily!”
No answer.
The living room was empty.
A lamp had been knocked over.
My father’s office door stood open.
The safe was behind a painting.
It was empty.
“What did she take?” I asked.
Marcus examined the shelves.
“Files, cash, and a hard drive.”
“Where is Lily?”
A sound came from upstairs.
I ran toward it.
My father was locked inside a guest bathroom.
He stumbled out when Marcus opened the door.
“She took Lily.”
My legs almost gave out.
“How?”
“Lily opened the side entrance because the game told her a surprise was waiting.”
“Did you see the vehicle?”
“A white sedan.”
Diane covered her mouth.
“I know where she’s going.”
We all turned toward her.
“Ryan and Vanessa had a second property,” she said. “A lake house near Michigan City.”
“Why didn’t you tell the police?”
“I didn’t know the address.”
“But you can find it?”
“Ryan drove me there once. I remember the road.”
Police issued an alert for the sedan.
Traffic cameras located it heading east on Interstate 94.
I wanted to follow immediately.
Detective Bennett stopped me.
“You’ll ride with us.”
“That’s my daughter.”
“And charging into a hostage situation could get her hurt.”
We drove in an unmarked police vehicle.
Diane sat in front, guiding us through rural roads.
The white sedan was found abandoned near a gas station.
A clerk remembered Vanessa entering with Lily.
Lily had not been crying.
Vanessa had told her they were meeting Ryan for a family surprise.
“She trusted her,” I whispered.
Ryan had used our daughter’s love for him.
The lake house sat at the end of a narrow road surrounded by trees.
Police stopped half a mile away.
A drone flew over the property.
Vanessa’s stolen vehicle was parked behind the house.
One adult and one child appeared inside.
I watched the thermal image.
The smaller figure moved toward the back window.
Lily.
Detective Bennett used a loudspeaker.
“Vanessa Cole, come outside with your hands visible.”
The curtains moved.
No one emerged.
My phone rang.
Lily’s tablet account appeared on the screen.
I answered.
Vanessa’s voice came through.
“You brought the police.”
“Let me speak to Lily.”
“Tell them to leave.”
“I need to know she’s safe.”
There was movement.
Then Lily whispered, “Mommy?”
“I’m here.”
“I’m sorry. I thought Daddy sent the game.”
“It isn’t your fault.”
“Miss Vanessa says Grandpa stole from Daddy.”
“Listen to me. Walk away from any windows.”
Vanessa grabbed the tablet.
“Enough.”
“What do you want?”
“A vehicle and one hour before anyone follows.”
“You know they won’t agree.”
“Then you should say goodbye.”
The call ended.
I felt cold.
Police negotiators continued speaking through the loudspeaker.
No response.
Then smoke appeared near the roof.
“She set a fire,” an officer said.
My heart stopped.
Flames grew behind an upstairs window.
Vanessa ran from the back door alone.
Officers surrounded her.
“Where is Lily?” I screamed.
Vanessa smiled.
“Ask her father.”
Police forced her to the ground.
I ran toward the house before anyone could stop me.
Smoke poured from the doorway.
“Lily!”
A small voice cried from upstairs.
“Mommy!”
I covered my face and climbed.
The hallway was filling with smoke.
Lily was locked inside a bedroom.
I hit the door with my shoulder.
It didn’t open.
“Move away from the door!”
I struck it again.
A firefighter reached me and swung a tool into the lock.
The door burst open.
Lily stood near the window holding a blanket over her face.
I pulled her into my arms.
“I knew you’d come,” she sobbed.
The firefighter guided us down the stairs.
Outside, paramedics gave Lily oxygen.
She clung to me.
Police found the hard drive and files in Vanessa’s car.
She had taken them because they proved she controlled most of the stolen money.
But something was missing.
The eight million dollars was no longer in any account.
Vanessa claimed Ryan had moved it.
Ryan claimed Vanessa had taken it.
Victor blamed both of them.
Then Lily pulled a folded note from her pocket.
“Miss Vanessa told me to give this to Daddy.”
I opened it.
There were only two sentences.
I know where Thomas’s original recording is.
Tell Ryan his mother has hidden the truth long enough.
I looked at Diane.
Her face went white.
“What original recording?” I asked.
She began backing away.
“It doesn’t matter now.”
“It mattered enough for Vanessa to kidnap Lily.”
Diane looked toward the police.
Then she whispered, “Thomas did not take his own life.”
I felt Lily tighten her arms around me.
May you like
Diane’s next words changed everything.
“I was in the garage when he died.”
