Chapter 5
I stopped being afraid after I saw Caitlyn’s photograph.
Fear had carried me through the day.
Fear had made my hands shake.
Fear had made me question everyone.
But seeing my daughter photographed through a hospital window changed something.
The fear became anger.
Cold anger.
Focused anger.
“They were watching the hospital.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
“The police were there.”
“Yes.”
“And they still got close enough to photograph her.”
He said nothing.
I turned toward the officer.
“I want protection on Caitlyn.”
“We’re arranging it.”
“Not arranging. I want it now.”
“We have units outside.”
“They followed us to the hospital.”
“We understand.”
“No. You don’t.”
My voice cracked.
“My sister tried to suffocate my daughter this morning. Then someone helped her escape police custody. Now people connected to something my father discovered fourteen years ago are photographing my child.”
Caitlyn began crying.
I immediately regretted raising my voice.
I crouched beside her.
“I’m sorry.”
“Are bad people coming?”
I looked into her eyes.
Children know when adults lie.
So I didn’t.
“Some people are trying to scare Mommy.”
“Why?”
“Because Grandpa found out they did something wrong.”
“Did Grandpa tell?”
“He tried.”
“Then we should tell.”
The room became silent.
Caitlyn wiped her face.
“We should tell everybody.”
Seven years old.
Terrified.
And somehow she said the thing none of us adults had said.
Daniel looked down at the ledger.
“She’s right.”
I stood.
“What?”
“Your father kept this private because he believed publicity could get witnesses killed.”
“And it got him killed anyway.”
“We don’t know that.”
“Stop saying that.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“I’m not giving the ledger to Thomas Vale.”
“I agree.”
“I’m giving it to police.”
“That may not be enough.”
“Why?”
“Your father tried law enforcement years ago.”
“Then federal authorities.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“That’s what he planned before he died.”
“What stopped him?”
“His death.”
Another silence.
“Do you have copies?”
“Some.”
“Where?”
“Not here.”
“Can you get them?”
“Yes.”
“Then get them.”
Daniel looked at the clock.
“We need to move Caitlyn first.”
“To where?”
“Somewhere Vale wouldn’t expect.”
Rosa stepped forward.
“I know a place.”
We all looked at her.
“My sister owns a farm outside Asheville.”
“That’s three hours away.”
“She isn’t there. She lives in Florida now. The farm is empty.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Too predictable once they track your vehicle.”
“Then we don’t use my vehicle.”
Rosa looked at me.
“My nephew drives a delivery truck.”
I almost smiled despite everything.
“You want to hide us in a delivery truck?”
“I want them watching an empty car while you leave through the service road.”
Dad had built the service road years earlier.
It ran behind the property through woods and connected to an abandoned county lane.
Almost no one knew it existed.
Almost.
“Melissa knows about it,” I said.
Rosa nodded.
“Then we leave before she can use it.”
The police initially objected.
Then the detective assigned to Melissa’s escape arrived and changed everything.
His name was Marcus Hale.
Tall.
Forties.
Tired eyes.
He listened while Daniel explained Harbor Point and Thomas Vale.
Then he asked one question.
“Do you trust everyone in my department?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Marcus nodded.
“That’s what I thought.”
“You think Vale has police contacts?”
“I think a former state senator with millions of dollars has contacts everywhere.”
My pulse quickened.
“What do we do?”
Marcus looked at Caitlyn.
“We separate the child from the evidence.”
“No.”
“Mrs. Bennett—”
“I am not leaving my daughter.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
“Then what?”
“We make them believe the ledger is staying here.”
Daniel understood first.
“You want a decoy.”
Marcus nodded.
“If whoever delivered that package is watching, we let them see Mr. Mercer leave with a red book.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow.
“I’m honored.”
“You’ll have police protection.”
“Police you just told us not to trust?”
Marcus almost smiled.
“Police I trust.”
We found an old accounting book in Dad’s office.
Same size.
Similar binding.
Rosa wrapped it in brown paper.
At ten-thirty, Daniel walked openly to his Mercedes carrying the package.
Two unmarked cars followed him.
Anyone watching would believe the ledger had left.
Meanwhile, Caitlyn and I changed into dark clothes.
Rosa packed food.
Marcus waited until midnight.
Then the rear security lights were switched off.
A delivery truck rolled slowly down the service road.
We climbed inside.
Caitlyn thought it was an adventure for about five minutes.
Then she fell asleep against me.
Rosa drove.
Marcus rode in front.
I sat on a blanket in the cargo area holding my daughter.
The real red ledger rested beneath my jacket.
We traveled for nearly an hour before Marcus knocked on the partition.
“Emma?”
“Yes?”
“We may have a problem.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“Car behind us.”
Rosa increased speed.
“Maybe it’s nothing,” I said.
“Maybe.”
We turned onto another road.
The car turned too.
Then another.
Still there.
Marcus drew his weapon.
“Keep Caitlyn down.”
I covered her with the blanket.
She woke.
“Mommy?”
“Stay close.”
“Are they coming?”
“I don’t know.”
Rosa turned onto a narrow country road.
The car followed.
Headlights filled the rear windows.
Then the vehicle accelerated.
It came alongside us.
Marcus shouted.
“Keep going!”
A dark SUV.
The passenger window lowered.
I pulled Caitlyn against the floor.
A loud bang struck the side of the truck.
Caitlyn screamed.
Another bang.
Not gunshots.
The SUV was ramming us.
Rosa fought the steering wheel.
“Hold on!”
The truck swerved.
Boxes crashed around us.
Marcus climbed into the cargo area.
“We need another route.”
“There’s an old logging road ahead,” Rosa shouted.
“Take it!”
We turned sharply.
The truck bounced violently.
The SUV overshot the turn.
For a moment, we lost them.
Marcus looked through the back window.
“They’ll come back.”
My phone buzzed.
No signal.
Then one bar.
A message arrived.
Unknown number.
RUNNING WON’T HELP.
Another message followed.
MELISSA HAS YOUR MOTHER.
I stared at the words.
“What?” Marcus asked.
I showed him.
His face hardened.
“When did anyone last confirm your mother was at the station?”
I didn’t know.
Marcus called.
No answer.
He called another number.
Then swore.
“What happened?”
“Margaret Parker was transferred for questioning forty minutes ago.”
“Transferred where?”
“No one knows.”
My chest tightened.
“They took her.”
“Maybe.”
“No.”
I looked at the message.
“They took her.”
Caitlyn grabbed my shirt.
“Grandma?”
I couldn’t answer.
The truck continued deeper into the mountains.
At one in the morning, we reached Rosa’s sister’s farm.
No lights.
No neighboring houses.
Marcus checked every room.
Then locked the doors.
Caitlyn slept beside me in the upstairs bedroom.
I opened Dad’s red ledger for the first time.
Most pages contained names and numbers.
Dates.
Payments.
Companies.
Initials.
But halfway through, I found something else.
A photograph.
Melissa.
Twenty-three years old.
Standing beside Thomas Vale.
The date was fourteen years earlier.
On the back, Dad had written:
Melissa says she doesn’t remember meeting Vale before the kidnapping.
I read it twice.
Then a third time.
“Daniel never mentioned this.”
Marcus looked over my shoulder.
“What does it mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Another page contained a handwritten note.
M may be protecting him.
Or afraid of him.
Need proof.
My stomach turned.
Was Melissa only a victim?
Had she known Vale before she claimed he kidnapped her?
I flipped another page.
A bank transfer.
$250,000.
Recipient: Melissa Parker.
Date: eleven months after Harbor Point.
I stared.
“Dad paid her.”
Marcus leaned closer.
“That’s not a payment from your father.”
“What?”
“Look at the routing account.”
I didn’t understand.
He pointed to the company name.
Vale Strategic Holdings.
Thomas Vale had paid my sister a quarter of a million dollars.
A year after she claimed people connected to Harbor Point kidnapped her.
My phone rang.
Blocked number.
Marcus motioned for silence.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Melissa’s voice filled my ear.
“Emma.”
My whole body tightened.
“Where is Mom?”
“She’s safe.”
“Put her on.”
“No.”
“Melissa, if you hurt her—”
She laughed.
“You still don’t understand.”
“I understand you locked my daughter in a smoke-filled room.”
“I was trying to scare her.”
“She could have died!”
“I didn’t know the smoke would get that thick.”
“That is not an excuse.”
Silence.
Then her voice changed.
Softer.
“I’m sorry about Caitlyn.”
“No, you aren’t.”
“I am.”
“You grabbed her because she saw you with Vale.”
Melissa stopped breathing.
That told me enough.
“You found the ledger,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“Emma, listen to me.”
“Why did Thomas Vale pay you two hundred fifty thousand dollars?”
Silence.
“Melissa?”
“You need to burn that book.”
“Why?”
“Because Dad lied.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
Her voice cracked.
“I wasn’t kidnapped by Vale’s people.”
My skin went cold.
“What?”
“I was working for him.”
Marcus immediately began recording.
“For how long?”
“Before Harbor Point.”
“You helped him?”
“I didn’t know anyone would die.”
The words hit like a physical blow.
“What did you do?”
“I moved documents.”
“What documents?”
“Inspection reports.”
I closed my eyes.
“No.”
“I was twenty-three.”
“Three workers died.”
“I know.”
“You helped cover up safety reports?”
“I didn’t know what they were at first!”
“At first?”
Melissa started crying.
“When I realized, I tried to stop.”
“Is that why Dad investigated?”
“Yes.”
“Did Dad know you were involved?”
“Eventually.”
“Why didn’t he turn you in?”
“Because I was his daughter.”
My mind raced.
“So he protected you.”
“He controlled me.”
“He kept you out of prison!”
“He made me live with what I did every day!”
“You should have lived with it.”
The silence between us turned hard.
Then Melissa whispered.
“Vale has Mom because of you.”
“No. He has Mom because of you.”
“Give him the ledger.”
“No.”
“He’ll kill her.”
I looked at Marcus.
He shook his head.
I knew he was right.
Giving Vale the evidence would not make anyone safe.
“Where is she?”
“Emma…”
“Where is Mom?”
Melissa whispered an address.
Marcus wrote it down.
Then Melissa said one final thing.
“If police come, Mom dies.”
The call ended.
Marcus looked at the address.
His face changed.
“You know it?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
May you like
“The abandoned Harbor Point construction office.”
The place where three men had died fourteen years earlier.
